Striker

Reading and discussion with Helene Hegemann
Moderation: Lotta Mayer

Her debut "Axolotl Roadkill" made the then 18-year-old author instantly famous in 2010. With "Striker", Helene Hegemann presents her new novel - a text about a present in which the boundaries between conspiracy myths, class struggle and raw violence are becoming increasingly blurred.
Helene Hegemann tells of martial arts and homelessness, of wealth and repression, of the moment when fear of oppression leads to violence and the weakness that must be allowed in order to prevent this violence. N lives on a railroad line that connects a problem district with the residential area at the other end of the city. Two worlds, N knows both. And a third in the middle: the martial arts school where she teaches, prepares for competitions and begins an affair with a politician from the defense committee. Helene Hegemann, born in 1992, lives in Berlin. "Jage zwei Tiger" was published in 2013, followed by "Bungalow" in 2018, for which she was nominated for the German Book Prize. In 2021, she wrote about Patti Smith and Christoph Schlingensief in the KiWi Music Library. She directs for opera, theater and film.