Love German Books

Translator Alex Roesch looking happy

Looking Forward to 2025: Alex Roesch

Having looked back at 2024’s crop of German books, we’re now doing a spot of sooth-saying with translator Alex Roesch. As we step into 2025, German-language literature promises plenty to capture the imagination. A few upcoming titles have already caught my eye, each offering something refreshingly distinctive. From atmospheric stories set in untamed landscapes to

Translator Siobhán Dowling, a white woman with brown hair and a blue top, on board a boat on a river. She's wearing sunglasses on top of her head and looking melancholy.

Best German Books 2024: Siobhán Dowling

Here comes another list of translators’ top favourites from this year – this time from Siobhán Dowling. Among many great reads this year (including Mithu Sanyal’s Identitti and Helene Bukowski’s Milchzähne), there were quite a few that dealt with aspects of life in the former East Germany as well as the fall of the Berlin

The translator Rachel Ward, a white woman with a brightly coloured summer scarf standing in front of a beautiful sunny garden, with a bird table in the background.

Best German Books 2024: Rachel Ward

The latest in our annual series of translators on their favourite German books of the year is Rachel Ward. My German book of the year was Junge Frau, am Fenster stehend, Abendlicht, blaues Kleid [Young Woman Standing at the Window, Evening Light, Blue Dress] by Alena Schröder (dtv, 2021). Hannah is a student in Berlin who suddenly discovers that

A head shot of translator Lucy Jones, a white woman with a gorgeous blond tangly fringe, in front of a stippled grey wall

Best German Books 2024: Lucy Jones

Next up in our annual series of translators on their favourite reads of the year is Lucy Jones. Elias Hirschl: Content Hirschl’s humour is the driest kind. After Salonfähig, a grisly satire, he has now written a dystopian novel centred on young people who work for the Smile Smile content farm. Set in a ghost

Translator Jamie Bulloch, smiling

Best German Books 2024: Jamie Bulloch

Second in our annual series of translators on their favourite reads of the year is Jamie Bulloch. As each year passes, the proportion of books I read that are in German seems to grow. This year I’ve had more to choose from than ever and haven’t managed to narrow it down to fewer than five.

Translator Annie Rutherford smiling in dark clothes in front of a sea wall with a Poseidon graffito

Best German Books 2024: Annie Rutherford

Continuing our annual series of translators on their favourite reads of the year, here is Annie Rutherford. Isabel Bogdan: Wohnverwandtschaften One of the things I love about Isabel Bogdan’s writing (which I, err, have spent quite a bit of time with – see The Peacock) is the way Isa draws her characters – endearing, slightly

A very beautiful and very thick book, Clemens Meyer's novel Die Projektoren

My German Book of the Year 2024

There was one novel that grabbed me so hard this year, it put all other books in the shade for months. You must know that phenomenon: a book so delicious, everything that comes after it tastes bland. Enough metaphors. It was Clemens Meyer’s Die Projektoren. As you may know, I’ve translated most of the author’s

German Book Prize 2024: the Longlist

What treasures lie in wait among the nominations for Germany’s biggest literary award? A writer friend and I have an annual tradition, usually performed lying on towels at our local lido. On the morning of the announcement, we pick over the longlist for the German Book Prize and choose our favourite nominations, and also draw

A Utopian Future of Translation Publishing in Germany

In Germany (and the Netherlands, and a number of other countries) the young generation has been raised on a media diet incredibly rich in English-language content. Talk to anyone from about 30 and under, and you’ll probably find they speak extremely good English. It’s amazing! They’re great! They’re on TikTok and all those platforms, and