The Hole: A Novel in Process

The autumn series in which Wiepersdorf scholarship holders present their work continues. Viennese author Ursula Knoll provides insight into her writing. She is currently working on a novel that intertwines the stories of two people from different centuries.

C. Gradenstein is the name given to Baroness Perin von Gradenstein after she, as a women's rights activist and democrat, is persecuted by the neo-absolutist Habsburg regime for her involvement in the 1848 revolution and has to fight for survival. C. Gradenstein is also the name given to Christoph Gradenstein, a not-so-young employee at an AI start-up, because it sounds kind of posh and looks cool on his Instagram account. The novel Das Loch (The Hole) weaves the lives of the two C. Gradensteins into a wild exploration of the question of what price they pay for fighting for democracy or abandoning it.

A workshop discussion will take place on this topic. Ursula Knoll will reflect with the audience on decisions made during the writing process: What narrative perspective does this material require? How can historical research knowledge be woven into the narrative in a lively way? How faithful does one remain to a historical figure? And what tone does the novel strike?

Ursula Knoll, born in Vienna in 1981, received her doctorate in German Studies at the University of Vienna and trained as a playwright at the Burgtheater Vienna and the wiener wortstaetten. Longer research stays in Bishkek, Washington DC and Prague followed. Her plays have been published by Schultz&Schirm, Hartmann&Stauffacher and Kaiser Verlag.

Tuesday, 11 November, 5:00 p.m.
Free Admission
Wiepersdorf - Bettina-von-Arnim-Straße 13, 14913 Niederer Fläming

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