VERKIN

  • A West-East adventure from Istanbul across continents, exploring the 20th century's history.
  • Vier Äpfel was longlisted for the German Book Prize 2009.
  • Leben won the Leipzig Book Fair Prize 2013, with rights sold to 15 countries.
  • English sample translation available.

Verkin, around seventy years old, is Turkish-Armenian, cosmopolitan, an entrepreneur, and a politician. David, in his mid-forties, is a writer from Berlin who grew up along the Rhine. They explore Istanbul and travel across Anatolia, to the Lycian coast and Lake Van near the Iranian border. Verkin shares stories from her childhood on the Bosporus, her grandmothers who survived the 1915 genocide, and her father who founded Turkey's largest electrical company. She talks about her Swiss boarding school years, Paris in 1968, and her work in divided Berlin's GDR. She also describes her time in New York art circles in the 1970s and her marriages (including one to a German). An accident led her on a decade-long journey. She speaks about her fight for the Armenian cause and her political work in the AKP, reflecting a life full of contradictions.

«The Proust-inspired West German stylist.» The New York Times

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Sample Translations
  • Publisher: Rowohlt Buchverlag
  • Release: 13.08.2024
  • ISBN: 978-3-498-00224-4
  • 400 Pages
  • Author: David Wagner

Please be advised that the book cover may be used in its original design only. Details and distortions are not permitted under copyright law.

VERKIN
David Wagner VERKIN
Linda Rosa Saal
© Linda Rosa Saal
David Wagner

David Wagner was born in 1971 in Andernach, Germany. His debut Meine nachtblaue Hose  attracted significant critical attention. Vier Äpfel was longlisted for the German Book Prize and for his novel Leben he received the Leipzig Book Fair Prize in 2013. In 2014, he was appointed the first Friedrich Durrenmatt guest professor for world literature at the University of Bern. In 2019, he won the Bavarian Book Award for his novel Der vergessliche Riese , and he was shortlisted for the Wilhelm Raabe Prize the same year. His books have been translated into many languages. He lives in Berlin.