Die Holländerinnen

Reading and discussion with Dorothee Elmiger, moderated by Gitte Zschoch

With her warning lights flashing, the narrator, an unnamed writer, pulls over to the side of the road when she receives an unexpected phone call. On the line is a celebrated theater producer who is trying to win her over for his latest project - a play set in the tropics, the reconstruction of a case. A few weeks later, she sets off to join the theater group on their journey deep into the jungle. Dorothee Elmiger tells a disturbing story of humans and monsters, of fear and violence, of being lost in the universe and of the failure of narratives. Elmiger, born in Switzerland in 1985, lives as a freelance author and translator in New York. Her books "Einladung an die Waghalsigen" (2010), "Schlafgänger" (2014) and "Aus der Zuckerfabrik" (2020) have been translated into numerous languages and adapted for the stage. Her novel "Die Holländerinnen" won the 2025 German Book Prize, the Bavarian Book Prize and the Swiss Book Prize.

A cooperation with the ifa, Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations