Book reading with award-winning German-Jewish author Esther Dischereit

The Vrije Universiteit Brussel invites you to a book reading and discussion with German award-winning writer Esther Dischereit as part of the new lecture series ‘Ties That Bind Us’.
Award-winning German Jewish author Esther Dischereit will read from her new book Ein Haufen Dollarscheine/ A Bunch of Dollar Bills (publish date: 24 October 2024) and engage in a discussion about uncomfortable truths that linger in official sites of documentation, in family archives and in the memory of individuals that can be at odds with dominant narratives about the past.

About the book
Ein Haufen Dollarscheine, [A Bunch of Dollar Bills] takes us into the fragile, tender, and yet charged world of a family whose members are spread across continents (from Berlin to Chicago to Heppenheim to Rome) inhabiting bubbles that appear to be irreconcilable – and yet share the legacy of a past that binds them.

Nobel-Prize winning writer Elfriede Jelinek sees “in this rich book a Jewish variant of Rubens’s Fall of the Damned. This book is heavy and light at the same time, and that is an eminent art.”

Practical information
Doors open at 5.30PM. The book reading starts at 6PM.
The reading and discussion will be conducted mostly in English. Questions can be taken in English, Dutch, French and German.
As Pepite Blues will provide a book stall during the event, you’ll be able to buy the book afterwards.

About Esther Dischereit
Dischereit is one of the most important literary voices of Germany. Her work is informed by the experience of being a member of a family that was shaped by Holocaust survivors. In its many different forms, her work presents a visceral pathography of post-​war continuities, crises and trauma. The quest for, and mastery of, a language for the sometimes overt, sometimes subtle forms of violence permeating the social world and convivial spaces, is characteristic of all of Dischereits works.

She is a prolific, and indeed radical, writer across literary and documentary genres. She has published fiction, poetry, journalism and essays, and is a regular writer for the radio, the stage and other artistic media.

Awards
In 2009 she received Austria’s prestigious Erich Fried Prize for her writing.
Her book on the NSU murders, Blumen für Otello. Über die Verbrechen von Jena (2014) (Flowers for Otello. On the Crimes That Came out of Jena, English translation in 2022), was performed as a radio play and nominated for the ARD Medienpreis.
Earlier this year, she was the recipient of the Alfred-Gruber-Preis in the context of the Meraner Lyrikpreis for her most recent works of poetry. In her poems, “political violence takes shape – in its various forms,” according to the jury. “They say, and at the same time do not say, what needs to be said.”
Academic career
Between 2012 and 2017 Esther Dischereit was Professor of Language Arts at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna. She has been a Fellow at the Moses Mendelssohn Centre for European and Jewish Studies in Potsdam and the DAAD Chair for Contemporary Poetics at New York University, 2019.

********** Français **********

The Vrije Universiteit Brussel invites you to a book reading and discussion with German award-winning writer Esther Dischereit as part of the new lecture series ‘Ties That Bind Us’.
Award-winning German Jewish author Esther Dischereit will read from her new book Ein Haufen Dollarscheine/ A Bunch of Dollar Bills (publish date: 24 October 2024) and engage in a discussion about uncomfortable truths that linger in official sites of documentation, in family archives and in the memory of individuals that can be at odds with dominant narratives about the past.

About the book
Ein Haufen Dollarscheine, [A Bunch of Dollar Bills] takes us into the fragile, tender, and yet charged world of a family whose members are spread across continents (from Berlin to Chicago to Heppenheim to Rome) inhabiting bubbles that appear to be irreconcilable – and yet share the legacy of a past that binds them.

Nobel-Prize winning writer Elfriede Jelinek sees “in this rich book a Jewish variant of Rubens’s Fall of the Damned. This book is heavy and light at the same time, and that is an eminent art.”

Practical information
Doors open at 5.30PM. The book reading starts at 6PM.
The reading and discussion will be conducted mostly in English. Questions can be taken in English, Dutch, French and German.
As Pepite Blues will provide a book stall during the event, you’ll be able to buy the book afterwards.

About Esther Dischereit
Dischereit is one of the most important literary voices of Germany. Her work is informed by the experience of being a member of a family that was shaped by Holocaust survivors. In its many different forms, her work presents a visceral pathography of post-​war continuities, crises and trauma. The quest for, and mastery of, a language for the sometimes overt, sometimes subtle forms of violence permeating the social world and convivial spaces, is characteristic of all of Dischereits works.

