Matthias Göritz (Germany)

Matthias Göritz (1969) is a German novelist, poet and translator. Among other languages, Göritz also translates from Slovene (Šteger, Pahor). Initially showcasing his poetry in various periodicals, Göritz published his first book of poetry, Loops, in 2001. The book was followed by two more. His debut novel (Der kurze Traum des Jakob Voss, 2005) won Göritz the Mara-Cassens-Preis. He has spent significant periods of time in Moscow, Paris, Chicago and New York. He has been the writer in residence of Bard College, a Goethe-Institut fellow in Morocco, a guest of the Iowa Writers' Workshop and many others, and has recently received a scholarship awarded by the Tarabya Cultural Academy in Istanbul.

Dreamers and Sinners (Träumer und Sünder)

 

Göritz's novel Dreamers and Sinners, published in 2013 by the reputable C. H. Beck publishing house, tells the story of a young journalist who gets the opportunity to interview a key personality of German film - an ageing, somewhat mysterious producer who has, plagued by an illness, put all his money and ideas into a film project called Gleiwitz, after a Polish town where the Germans tried to act out the beginning of World War II. The lead female role would supposedly be taken by Nicole Kidman and the film would be directed by Ridley Scott. However, the project hits a snag and the media are fishing for dirty details, while the old man plays cat and mouse with the interviewer, who is also not as disinterested as he had seemed. In spite of everything, the great secret of the producer's life gradually unfolds, and he and the journalist slowly establish a special kind of confidential relationship that results in a surprising twist. Göritz's tense and dynamic dialogue-based novel full of references that are always clever and sometimes amazingly entertaining tells a vivid story about fathers and sons and examines the problem of art at the crossroads of the forces of business, mass viewership and the truth.

 

Translation: Mojca Kranjc

Mojca Kranjc is a dramaturgist and translator. She had studied Philosophy and Comparative Literature, graduating in 1980. In 2006, Kranjc also graduated in dramaturgy at the Ljubljana Academy of Theatre, Film, Radio and Television. Kranjc has been an employee of Drama in Ljubljana since 1982. As an external editor, Kranjc also collaborates with various publishers and drama festivals. She translates fiction, essays and plays, mostly from German.

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(Litera 2016, 21,00 €)