Best-selling European authors to speak

Four prominent European writers will appear together Wednesday, Nov. 15, to discuss their work and new trends in contemporary European literature.

Ib Michael of Denmark, Sandra Petrignani of Italy, Alissa Walser of Germany and Martin Winckler of France will present “New Voices from the New Europe: An Evening of Literature, Readings and Dialogue with European Authors” at 7 p.m., Pyle Center, 702 Langdon St. A book signing will follow.

“We are particularly excited to have four writers from different cultures and countries all within Europe,” says Crister Garrett, executive director of the UW–Madison European Studies Alliance, a coalition of the European Union Center, the Center for German and European Studies, and the Center for European Studies. “They remind us that in a time of real and ongoing European unification, a diversity of literary voices exists and thrives.”

The talk is sponsored by the European Studies Alliance, the International Institute and the departments of German, French and Italian, and Scandinavian Studies, in partnership with the European Union Cultural Committee in Chicago. The event is one of several planned by the International Institute as part of International Education Week, Nov. 13-17, declared by U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley, the first time the U.S. government has designated such a week.

Ib Michael, born in 1945, is the author of several works including “The Tiger’s Tale” (1981), “Kilroy, Kilroy” (1989), “The Vanilla Girl,” (1991), “The Midnight Soldier” (1993), “Letter to the Moon” (1995) and “Prince” (1997). His fantastical novels and poems have been described as merging space and time, integrating the global and the local and presenting the reader with an expanded version of reality. He has received many grants and awards, including the Booksellers Club Golden Laurel, the Danish Author Association Peace Prize and the Danish Academy Prize.

Sandra Petrignani, born in 1952, has written several novels, short stories and collections of essays, including “The Toy Catalogue” (1990) and “Come Fratello e Sorella” (1998).

French novelist Martin Winckler, who was born in Algiers in 1955, is a medical doctor by training. Winckler, a pseudonym (Winckler’s real name is Marc Zaffran), gave up his medical career to become a full-time writer in 1994 after the publication of his first book “La Vacation.” His “The Disease of Sachs,” about a country doctor, has been a best seller in France since its release in 1998 and won the Prix du Livre Inter. Seven Stories Press will issue the work this October in the United States.

France’s Le Monde newspaper said of the work: “With this social autofiction Martin Winckler makes the patients we all are feel the need for, and perhaps have nostalgia for, the old time doctor who listens with empathy, heals your sufferings and perhaps simply recognizes your pain.” A movie version of the book, directed by Michel Deville, won first prize at this year’s Chicago Film Festival and will be released in the U.S. next winter.

Alissa Walser, born in 1961 and daughter of well-known German novelist Martin Walser, is considered to be one of Germany’s young literary stars. Walser is the author of two books of short stories, including “This Is Not My Whole Story” (1994) and “The Smaller Half of the World” (2000).

Walser “is counted as a strong voice among a new generation of German writers who have revived the art of short stories in the ’90s,” says Marc Silberman, chairman of the Department of German. American readers may be surprised to find her writing familiar.

Walser, who once studied art in New York City, has translated into German some of the works of Edward Albee, Joyce Carol Oates and Sylvia Plath and has been influenced by their literary styles.

“She honed her skills on the ruthless conflicts and hard-nosed diction of everyday speech that we find in their texts,” Silberman says.

The writers also will meet with UW–Madison students and faculty.