Reading by Barbara Frischmuth
April 22, 2013
3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
With support from the Austrian Consulate and the Austrian Cultural Forum, NY
Reading by Barbara Frischmuth:
Woher wir kommen – Where We Come From
Three women: Ada, Martha, Lilofee – three settings: Vienna, Istanbul, a village in Austria – three decisive years: 2009, 1989, 1945 – and three losses. After her partner’s suicide, Ada returns to the place where she grew up and begins painting anew. Suddenly, three children and a childhood friend, Jonas, enter her life, and she struggles to balance new love with painting. Her mother Martha also had to recover from the loss of her husband, who disappeared with a Kurdish friend somewhere in the Ararat Mountains and whose fate she will never learn. Lilofee, her aunt, is also no stranger to loss: she had hidden a Russian war prisoner in the mountains as a young girl, but her father gave him away and forced her to abort her baby. After that she was unable to have more children. Each woman, in her own way, must mourn where there is no grave – and they each find their own unconventional way.
The reading will be in English and German
Barbara Frischmuth was born in 1941 and livers in Styria. She studied Turkish, Hungarian, and Middle Eastern studies. She works as a writer, translator, and columnist. She has won numerous prizes for her work.
The reading will be followed by a reception hosted by the Austrian Consulate General.
Date posted
Jun 5, 2020
Date updated
Jun 5, 2020