“for a few months, i was pretty sure i wouldn’t write this book, if only because people often inquired about it: aren’t you working on a tsunami book?  no, no fear of that.

 or: man, that was really something you went through, you’ve got your next book right there.

 those were awkward situations.  i wanted to write about the disaster, but on the other hand, i didn’t want to.  i couldn’t assess what i’d experienced, i couldn’t look at it from the outside.  it was like a knot deep inside me, and it wouldn’t be undone.”
(Excerpt from Josef Haslinger’s phi phi island, translated by John Cullen)

Austrian author Josef Haslinger will read from the English translation of his latest book, phi phi island, in which he chronicles his experiences in Thailand during the 2004 Tsunami. The reading will be followed by a conversation with Michael Orthofer.  

Author Josef Haslinger is professor for literary aesthetics at the Deutsches Literaturinstitut in Leipzig. His best-selling novel Opernball brought him considerable acclaim in 1995. The current issue of transforum features an > interview with the author.

Michael Orthofer was born in Austria in 1964 and lives in New York. He is the founder and managing editor of the Complete Review and its Literary Saloon weblog, a popular literary web site with a focus on international fiction.

This event is presented in conjunction with the Dietrich W. Botstiber Foundation.

VENUE
ACFNY