Kassel Grimm Professorship awarded to children's author Paul Maar

Paul Maar (77) became known to a wide audience with his stories about Sams. His other major successes include "Lippel's Dream" and "Herr Bello und das blaue Wunder. He has received numerous awards for his books for children and young people, including the German Youth Literature Prize (1996). In his books, there are frequent allusions to works of the literary canon, including fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm. Maar is also active as an illustrator, screenwriter and playwright.

This year, the Kassel Grimm Visiting Professorship will be more closely integrated than before into the research and teaching activities of the University's Institute for German Studies. Thus, more than twenty courses in literary studies, but also in linguistics and didactics, will deal with the topic of "Children Literature Language" in the coming summer semester.

Public events in June

Maar himself will hold three events as a visiting professor: In addition to a public lecture on June 9 (6 p.m., Gießhaus), he will hold a scientific seminar on his book "Kartoffelkäferzeiten" the following day (12 p.m., Gießhaus). Also on June 10 (6 p.m., Campus Center, Lecture Hall HS-1139), he will read from his new novel, "The Galimat and I." Children are expressly welcome to attend this reading.

"Multi-layered, sophisticated and genuinely literary."

Prof. Dr. Nikola Roßbach from the Institute of German Studies explained Maar's choice: "Children's and young people's literature is often only considered from an educational point of view: What is the child supposed to learn from it? Paul Maar shows how multi-layered, sophisticated and genuinely literary children's books can be," she said. "He is the most important living German children's book author; it honors us and our university that he has accepted the Grimm Professorship." Her colleague Dr. Andreas Wicke, who researches and teaches in the field of children's and young adult literature, among other areas, emphasized the many references in Maar's texts, saying, "They tie in with the narrative literature of German Romanticism as well as international literature. Again and again, there are also allusions to or adaptations of motifs from the Grimmʼs fairy tales."

The University of Kassel has awarded the Grimm Visiting Professorship for more than 20 years with the support of the Kasseler Sparkasse. The guest professorship is intended to contribute to a lively exchange between literary studies and contemporary literature. Holders of the guest professorship to date have included Tankred Dorst, Sarah Kirsch, Nobel Prize winner Herta Müller, and most recently Ilija Trojanow. The Grimm Visiting Professorship is not to be confused with the Research Professorship "The Work and Impact of the Brothers Grimm" at the University of Kassel. This endowed professorship is held by Grimm researcher Prof. Dr. Holger Ehrhardt.

Picture by Paul Maar (photo: private) at
http://www.uni-kassel.de/uni/fileadmin/datas/uni/presse/anhaenge/2015/MAAR.JPG

An overview of the summer semester's courses on children's and young adult literature can be found here:
http://www.uni-kassel.de/fb02/institute/germanistik/veranstaltungen.html

Contact:

Prof. Dr. Nikola Roßbach
University of Kassel
Institute for German Studies
Tel: +49 561 804-3329
E-Mail: n.rossbach[at]uni-kassel[dot]de
 

Sebastian Mense
University of Kassel
Communication, Press and Public Relations
Tel: +49 561 804-1961
E-Mail: presse[at]uni-kassel[dot]de
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