Creative Writing Critique Swiss Book Prize (Satis Shroff)

Creative Writing Critique Swiss Book Prize 2009(Satis Shroff, Freiburg)

MEHR MEER

A translator and essayist
Born in 1946 in Slovakia,
Grew up in Switzerland,
Living in Zürich,
Won the Swiss Buch.09 award
And 50,000 Swiss Franks.

The jury was delighted
With her ‘Mehr Meer,’
Written with a pen
Dipped in beauty
That fills the world
With poetry.

With her More Seas,
She sailed past Peter Stamm
With his novel Seven Years,
Shortlisted contemporaries:
Eleonore Frey, Jürg Laederach,
Angelika Overath and Urs Widmer.

A tale about memories
Of a daughter,
Of Hungarian
And Slovenian descent,
With sojourns in Budapest,
Ljublijana, Triest, Zürich,
Leningrad and Paris.
The poetess of this passage
Of memories
Is Ilma Rakussa,
A sincere lady with a haircut,
Akin to Prince Valiant,
With a soft voice.

The atmosphere was sticky,
The visitors stiff,
Perspiring in their garments
At the Basler Erlenmatten Street.
What a pleasant surprise:
Buch.09 is going
Buch Basel again.

* * *



Creative Writing Critique: THE SWISS BOOK PRIZE 2008 (Satis Shroff, Freiburg)

Books galore at Basle 08. An author named Wolfang Bortlik went even so far as to say,
“books have now ( after the fixed price went down) the same character as commodities like socks and toothpaste.” Thereby implying that touching a book is like touching any other ware. It’s not a sacral but a profane object of delight. Which reminds me of the publisher who started reading a manuscript, then went to change his clothes and came out wearing a dark suit and a bow-tie to show reverence towards the would-be author. The book was a classic. ‘Education,’ said Dr. John G. Hibben, a one-time President of Princeton University,‘is the ability to meet life’s situations.’ He could have added the word ‘aqequately.’

‘What’s the difference between BookBasle and Book 08?’ you might ask. BookBasle is a thing of the past and was more or less a well-organised Fair. But Book 08 has new ambients, and for the first time Switzerland has created a Swiss Book Award for established and aspiring writers of this ravishingly beautiful Alpine Republic. I went to Morschach in Central Switzerland during the Summer holidays and thought I was already in Heaven, you know. Alone in 2007, 110 organisers and 152 participating publishing houses (small and big) were interested in Book 08. Now it’s over 400 publisher-stalls and rather international. ‘International’ in the Swiss context means, of course, publishers from big German and Austrian cities like: Munich, Frankfurt upon Main (not Frankfurt upon Oder), Berlin and Vienna. Lübbe is a good name, for instance, with Dan Brown’s ‘Sacrilege’ and others. If you prefer listening rather than talking or reading, there are author forums where the authors read from their latest books.

Now the question: who’s gonna read at Basle 08? I find Friday 14,2008 rather interesting not only because Cornelia Schinzzilarz, Adam Davies, Slavenka Draklic and György Dragoman will be reading and answering questions, but also this year’s Man Booker Prize recipient Aravind Adiga with ‘The White Tiger’ (German title ‘Der Weisse Tiger’ published by C.H. Beck, 2008. Aravind works as a correspondent for the newsmag Time and The Financial Times. He was born in 1974 and the protagonist of his first novel is Balram Halwai, (I love halwa from Mumbai, you know) who tells his story in the first person singular. Halwa has a fantastic charisma and shows you how you can climb the Indian mainstream ladder as a philosopher and entrepreneur---and ends as a murderer. You’ve probably read ‘Goodbye Lenin,’ dear reader. This time it’s ‘Goodbye Lemon,’ a touching novel with dark humour about memories, mourning and forgiveness written by Adam Davies.

In this fast-living, egoistic consumer society, relationships tend to be fragile. It’s often touch and go. A series of wrong words and the partner looks for and finds another. The Swiss journalist Karin-Dietl-Wichmann knows what she’s talking writing about in her ‘Lass dich endlich scheiden,’ (published by Heyne 2008) which means ‘File a divorce for Heaven’s Sake.’ She was married thrice and knows how to go about it and admonishes women, without batting an eye-lid, to evaluate their marriages and shows that there’s no reason to uphold a partnership where there’s no fundament.

