Dr Deborah Holmes from the Department of German will launch her new book Vienna Tales (Oxford University Press, 2014) at the Austrian Cultural Forum in London on Wednesday 14 January 2015 at 7pm.
Vienna Tales is a collection of stories translated by Deborah Holmes and edited by Helen Constantine. In the stories the city’s famous quality of life and rich cultural offerings are apparent, but so too is its darker side, whether it be the Viennese obsession with death and decay or the dramatic, tragic events of its twentieth-century history. In stories from the early to mid-nineteenth century in particular, the city stands for wine, women and song, for a laid-back, perhaps somewhat lax, outlook on life that is invariably linked to its location as German culture’s southernmost centre. In more recent tales, the theme of the good life and of Vienna’s beauty continues, but there are very few authors who do not dwell on elements of darkness or melancholy. Indeed, from the mid-twentieth century onward, death itself seems to have become literature’s preferred guide to the city.
Deborah will present and read from her newly published collection at an event organised by the Austrian Cultural Forum, which promotes cultural contacts between the UK and Austria by organising events and supporting artists and projects in the fields of music, performing arts, visual arts, literature, film and science. Dr Heide Kunzelmann, also from the Department of German, will be moderating the event.
Further details can be found at: www.acflondon.org/literature-and-books/new-books/deborah-holmes-presents-vienna-tales
For more details on the book please see the publisher’s webpage at: http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/product/9780199669790.do