Literary treat at Jacobs University: Joachim Zelter reads from his novels

On Wednesday, September 19, the University Club at Jacobs University invites the interested public to a »Literary fireside evening with Joachim Zelter«. The prize-winning German author reads from his novels »Die Würde des Lügens« (»The dignity of lying«) and »Briefe aus Amerika«(»Letters from America«). The literary treat will be accompanied with finger food and drinks. The German language reading in the University Club starts at 7.30 p.m. The admission fee is 5 €.

[ Sep 11, 2007]  From the perspective of a nameless young boy the book "Die Würde des Lügens" deals with the ambiguity of truth as a virtue. Not always is telling the truth the right thing to do, not always can the categories “true” and “false” easily be disentangled. The book plays with fiction and antifiction in an ambitious and witty way. Published in 2000, the book was awarded with the Thaddäus-Troll-Prize and the Sponsorship of the International Lake Constance Conference.

"Briefe aus Amerika" is a campus novel in which clichés of America are confirmed and overdrawed in a grotesque way. It celebrates and carricatures both the American extreme and the German pecularity. The postmodern novel is full of slapsticks and tragedy and that is exactly what gives the book an adventurous touch.

The author Joachim Zelter was born 1962 in Freiburg, Germany. He studied and taught English Literature in Tübingen and Yale. Since 1997 he is working as a free author. Many times awarded for his literary work he received a scholarship from the art-foundation Baden-Wuerttemberg (2003) and a scholarship from the federal state Baden-Wuerttemberg (2005), amongst others.