Katharina Volckmer and The Appointment

'It felt liberating to find that voice and put it on paper...Some restrictions can be creative.'

Hello! Katharina Volckmer talks about her debut novel, The Appointment (Fitzcarraldo Editions), a TLS 'Book of the Year 2020', and one critics have called 'a darkly funny untangling of national and sexual identity' (The Guardian).

And what a great way to kick off our 'Finding Room' series with a novel set entirely in one room...

Enjoyed this episode - why not send a small donation to support with the running costs! Thank you! - https://ko-fi.com/liambishop

Rippling Points

• Can the restrictions of writing in a language which isn't your 'mother tongue' ultimately set you free?
• How a 'silent' character can be a 'loud' presence.

Buy THE APPOINTMENT here

 

Reference Points

Books and Writers

Thomas Bernhard - The Old Masters

Siri Hustvedt - The Blindfold

Franz Kafka

Ottessa Moshfegh

Philip Roth - Portnoy's Complaint

Articles

Katharina in conversation with RL Goldberg for the Paris Review

Katharina on 'that strange German silence' that persists over the Holocaust for the Guardian

Ideal lockdown literary listening. 

Follow Liam on Twitter - @liamhbishop
Follow the Rippling Pages on Instagram - @rippling_pages