In a special series direct from the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival, Irma chats to German author, winner of the 2024 International Booker Prize, Jenny Erpenbeck, about the pros and cons of coming from a family of famous writers, why she mourns aspects of the German Democratic Republic and is driven to express this through writing, how she weaves the personal and political together, the translation process, the financial support available to German authors that we do not have in Australia, why the worst moment of her career was having one of her plays produced, and the best was finding out she’d won the Booker (while busting for the toilet!)

Supported by the ACT Government

About Jenny

Jenny Erpenbeck is an acclaimed German novelist, playwright and opera director born in East Berlin. She has been translated into over 20 languages and has won many prizes, including the 2015 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize for The End of Days and the 2024 International Booker Prize for Kairos.