Turbo-Roundup

I'm off to lovverly London for a couple of days (no, not to the book fair). I hope to catch one or two events at the excellent Free the Word! festival run by international PEN. They've also been writing some very interesting translation-related stuff at the sister blog, Free the Blog! Well worth checking out...

Back in Berlin, Mr (or Ms) Karl-Marx-Straße (who buys their stamps at Alex, not next to Neukölln town hall) points out a prize ceremony that mere mortals can attend - and sustain themselves from the buffet: the service sector trade union is awarding its literature prize to the poets Eva Strittmatter and Richard Pietraß on 22 April. I can't go.

And as if to back me up on my last post, my favourite critic, Ina Hartwig, has a nice little English interview on the Goethe-Institut's website. Aside from making me wonder whether it's a tiny bit sad to have a favourite critic, she sings the praises of Clemens Meyer and Uwe Tellkamp, Marlene Streeruwitz and Lukas Bärfuss.

See you in a few days...