Without Waking Up
einmal muss ich über weiches Gras gelaufen sein

schutti einmal muss ich ueber weiches gras laufen
March 2012 / 144pp
Fiction
  • Winner of the European Prize for Literature 2015

The Austrian Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, the Civil Service and Sport supported the English translation of this book.

Get information on the English version here (UK).

review

Carolina Schutti’s receipt of the 2015 European Union Prize for Literature is amply justified by this beautiful book, full of characters who seem to have a life beyond the page. 

This is the story of Maja, whose mother dies when she is still a child and who is then sent to a foreign country to live with her father. Maja feels doubly bereft after moving house: grieving for her mother as well as her mother tongue. Maja’s father is reluctant to look after her and moves away, leaving his daughter in the brusque care of her great aunt. Maja meets Marek, who has also experienced the loss of his cultural identity and becomes a father figure and friend to her. Schutti’s pared-down style enables her to narrate Marek’s complex story of war, love and loss in a concise, elegant way. 

In the later chapters the adult Maja reflects on her life and relationships; she is lonely and secretly in love with a colleague of hers. At the end of the book she makes a journey back to her old home with her daughter. Readers may draw different conclusions about what the future holds.

about the author

Carolina Schutti was born in 1976 in Innsbruck, where she still lives. She studied German philology, English and American Studies, concert guitar and classical voice. Her publications include essays on literary studies, literary reviews and other texts in literary magazines. She coordinates and moderates literary events and interdisciplinary projects, works as a juror, gives lectures on poetry and holds training seminars in the field of Neue Literatur. Schutti has received a number of awards for her literary work, including the 2015 European Union Prize for Literature.

rights information

Translation rights available from:

Otto Müller Verlag GmbH
Contact: Magdalena Fuchs
Tel: +43 662 88 19 74
Email: info@omvs.at
www.omvs.at

For information on publisher Otto Müller please contact NBG

translation assistance

The Austrian Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, the Civil Service and Sport supported the English translation of this book.

Get information on the English version here (UK).

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All recommendations from Autumn 2015