Thank You (German: Danke)​

Hello everyone, 

Thank you to everyone who came to my reading last night (and for joining me here now, too). I couldn’t have asked for a better audience! This was not only my first translation reading but also my first reading in New York, and sharing the first chapter of the novel I’m currently translating, It Is Only Us (German: Es sind nur wir) by Austrian author Martin Peichl, was an absolute joy.

The novel follows an unnamed narrator grappling with the aftermath of a tragedy: one of his favorite students, Paul, jumps out of a window during his lesson. Unable to move on, the narrator becomes fixated on loss, documenting things that have disappeared—or are about to disappear—on index cards. He claims to be writing a book, a dictionary of loss. But in truth, he becomes consumed by thoughts of how the world might end, gradually losing all grip on reality. The result is a haunting exploration of grief, obsession, and the things we hold on to. 

I started translating this novel as part of my Literary Translation class. The experience of bringing Peichl’s words into English was much more difficult than expected, yet deeply rewarding. His writing is spare yet powerful, with layers of emotion to unpack, and I spent hours fine-tuning the text, trying to make the narrator’s grief and obsession come across authentically. Once I’d polished my translation, I took a chance and sent it to Haymon Verlag, Peichl’s Austrian publisher—and got a really positive response. They’ll be publishing the translation sample on New Books in German, and soon, the first chapters of It Is Only Us will make its English debut. It’s a milestone, if only a little one, and I’m excited to share it!

Thank you again for coming and for making my first New York reading unforgettable.

Talk to you soon—

—Lara