‘Leben Spenden’ published by Zsolnay, 2008, which means ‘Donate Life’ is a book by one of the most well-known Croatian authors: Slavenka Drakulic. She had to go to the USA in September 2004 to get a kidney-transplantation. It wasn’t her first, you know.

‘Der weisse König’ which means ‘The White King’ is György Dragoman’s second novel. The first one was ‘The Book of Destruction’ with the German title ‘Das Buch der Zerstörung’ which received a literary prize. The current book is being translated at the moment into fifteen languages. Dragoman was born in 1973 in the Seven-Hills of Romania (Siebenbürgen) and lives since 1988 in Budapest. His books have been published by Suhrkamp, a German publishing house.

At last year’s BuchBasel Fair you could find strange books like: Das Kifferlexikon, a compact encyclopedia on Cannabis sativa (hash) and others books like ‘Das Joint Drehbuch’ with a pun on the verb ‘drehen’ and even a cooking book with the title ‘Das Rauschkochbuch.’ Thomas Kessler, an author from Basle, has even written a book with the title ‘Hanf in der Schweiz.’ At the moment Kessler is responsible for the Integration of Migrants at the Canton-Basle City. Another interesting character at the past BookBasel was Tom Kummer, a journalist, who’d written interviews with Hollywood stars. The problem was he’d met them only in his mind. Herr Kummer had an explanation: he said he was representing Borderline-Journalism in which reality is consciously mixed with fantasy. His incredible book? ‘Blow Up: The Story of My Life’. I personally think he made a hash of the genres. I’ve heard about borderline medical cases during my medical and social science studies, but this really beats it. A wonderful example for students of Creative Writing classes how not to create and stir fiction with non-fiction. If you do, then please declare your ingredient as fiction and you’re on the safe side.

Can a book, film or PC game have the same negative effect on small readers? There have been discussions about the Grimm Brothers and their Fairy Tales which are said to be ‘too brutal at times.’ I had a talk with a bespectacled, elderly Freiburger European ethnologist, Frau Schaufelberger, who lectures on the subject and she said, “No, I think that it’s good to have bad or scary tales also, otherwise we’ll be giving a wrong picture about real life to the children.” Compared to what the kiddies watch in TV and DVDs, the Grimm and other Fairy Tales around the world are tame, not-so-scary and have educational values for they uphold values and norms of the concerned societies and their cultures.

So who’s going to win the Swiss Book Prize 2008? There are five favourites. Lukas Bärfuss, Rolf Lappert, Adolf Muschg, Peter Stamm and Anja Jardine. It’s evident that the Swiss ladies are underrepresented in the alpine literary world. The Swiss Book Prize involves a matter of 50,000 Swiss Franks (the German Book Prize offers 25,000 Euros) and the four losers will go home with 2,500 Swiss Franks in their pockets, which is indeed a great discrepancy compared to the first prize. Well loser can’t be choosers, oder? But one thing is sure: all five authors will cash in on publicity, honour, privilege and special presentations at other diverse Book Fairs.

Anja Jardine, is a newcomer and her book carries the title ‘Als der Mond vom Himmel fiel’ which in English means ‘When the Moon fell from the Sky’ published by Klein & Aber, Zürich.). Lukas Bärfuss has written an explosive political book on Ruanda ‘Hundert Tage’ published by Wallstein, Göttingen. Author Adolf Muschg is already prominent and is known for his minimal writings that have maximum effect. His book has the title ‘Kinderhochzeit,’ a love story and a portrait of a family based in the Upper Rhine, published by Suhrkamp, Frankfurt. Peter Stamm is billed as a typical Swiss author with his normal tales about everyday life and his book ‘Wir fliegen’ has been published by S. Fischer, Frankfurt. Rolf Lappert has penned a major novel based in Ireland among other places, and he combines great story-telling with experimental makings. His book ‘Nach Hause schwimmen’ has been published by Carl Hanser, Munich. Lappert was nominated for the German Book Prize but didn’t make it. He’s 50 and lives in Ireland. Perhaps he’ll swim home to win the Swiss Prize. I wish him luck. This year’s German Book Prize winner is Uwe Tellkamp, a sympathetic fellow who also lives in Freiburg, like Yours Truly, and will also read from his prize-winning book ‘Der Turm’ which means ‘The Tower.’

Unlike the jury decisions of the Man Booker Prize in UK, the Swiss Jury has a Swiss yardstick called quality. The prize will be announced on November 15,2008 at the Book 08 in Basle.

