In this episode, translator Chen Chen reads a sample of Michael Martin Day’s English translation of Liao Yiwu’s »18 Prisoners«.

Prisons serve as mirrors reflecting societal truths by unveiling its darker counterpart. The stories shared by those incarcerated offer distinct, countervailing narratives. Liao Yiwu, in his incarceration, gathered these life stories, piecing together an alternative narrative of China's history. Echoing the endeavors of Alexander Solzhenitsyn, he uncovers the grim realities within what he terms "the world's largest prison." »18 Prisoners« delves into the lives of not just 18 individuals, often incarcerated for their political beliefs, but also narrates 18 tales of escape. Each instance of escape—whether across towering mountains or vast seas—underscores that the human yearning for freedom, inventive spirit, and the indomitable drive to survive transcend political subjugation.

Liao Yiwu, born in Sichuan province in 1958, grew up in great poverty. In 1989, he wrote the poem "Massacre", for which he was imprisoned for four years. In 2007, Liao Yiwu was awarded the Freedom to Write Prize from the Independent Chinese PEN Centre, the awarding of which was prevented at the last minute. Since then, he has published numerous books that have been translated into many languages, including »The Corpse Walker« (2009), »For a Song and a Hundred Songs« (2011), »Wuhan« (2022). He lives in Berlin.

Head to our website to find a pdf of today’s sample here.

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Credits

Text originally published as “18個囚徒 18 Gefangene” by 廖亦武 Liao Yiwu

Translated by Michael Martin Day, read by Chen Chen.

Copyright © S. Fischer Verlag GmbH, Frankfurt am Main 2025

Concept: Verena von Bassewitz, Martin Butz & Elisa Diallo

Production, Editing & Sound Design: Martin Butz

⁠Impressum

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, translator Alexandra Roesch reads an English sample of Elisa Hoven’s »Dark Moments«.

This absorbing debut novel draws from Elisa Hoven’s experience as a professor of criminal law and high-court judge. Nine cases unfold as gripping legal dramas, exploring moral and ethical dilemmas through the lens of law and justice.

»Dark Moments« takes the reader into the world of protagonist and narrator, Eva Herbergen, a seasoned defence lawyer from Berlin, as she unravels the complexities of the human condition in a captivating array of legal quandaries that shape and test her resolve. Each tale is woven with unforeseen twists and revelations.

From rape to fraud, assault to murder, each case challenges conventional notions of right and wrong, blurring the lines and forcing Eva Herbergen to confront her own issues from the past. As she explores the intricate web of moral ambiguity, her resolve is tested, and her boundaries are constantly pushed.

Elisa Hoven (1982) is a professor of criminal law at the University of Leipzig. Her research focuses on German and international criminal law, economic criminal law, media criminal law, and sexual criminal law. Since 2020, she has also been a judge at the Saxon Constitutional Court. She has worked in Australia, Cambodia, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States during her various academic and research endeavors.

Rights to the title have so far been sold to: Czech Republic (Alpress), Italy (Neri Pozza), Japan (Tokyo Sogensha), Netherlands (Thomas Rap), Norway (Bonnier Norsk), Spain (Maeva).

Head to our website to find a pdf of today’s sample here.

Send feedback and rights inquiries to ⁠[email protected]⁠, or visit our ⁠website⁠ to find the right contact within our team for your territory.

Follow us on Instagram ⁠@s.fischer.foreignrights⁠.

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Subscribe to »Catch of the Day« on your preferred podcast app to not miss the next episode!

Credits

Text originally published as “Dunkle Momente” by Elisa Hoven

Translated and read by Alexandra Roesch

Copyright © S. Fischer Verlag GmbH, Frankfurt am Main 2025

Concept: Verena von Bassewitz, Martin Butz & Elisa Diallo

Production, Editing & Sound Design: Martin Butz

⁠Impressum

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, translator Simon Pare reads Thomas Mann’s essay »The Dangers Facing Democracy« from »In Defense of Democracy« which compiles all of Thomas Mann's relevant speeches and essays on democracy for the first time in one volume.

"It has become a questionable matter with the self-evidence of democracy around the world." This remark does not stem from a comment on the current political situation but from Thomas Mann's lecture "On the Future Victory of Democracy" from 1938. It's no coincidence that Thomas Mann is being rediscovered in the present as a passionate defender of democracy. He personally experienced how tenuous this form of government and its associated culture can be through the destruction of the Weimar Republic. Thomas Mann remains astoundingly relevant, particularly because he also understands democracy as a way of life: as a practice in gracefully dealing with plurality.

Thomas Mann, (1875 - 1955) is one of the 20th century’s most significant writers. He is credited with bringing the German novel to the international stage, and his multifaceted works have received a worldwide positive reception which has rarely been equalled. From 1933 onwards, he lived in exile, first in Switzerland, then in the US. Only in 1952 did Mann return to Europe, where he died in 1955 in Zurich.

