Welcome to the first episode of S. Fischer’s Foreign Rights Podcast »Catch of the Day«! 

In this episode, translator Zaia Alexander reads an English sample of Antje Rávik Strubel’s German Book Prize winner »Blue Woman«.

»Blue Woman« asks the question, do we have the right to remain silent? Adina grew up as the last teenager in her village in the Czech Giant Mountains. While attending a language course in Berlin, she meets a photographer named Rickie, who gets her an internship in an arts centre in the Uckermark region. After being raped by a German politician, she sets out on an odyssey that takes her across half of Europe. In the end, Adina is stranded in Helsinki where Leonides, an Estonian politician and member of the European parliament, becomes her emotional anchor. While he campaigns for human rights, Adina seeks a way out of her inner exile.

»Blue Woman« is a stirring account of a young woman's struggle for integrity. On the road from the Czech Republic to Finland, to Estonia and Germany, her experiences reflect the recent power struggles between Eastern and Western Europe.

Praise for »Blue Woman«:

A little work of wonder in contemporary prose literature (...) masterly. —Fritz J. Raddatz, Die Welt

A lyrical and always suspenseful novel about Europe, memory, violence, and love. —Deutsche Welle

What seems straightforward and clear when summarized is unfolded by Strubel in all its complexity and contradictoriness: the power of trauma to annihilate one’s existence. —Die Welt

[Strubel is] a master of interior states (…) From the very first pages of her gleaming novel, you’re irresistibly pulled into her story. —Süddeutsche Zeitung

An incredibly multi-layered, intelligent, political, psychological novel. —rbb Kultur

She has mastered the art of articulating what should be unspeakable without having to resort to hyperbolic language. —Bayerischer Rundfunk

A gripping novel about the right to tell your own story: Antje Rávik Strubel’s Blue Woman is the portrait of a woman—and of Europe. —Der Tagesspiegel

An incredibly complex and gripping book. —Deutschlandfunk Kultur

Rights to the title have so far been sold to Arabic (Aser Al-Kotob), Croatian (Ljevak), Finnish (Minerva Kustannus), French (Les Escales), Italian (Voland), Korean (PADO), Spanish (De Conatus) and Latin-American Spanish (El Cuervo).

Head to our website to find a pdf of today’s sample ⁠here⁠.

Send feedback and rights inquiries to ⁠foreignrights@fischerverlage.de⁠, or visit our ⁠website⁠ to find the right contact within our team for your territory.

Follow us on Instagram ⁠@s.fischer.foreignrights⁠.

Browse our latest rights guides and our online rights catalogue ⁠here⁠.

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Credits

Text originally published as “Blaue Frau” by Antje Rávik Strubel

Translated and read by Zaia Alexander

Copyright © S. Fischer Verlag GmbH, Frankfurt am Main 2021

Concept: Verena von Bassewitz, Martin Butz & Elisa Diallo

Production, Editing & Sound Design: Martin Butz

⁠Impressum

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