A event on Tuesday 4th November. The event starts at 19:00.
Join us at East Bristol Books for the presentation of German author Anne Weber's acclaimed work of literary non-fiction *Sanderling*, a travel diary through time, translated by Neil Blackadder and published in the UK by The Indigo Press. The author will be in conversation with Sian Norris.
The past lies before us as a foreign, distant land. *Sanderling* is a personal journey of exploration into the past, and the fascinating world of Florens Christian Rang (1864-1924), written by his great grand-daughter Anne Weber, one of Germany’s leading contemporary authors.
Rang, whom Weber nicknames Sanderling after the darting shorebird, began as a Protestant pastor stationed near Poznań in modern-day Poland, then part of Prussia. The church, which he subsequently abandoned, had a mission to ‘Germanise’ the local population. Weber draws parallels between this apparently benign ambition and the subsequent murderous intent of the Third Reich.
After his apostasy Sanderling became friends with several great early-twentieth-century thinkers, including Walter Benjamin, Hugo von Hofmannsthal and Martin Buber. It was during this time he joined a group of writers, artists and philosophers with whom he hoped to create a utopian society. Later on, his own son – Weber’s grandfather – became a Nazi.
Anne Weber traces the contradictions and crises, the reckonings and departures of her great-grandfather by deciphering his letters and diaries, and travelling in his footsteps to Poland.
Through the thicket of time and research, complex questions arise: how do you live with a history that you can’t escape? What did it mean to be German one hundred years ago? And what is it like today?
With literary and philosophical references including Sontag, Sebald and Nietzsche, Weber combines her family history with a broader examination of ethics and morality to create a travel diary through time, reaching back to understand her ancestors.
Anne Weber is an author, and a translator into both French and German. She studied in Paris and has worked for several publishers. She has written a dozen books, each in a German and French version. Her book *Epic Annette* has been translated into 15 languages and won the 2020 German Book Prize. She has also been awarded the Annette-von-Droste-Hülshoff-Preis and the Joseph-Breitbach-Preis.
Sian Norris is a writer, journalist and copywriter specialising in reporting and investigations into women's rights – with a particular focus on reproductive rights and ending men's violence against women. Her journalistic work has been featured in The Observer, The Guardian, The Times, New Stateman and openDemocracy, among other publications. She is the founder and director of the Bristol Women's Literature Festival. Her book *Bodies Under Siege: How the far-right attack on reproductive rights went global* was published by Verso in 2023.
With the support of Institut français Royaume-Uni.
Author's photo credit: Irmeli Jung
Entry requirements: no age restrictions (under 18s to be accompanied by an adult over 21yrs, 1:1 ratio)
The past lies before us as a foreign, distant land. *Sanderling* is a personal journey of exploration into the past, and the fascinating world of Florens Christian Rang (1864-1924), written by his great grand-daughter Anne Weber, one of Germany’s leading contemporary authors.
Rang, whom Weber nicknames Sanderling after the darting shorebird, began as a Protestant pastor stationed near Poznań in modern-day Poland, then part of Prussia. The church, which he subsequently abandoned, had a mission to ‘Germanise’ the local population. Weber draws parallels between this apparently benign ambition and the subsequent murderous intent of the Third Reich.
After his apostasy Sanderling became friends with several great early-twentieth-century thinkers, including Walter Benjamin, Hugo von Hofmannsthal and Martin Buber. It was during this time he joined a group of writers, artists and philosophers with whom he hoped to create a utopian society. Later on, his own son – Weber’s grandfather – became a Nazi.
Anne Weber traces the contradictions and crises, the reckonings and departures of her great-grandfather by deciphering his letters and diaries, and travelling in his footsteps to Poland.
Through the thicket of time and research, complex questions arise: how do you live with a history that you can’t escape? What did it mean to be German one hundred years ago? And what is it like today?
With literary and philosophical references including Sontag, Sebald and Nietzsche, Weber combines her family history with a broader examination of ethics and morality to create a travel diary through time, reaching back to understand her ancestors.
Anne Weber is an author, and a translator into both French and German. She studied in Paris and has worked for several publishers. She has written a dozen books, each in a German and French version. Her book *Epic Annette* has been translated into 15 languages and won the 2020 German Book Prize. She has also been awarded the Annette-von-Droste-Hülshoff-Preis and the Joseph-Breitbach-Preis.
Sian Norris is a writer, journalist and copywriter specialising in reporting and investigations into women's rights – with a particular focus on reproductive rights and ending men's violence against women. Her journalistic work has been featured in The Observer, The Guardian, The Times, New Stateman and openDemocracy, among other publications. She is the founder and director of the Bristol Women's Literature Festival. Her book *Bodies Under Siege: How the far-right attack on reproductive rights went global* was published by Verso in 2023.
With the support of Institut français Royaume-Uni.
Author's photo credit: Irmeli Jung
Entry requirements: no age restrictions (under 18s to be accompanied by an adult over 21yrs, 1:1 ratio)