Reading series «Das andere Buch an der Uni»
- Enrique Vila-Matas & Felix Philipp Ingold read from their works
- Library of the University of St. Gallen, under the cupola
- Wednesday, 5 May 2004, 7.30 pm
- Free entry. Reading in German/Spanish
- Introduction: Yvette Sánchez
- Translation: Dorian Occhiuzzi
About their works
The Library and the Research Institute for Spanish Language and Literature at the University of St.Gallen jointly invite you to a reading, based on Herman Melville’s refusenik character Bartleby. The guest authors have been inspired by this peculiar clerk and composed two fascinating texts – Felix Philipp Ingold’s novella “Ewiges Leben” (1991) and Enrique Vila-Matas’s novel/essay “Bartleby & Co.” (2000). Both authors will read from these two books and their other works. They will then open up a Spanish-Swiss dialogue with the audience.
About the authors
Enrique Vila-Matas (born in 1948, Barcelona), has published continually since 1977 and is now considered one of the great Spanish prose authors. Awards have been heaped on him, most recently the Prix Médicis in France. His protagonists dedicate themselves tenaciously to one theme, literature and writing - which they have chosen as a life form. Their creator brilliantly comments on them with an ironic wink. From his seven novels that have been translated into German, the last three were published by Nagel & Kimche in Zurich – after “Bartleby & Co.”, “Die merkwürdigen Zufälle des Lebens” (2002) and “Risiken und Nebenwirkungen” (2004).
Felix Philipp Ingold (born in 1942, Basel) is a renowned Swiss poet, translator and full Professor for the Cultural and Social History of Russia at the local University. Like his Spanish colleague, he is a man of letters in every sense of the word. His remarkable eloquence and cautious use of the word as a commodity to appeal to all the senses, define his numerous literary and academic publications. His writing has also been honoured with many prizes, such as the Ernst Jandl Prize from the Republic of Austria, or the Literary Award of the canton of Zurich. A small selection of titles from his poetry include "Unzeit" (1981), "Echtzeit" (1989), "Restnatur" (1994), "Zeichensatz" (1996), "Nach der Stimme" (1997/CD 2000), "Auf den Tag", "Genaue Gedichte" (2000), "De nature", poems in French and German (2000), "Jeder Zeit andere Gedichte" (2002).