In the organizer's words:

Lisa is better at shock ventilation than her neighbors. After twenty years in Germany, she no longer wants to think about her old life in the far north. But since she became a mother, the memories come flooding back. When her midwife leaves for Russia in a hurry, Lisa seizes the opportunity and accompanies her. A journey begins through a country where advertisements for the war run alongside those for washing powder. There, the two women must confront their desires - and their past.

A novel about the brutal pull of motherhood and the longing for a place you never wanted to return to.

Wlada Kolosowa was born in St. Petersburg in 1987 and grew up in the polar settlement of Nikel and in Cottbus. She studied journalism in Berlin and creative writing in New York with J. S. Foer and Zadie Smith, among others. She works as an editor in the family section of ZEIT ONLINE. In 2017, she was awarded the prestigious US Pushcart Prize for her short stories. Her novel "Der Hausmann" (Leykam 2022) was selected for the "Berlin liest ein Buch" campaign in 2023.

Moderation: Julia Boxler