She is a prolific, and indeed radical, writer across literary and documentary genres. She has published fiction, poetry, journalism and essays, and is a regular writer for the radio, the stage and other artistic media.

Awards
In 2009 she received Austria’s prestigious Erich Fried Prize for her writing.
Her book on the NSU murders, Blumen für Otello. Über die Verbrechen von Jena (2014) (Flowers for Otello. On the Crimes That Came out of Jena, English translation in 2022), was performed as a radio play and nominated for the ARD Medienpreis.
Earlier this year, she was the recipient of the Alfred-Gruber-Preis in the context of the Meraner Lyrikpreis for her most recent works of poetry. In her poems, “political violence takes shape – in its various forms,” according to the jury. “They say, and at the same time do not say, what needs to be said.”
Academic career
Between 2012 and 2017 Esther Dischereit was Professor of Language Arts at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna. She has been a Fellow at the Moses Mendelssohn Centre for European and Jewish Studies in Potsdam and the DAAD Chair for Contemporary Poetics at New York University, 2019.

********** Nederlands **********

De Vrije Universiteit Brussel nodigt je uit voor een boeklezing en gesprek met de bekroonde Duitse schrijfster Esther Dischereit.
De bekroonde Duits-Joodse auteur Esther Dischereit leest voor uit haar nieuwe boek Ein Haufen Dollarscheine / A Bunch of Dollar Bills (publicatiedatum: 24 oktober 2024) en neemt deel aan een gesprek over de ongemakkelijke waarheden die schuilen in officiële archieven, familiearchieven en in herinneringen.

Over het boek
Ein Haufen Dollarscheine : A Bunch of Dollar Bills neemt ons mee in de fragiele, tedere en toch geladen wereld van Duits-Amerikaanse familieleden wiens leven zich afspeelt op verschillende continenten (van Berlijn tot Chicago, van Heppenheim tot Rome). Ze leven in bubbels die onverenigbaar lijken maar ze delen de erfenis van een verleden dat hen bindt.

Nobelprijswinnaar Elfriede Jelinek beschrijft het boek als: “In dit rijke boek zie ik een Joodse variant van Rubens’ De Val van de Verdoemden. Dit boek is zwaar en licht tegelijk, en dat is een eminente kunst.”

Praktische informatie
De deuren openen om 17.30 uur. De boeklezing begint om 18.00 uur.
De lezing en discussie zullen voornamelijk in het Engels plaatsvinden. Vragen kunnen gesteld worden in het Engels, Nederlands, Frans en Duits.
Pepite Blues zal tijdens het evenement een boekenkraam verzorgen, zodat je na afloop het boek kunt kopen.

Over Esther Dischereit
Dischereit is een van de meest invloedrijke Duitse schrijvers. Haar werk is diepgaand beïnvloed door haar jeugd in een familie van Holocaust-overlevenden. In verschillende vormen onderzoekt ze de blijvende effecten van de oorlog, de crises en trauma's die daarop volgden. Ze zoekt voortdurend naar manieren om de vaak subtiele, soms expliciete vormen van geweld in de samenleving en publieke ruimtes te benoemen en te verwoorden.

Dischereit is een veelzijdige schrijfster die actief is in zowel literatuur als documentaire genres. Ze heeft fictie, poëzie, journalistieke stukken en essays gepubliceerd, en werkt ook voor radio, theater en andere kunstvormen.

Bekroningen
In 2009 ontving ze de prestigieuze Oostenrijkse Erich Fried-prijs voor haar schrijverschap.
Haar boek over de NSU-moorden, Blumen für Otello. Über die Verbrechen von Jena (2014) (Flowers for Otello. On the Crimes That Came out of Jena, Engelse vertaling in 2022), werd opgevoerd als een hoorspel en genomineerd voor de ARD Medienpreis
Eerder dit jaar ontving ze de Alfred-Gruber-Preis in het kader van de Meraner Lyrikpreis voor haar meest recente poëzie. Volgens de jury krijgt in haar gedichten "politiek geweld vorm – in zijn verschillende gedaanten". “Ze zeggen, en zeggen tegelijkertijd niet, wat gezegd moet worden.”
Academische carrière
Tussen 2012 en 2017 was Esther Dischereit Professor in de Taal- en Literatuurwetenschappen aan de Universiteit voor Toegepaste Kunsten in Wenen. Ze was Fellow aan het Moses Mendelssohn Centrum voor Europese en Joodse Studies in Potsdam en bekleedde de DAAD-leerstoel voor hedendaagse poëtica aan de New York University in 2019.