Sehr geehrte Frau Ministerin

Reading and discussion with Ursula Krechel
Moderation: Martin Ebel

She is one of the most important voices in contemporary literature: In her new novel "Sehr geehrte Frau Ministerin", Ursula Krechel draws abysmal relationships between sons and mothers, interweaving the stories of three women. The result is a cultural history of women and their resistance to the physical and psychological violence they are subjected to. For Eva Patarak's son, having to speak to his mother is a crime against the state. For Eva, on the other hand, it is a crime that her son and she are apparently being spied on. What is the aim of Latin teacher Silke Aschauer's surveillance? Do the gruesome family relationships of antiquity that she prepares for class not offer enough material for fascination? One thing is certain: Silke is not pulling all the strings, her body is turning against her and turning her into a patient. In their powerlessness, both women turn to the Minister of Justice - without suspecting the danger they are putting the state representative in.
Ursula Krechel, born in 1947, was a theater dramaturge. She taught at the Berlin University of the Arts, among other places; in 2012 she received the German Book Prize for her novel "Landgericht".