The five critic in the jury are: Martin Ebel from the Tages-Anzeiger, Sandra Leis from Der Bund, Manfred Papst from the excellent NZZ am Sonntag, Hans Probst from Radio DRSZ and the free-lance critic Martin Zingg. Switzerland is small and everyone knows the other, and whether the literary prize will be renowned or not will naturally depend on the reputation of the jury and its sense and idea of excellence, curiosity and independence in decision-making and choosing a winner. Swiss TV will carry out the entire spectacle, of course, because it has to be a big event. To borrow a line from P. B. Shelley: if November comes, can the Christmas book-business be far behind?

Grüezi! Hope to see you there.

* * * *


About the Author:

Satis Shroff is a prolific writer and teaches Creative Writing at the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg. http://www.zfs.uni-freiburg.de/zfs/dozent/lehrbeauftragte4/index_html/#shroff. He is a lecturer, poet and writer and the published author of five books: Im Schatten des Himalaya (book of poems in German), Through Nepalese Eyes (travelogue), Katmandu, Katmandu (poetry and prose anthology by Nepalese authors, edited by Satis Shroff), and two language books on the Nepalese language for DSE (Deutsche Stiftung für Entwicklungsdienst) & Horlemannverlag. He has written three feature articles in the Munich-based Nelles Verlag’s ‘Nepal’ on the Himalayan Kingdom’s Gurkhas, sacred mountains and Nepalese symbols and on Hinduism in ‘Nepal: Myths & Realities (Book Faith India) and his poem ‘Mental Molotovs’ was published in epd-Entwicklungsdienst (Frankfurt). His lyrical works have been published in literary poetry sites: Slow Trains, International Zeitschrift, World Poetry Society (WPS), New Writing North, Muses Review, The Megaphone, Pen Himalaya, Interpoetry. He is a member of “Writers of Peace,” poets, essayists, novelists (PEN), World Poetry Society (WPS) and The Asian Writer.

Satis Shroff is based in Freiburg (poems, fiction, non-fiction) and also writes on ecological, ethno-medical, culture-ethnological themes. He has studied Zoology and Botany in Nepal, Medicine and Social Sciences in Germany and Creative Writing in Freiburg and the United Kingdom. He describes himself as a mediator between western and eastern cultures and sees his future as a writer and poet. Since literature is one of the most important means of cross-cultural learning, he is dedicated to promoting and creating awareness for Creative Writing and transcultural togetherness in his writings, and in preserving an attitude of Miteinander in this world. He lectures in Basle (Switzerland) and in Germany at the Academy for Medical Professions (HAS, GKKPS, GKPS,OTA University Klinikum Freiburg) and the Center for Key Qualifications (University of Freiburg, where he is a Lehrbeauftragter for Creative Writing at the ZfS Uni Freiburg). Satis Shroff was awarded the German Academic Exchange Prize.

What others have said about the author:

Satis Shroff writes with intelligence, wit and grace. (Bruce Dobler, Associate Professor in Creative Writing MFA, University of Iowa).
‘Satis Shroff writes political poetry, about the war in Nepal, the sad fate of the Nepalese people, the emergence of neo-fascism in Germany. His bicultural perspective makes his poems rich, full of awe and at the same time heartbreakingly sad. I writing ‘home,’ he not only returns to his country of origin time and again, he also carries the fate of his people to readers in the West, and his task of writing thus is also a very important one in political terms. His true gift is to invent Nepalese metaphors and make them accessible to the West through his poetry.’ (Sandra Sigel, Writer, Germany).
'Brilliant, I enjoyed your poems thoroughly. I can hear the underlying German and Nepali thoughts within your English language. The strictness of the German form mixed with the vividness of your Nepalese mother tongue. An interesting mix. Nepal is a jewel on the Earth’s surface, her majesty and charm should be protected, and yet exposed with dignity through words. You do your country justice and I find your bicultural understanding so unique and a marvel to read.' Reviewed by Heide Poudel in WritersDen.com 6/4/2007.
'The manner in which Satis Shroff writes takes the reader right along with him. Extremely vivid and just enough and the irony of the music. Beautiful prosaic thought and astounding writing.
'Your muscles flex, the nerves flatter, the heart gallops,
As you feel how puny you are,
Among all those incessant and powerful waves.'
“Satis Shroff's writing is refined – pure undistilled.” (Susan Marie, www.Gather.com)
“I was extremely delighted with Satis Shroff’s work. Many people write poetry for years and never obtain the level of artistry that is present in his work. He is an elite poet with an undying passion for poetry.” Nigel Hillary, Publisher, Poetry Division - Noble House U.K.

