Clemens J.Setz: Mein Leben als Noiseband

From the Backstage of Life: New Stories by the Büchner Prize Winner.

Paul’s language is noise: monstrously thundering tracks on which he screams out his despair in a distorted voice. Offstage, he spends his life largely alone. Except for Mark, who is part of the band but is withdrawing more and more—and until Paul meets Annika. When they have a child, the pressure to express everything through murderously loud music begins to ease. But what remains of his art now? And why has Mark disappeared for good?

*My Life as a Noise Band* is a collection ofstories about outsiders and loners on the fringes of society. In it, Clemens J. Setz uses precise, poetic language to portray characters in distorted realities where violence, loneliness, and tender moments of intimacy coexist side by side.

Clemens J. Setzlives in Vienna as a freelance writer and translator. His work has received numerous awards, most recently the 2021 Georg Büchner Prize and the 2023 Austrian Book Prize.

Moderator:
Andreas Platthausis a journalist, writer, and author. Since February 2016, he has been head of the Literature and Literary Life section at the FAZ.