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Credits

Text originally published as “In Defense of Democracy” by Thomas Mann

Read by Simon Pare

Copyright © S. Fischer Verlag GmbH, Frankfurt am Main 2025

Concept: Verena von Bassewitz, Martin Butz & Elisa Diallo

Production, Editing & Sound Design: Martin Butz

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, translator Alexandra Roesch reads an English sample of Reinhard Kaiser-Mühlecker’s Austrian Book Prize 2024 winner »Burning Fields«.

At 18 Luisa Fischer learns that her father Bob is not her biological father and realises that the affection she feels for him goes beyond a daughter's love. She leaves her home and her family and after restless years in various cities, settles in Hamburg. Many years and two children later, Luisa's stepfather suddenly appears on her doorstep; he has decided against the family and in favour of a life with her. Luisa returns with him to Austria, where he single-handedly wants to bring about compensatory justice: Bob robs farming families that were involved in National Socialism in order to donate the looted profit to Israel. But he is killed during one of these robberies. Luisa then starts a relationship with Ferdinand, an old childhood acquaintance, who lives alone with his son Anton. Luisa and Ferdinand want to build a new life together, however, doubts about each other's sincerity arise time and time again, they stalk each other and tension becomes unbearable. 

Can the shadows and burdens of the past be shed? And is it possible to reinvent oneself in every new phase of life? Who are we when we renounce our past? Luisa's answer to all these questions leads to her decision to become a writer, and she begins to tell her own story.

Praise for »Burning Fields«:

“The Austrian writer and farmer Reinhard Kaiser-Mühlecker transforms his world into literature that is both quiet and magnificent.” NZZ

"One of the greatest living German-language authors." - Hessischer Rundfunk

"Kaiser-Mühlecker has come up with some original, bizarre, dramatic twists" - Frankfurter Rundschau

"The style and subject matter of his novels make Reinhard Kaiser-Mühlecker one of the most unusual and interesting German-language authors" - taz

"Highly readable. The author's proven great linguistic mastery is able to capture the finest nuances and shifts in people's emotional and moodal lives" - hr2 Kultur

"a book that glows in the dark with bright and clear literary darkness" - Welt am Sonntag

Rights to the title have so far been sold to Egypt (Aser Al-Kotob), France (Gallimard), Italy (Carbonio), Netherlands (van Oorschot). 

Head to our website to find a pdf of today’s sample here.

Send feedback and rights inquiries to ⁠[email protected]⁠, or visit our ⁠website⁠ to find the right contact within our team for your territory.

Follow us on Instagram ⁠@s.fischer.foreignrights⁠.

Browse our latest rights guides and our online rights catalogue ⁠here⁠.

Subscribe to »Catch of the Day« on your preferred podcast app to not miss the next episode!

Credits

Text originally published as “Brennende Felder” by Reinhard Kaiser-Mühlecker

Translated and read by Alexandra Roesch

Copyright © S. Fischer Verlag GmbH, Frankfurt am Main 2024

Concept: Verena von Bassewitz, Martin Butz & Elisa Diallo

Production, Editing & Sound Design: Martin Butz

⁠Impressum

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, translator Charlie Wührer reads an English sample of Patricia Koelle’s bestseller »Message in A Bottle from Life«.

Pixie is a fantasy author. Recently she has become dissatisfied because her writing is stagnating. So she accepts an offer to research the history of an old ship in a bottle for a magazine. The search takes her to harbours on the East Friesland North Sea coast, where she meets Feeke - the granddaughter of a woman who once influenced the shipbuilder Captain Flömer with her affection and wisdom. Pixie falls in love with the historic Gulfhof farm where Feeke lives. But the farm is in trouble. To save it, Pixie researches other ships in bottles and discovers her true calling in the process.

Rights to Patricia Koelle's Forest of Longing series have been sold to: Netherlands (Oceaan)

Head to our website to find a pdf of today’s sample here.

Send feedback and rights inquiries to ⁠[email protected]⁠, or visit our ⁠website⁠ to find the right contact within our team for your territory.

Follow us on Instagram ⁠@s.fischer.foreignrights⁠.

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Credits

Text originally published as “Flaschenpost vom Leben” by Patricia Koelle

Translated and read by Charlie Wührer

Copyright © 2024 Patricia Koelle

© S. Fischer Verlag GmbH, Frankfurt am Main 2024

Concept: Verena von Bassewitz, Martin Butz & Elisa Diallo

Production, Editing & Sound Design: Martin Butz

⁠Impressum

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, translator Katy Derbyshire reads an English sample of Clemens Meyer’s »The Projectionists«.

World English rights of »The Projectionists« have been sold to Fitzcarraldo Editions. Clemens Meyer is translated into Arabic, Croatian, Danish, English, French, Italian, Japanese, Macedonian, Serbian, Spanish, Swedish, Tamil and Turkish.

