Lesung mit Elvira Steppacher und Matthias Nawrat (Moderation): Über Reste: Natur, Kunst, Sprache

Elvira Steppacher reads from her novel "Blösse" (Braumüller Verlag, 2024) and her poetry debut "Einst werden wir Endlinge sein" (Elif Verlag, 2024): Two works that literally get under your skin. They ask how species loss changes our perception of nature and art. Even the artist's novel and the nature poem - traditional genres - appear to be endangered species. Can literature still save anything? An evening about remnants, separations, gains.

In "Blösse", the resolute animal rights activist Moira and the introverted taxidermist Sibylle meet. Both are fighting against animal suffering, species extinction and environmental destruction. While Moira takes radical, even illegal, paths of protest, Sibylle gives artistic expression to her sense of loss. She explores the cultural technique of 'taxidermy' by designing damaged animal skins and discovers a story full of love, violence, neglect and utopia.

The poetry collection "Einst werden wir Endlinge sein" focuses on icons hyped by the media: polar bear Knut, problem bear Bruno, cloned sheep Dolly and she-wolf Bärbel are recalled both alive and taxidermied in precise poetic and essayistic texts.

Both texts explore a paradox: Preservation and appropriation lie close together. Their multi-layered approaches to stuffed animals result in a touching reflection on transience, art and true relationships with other living beings.

Moderation: Matthias Nawrat

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