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Matthias Jügler Writer-in-Residence

The German writer Matthias Jügler is writer in residence in Reykjavík in May, hosted by Goethe-Institut and Reykjavík UNESCO City of Literature. Matthias will introduce his work in conversation with Benedikt Hjartarson in Mál og menning bookstore on Laugavegur 18 on Sunday, May 15th. at 2 pm. The event will be in English.

All are welcome to this free event

Goethe Institut Denmark invites a German writer to Reykjavík for a one month work stay each year in cooperation with Reykjavík UNESCO City of Literature. This May, Matthias Jügler dwells in the City of Literature‘s residency in Gröndal‘s House where he is working on his third novel. His previous work deals with the effect that the GDR regime still has on people in today's united Germany. He has published two antholgies about racism and xenophobia and two novels. The latest one, Die Verlassenen (The Forsaken), came out in 2021 to great acclaim.

Matthias is born in 1984 in Halle (East Germany). He did a degree in scandinavian studies and history of art in Greifswald and Oslo and studied creative writing at the Institute of Literature in Leipzig, where he lives today with his wife and children. In addition to his fiction writing, Matthias is a freelance editor and journalist.

In Reykjavík Matthias Jügler will work on his 3rd novel where a father is seeking his son. A part of the book will take place in Iceland.

Die Verlessenen tells the story of young protagonist, Johannes. He suffers the loss of his mother while he is a child, only for his father to disappear when he is a teenager. He goes on to uncover the shocking circumstances of his mother’s death, but never finds his father, and this absence is at the heart of The Forsaken.

Goethe-Insitut Denmark has invited a German writer to Reykjavík for years now and the Reykjavík City of Literature hosts the guests and introduces their work to the local public. The guests use the stay to work and get to know the Icelandic literary and cultural landscape as well as sharing their experience with German speaking readers through Goethe Institute's website.