Swiss writers at the HSG

4 November 2010. Ruth Schweikertwill give a lecture on literature and its significance for present-day society in the Main Building (Room 01-012) of the HSG at 6.15 p.m.Subsequently, DorotheeElmigerwill be reading from her novel Einladungan die Waghalsigenin the Library of the University of St.Gallen at7.30 p.m.

In her book, DorotheeElmigertells the story of two sisters who create a new world in the devastated area of a former coal-mining district.DorotheeElmiger’sreading will be moderated by Prof. Dr. Andreas Härter, Associate Professor of German Language and Literature at the HSG.

Prize for Dorothee Elmiger at the Frankfurt Book Fair
On 7 October,the author also received the aspekte Literature Prize of the German TV channel ZDF for Einladungan die Waghalsigen.This prize, which amounts to EUR 10,000, is awarded annually to the best literary debut. Elmiger was awarded the prize on Thursday, 7 October 2010 at the Frankfurt Book Fair. The jury of theaspekte Literature Prize is made up of literary critics from Austria, Germany and Switzerland.

Ruth Schweikert on literature and society
Ruth Schweikertis a guest at the HSG in connection with the HSG’s public lecture series on literature. She will be reading from some of her works and will home in on the question as to the relevance literature has for society today and why authors are noticing a decrease in the significance of their work. Ruth Schweiker’s proposition is that after all, every literary work (story, drama, novel and poem) outlines a picture (or pictures) of its time and society.

Ruth Schweikert, who was born in 1964, received the Bertelsmann Scholarship on the occasion of the 1994 IngeborgBachmann Competition and the scholarship of the publishers, Suhrkamp, in Zurich in 1996. Her volume of storiesErdnüsse.Totschlagen appeared in 1994, her first novel Augenzu in 1998, and her novel Ohio in 2005.