»The Projectionists« is an epic tale about Europe's crises and the art of storytelling. From Leipzig to Belgrade, from the GDR to the People's Republic of Yugoslavia, from silver screen spectacles to adventure novels. Relentless and fast-paced, »The Projectionists« tells the story of our present being crushed by the past - and of incomparable characters: in the Velebit Mountains, a former partisan experiences the adventurous filming of Karl May's Winnetou film adaptations. Decades later, the brutal battles of the Yugoslavian wars take place in these very places - in the midst of it all, a group of young right-wing radicals from Dortmund experience the futility of their ideology. And in Leipzig, the texts of a former patient are discussed at a conference in a psychiatric clinic: How did he manage to disappear without a trace? Was he able to predict the future? And what links him to the world traveller Dr May, who was once also a patient at the clinic?

Praise for »The Projectionists«:

"Hit of the season" - Frankfurter Rundschau, Judith von Sternburg

"A storyteller like no other." - Andreas Platthaus, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

"'Projection', however, is the decisive keyword for this autumn's most ambitious [...] German novel" - Andreas Platthaus, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

"gripping anti-violence and anti-war novel. With its subject matter and the art of storytelling, it is a novel from a different literary league" - der Freitag, Michael Hametner

"An epic, an adventure novel" - SWR Kultur

"As powerful as it is magnificent" - Focus

"There's no question that Clemens Meyer has delivered a real masterpiece" - WDR 3 Kultur am Mittag, Mario Scalla

"This is truly great storytelling." - Radio 3 - rbb, Nadine Kreuzahler

Head to our website to find a pdf of today’s sample here.

Send feedback and rights inquiries to ⁠[email protected]⁠, or visit our ⁠website⁠ to find the right contact within our team for your territory.

Follow us on Instagram ⁠@s.fischer.foreignrights⁠.

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Credits

Text originally published as “Die Projektoren” by Clemens Meyer

Translated and read by Katy Derbyshire

Copyright © S. Fischer Verlag GmbH, Frankfurt am Main 2024

Concept: Verena von Bassewitz, Martin Butz & Elisa Diallo

Production, Editing & Sound Design: Martin Butz

⁠Impressum

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the first episode of S. Fischer’s Foreign Rights Podcast »Catch of the Day«! 

In this episode, translator Zaia Alexander reads an English sample of Antje Rávik Strubel’s German Book Prize winner »Blue Woman«.

»Blue Woman« asks the question, do we have the right to remain silent? Adina grew up as the last teenager in her village in the Czech Giant Mountains. While attending a language course in Berlin, she meets a photographer named Rickie, who gets her an internship in an arts centre in the Uckermark region. After being raped by a German politician, she sets out on an odyssey that takes her across half of Europe. In the end, Adina is stranded in Helsinki where Leonides, an Estonian politician and member of the European parliament, becomes her emotional anchor. While he campaigns for human rights, Adina seeks a way out of her inner exile.

»Blue Woman« is a stirring account of a young woman's struggle for integrity. On the road from the Czech Republic to Finland, to Estonia and Germany, her experiences reflect the recent power struggles between Eastern and Western Europe.

Praise for »Blue Woman«:

A little work of wonder in contemporary prose literature (...) masterly. —Fritz J. Raddatz, Die Welt

A lyrical and always suspenseful novel about Europe, memory, violence, and love. —Deutsche Welle

What seems straightforward and clear when summarized is unfolded by Strubel in all its complexity and contradictoriness: the power of trauma to annihilate one’s existence. —Die Welt

[Strubel is] a master of interior states (…) From the very first pages of her gleaming novel, you’re irresistibly pulled into her story. —Süddeutsche Zeitung

An incredibly multi-layered, intelligent, political, psychological novel. —rbb Kultur

She has mastered the art of articulating what should be unspeakable without having to resort to hyperbolic language. —Bayerischer Rundfunk

A gripping novel about the right to tell your own story: Antje Rávik Strubel’s Blue Woman is the portrait of a woman—and of Europe. —Der Tagesspiegel

An incredibly complex and gripping book. —Deutschlandfunk Kultur

Rights to the title have so far been sold to Arabic (Aser Al-Kotob), Croatian (Ljevak), Finnish (Minerva Kustannus), French (Les Escales), Italian (Voland), Korean (PADO), Spanish (De Conatus) and Latin-American Spanish (El Cuervo).

Head to our website to find a pdf of today’s sample ⁠here⁠.

Send feedback and rights inquiries to ⁠[email protected]⁠, or visit our ⁠website⁠ to find the right contact within our team for your territory.

Follow us on Instagram ⁠@s.fischer.foreignrights⁠.

Browse our latest rights guides and our online rights catalogue ⁠here⁠.

Subscribe to »Catch of the Day« on your preferred podcast app to not miss the next episode!

Credits

Text originally published as “Blaue Frau” by Antje Rávik Strubel

Translated and read by Zaia Alexander

Copyright © S. Fischer Verlag GmbH, Frankfurt am Main 2021

Concept: Verena von Bassewitz, Martin Butz & Elisa Diallo

Production, Editing & Sound Design: Martin Butz

⁠Impressum

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.