Copyright © 2009, Satis Shroff. You may republish this article online provided you keep the byline, the author's note, and the active hyperlinks.

थे थ्री मोस्ट बेऔतिफुल देस (सतीस श्रोफ्फ़)

European Ethnology: The Three Most Beautiful Days of the Year in Switzerland (Satis Shroff)

It was fasnet-time (fasching, carnival) in the alpine countries of Switzerland, Austria and Germany. The streets were full of wild men and women, witches, devils, knaves, masked figures galore. And on March 2, 2009 there was, of course, the famous Swiss Morgenstraich in Basle, an unforgettable experience, after the German merry-making was long over and the witches had shed feigned tears, burned effigies symbolising the banishment of winter.

The Swiss friends across the border were looking forward to the Fasnacht, which they call in Schweizerdeutsch ‘drey scheenste Dääg,’ the three most beautiful days of the year. Swiss bankers had to face the music this time during the Fasnacht celebrations from March 2 till March 4, 2009. The financial crisis was the major object of ridicule according to the Fasnacht-Committee, which has received 42 applications for the Morgen Straich procession in Basle. They were represented 21 times by different Fasnet groups, and the Dutch were known for their good behaviour and financial generosity, even in Basle’s red-light establishments. The TV show a Swiss ‘farmer searches for a wife’ (Bauern sucht Frau), the Botellon`-drinking-orgies and the Basler dialect issue in its Kindergardens were other favourite themes. The tendency is to speak standard German from the Kindergarden onwards till the university studies.

Even Bollywood was a big theme this time, in which the blonde Swiss female figures wrapped themselves in saris, and were led by a gigantic figure who looked like an actress from Mumbai. I talked with some Swiss ladies of the clique and they were simply delighted to be a part of the tamasha or spectacle, and the Swiss were lampooning about ‘Bollymania,’ in a 60-line poem: Hollywood, Bollywood, dog-eyes, women in trance through Hindu elegance, Bollywood is love and pain, Swiss and Indian cows, the Swiss Heidi doing the belly-dance to get rid of her fat by means of Ayurveda, Karli, Werni, Paul and Andi wearing diapers like Gandhi, Mumbai Buddha and yoga, Mandala and Tandoori Masala, Indie-fever, Miss Schwyz (Rekha Dutta), ‘exootisch and erootisch! And in the end a compliment:

S’länggt, bim draime gligglig z’syy,
Drey Dääg, dangg Bollymanie!!’

I met and American student named Diana once, who wanted to get rid of her heavy US-accent and threw the accent symbolically into the Dreisam river, which I found hilarious. Perhaps the Swiss should also follow suit and throw their Schwyzer accent into the Rhine, symbolically, of course. The cliques distribute long pieces of colour paper with caustic comments, at most times verses dripped in vitriol. Here’s one such rhyming poem about standard German in Basle:

“Fir uns isch es glaar
und mir stehen der fir y
z’Basel a mim Ryy
uf Hochdytsch darf nit sy.“

I love the Swiss accent and the dialect, and it would be a shame to get rid of it. The people of Alsace (Elsass) in France, which is a German speaking enclave, promotes Alsatian-Deutsch. I can’t imagine my friend Jean-Paul who comes from the Vosges, speaking only French. Alsatian is also such a charming dialect.

On the other side of the Rhine, my countrymen say nasty things about the Schwyzer accent. They even go so far as to call it a disease of the throat. I find it rather charming to hear German being spoken with a Swiss accent. Vive la difference, nicht wahr?

According to the Fasnacht-Committee, last year there were 485 groups, and this year there were 29 less, which means at least 12,000 active Fasnacht participants walked along the lanes of Basle, lampooning about Switzerland’s world of banks and other items.

At 3:30am people started pouring into the city of Basle: mostly from abroad, Alsace, Germany and Italy. Exactly at 4am the lights went out in Basle’s inner town buildings. An uncanny silence shrouded the city, and thousands of spectators listened and looked around, holding hands lest they didn’t lose themselves among the sea of humanity around them. Suddenly, 200 lanterns began to shine and masked figures made their appearance, elegantly distributing colourful leaflets with the sujet or motto of the respective cliques, which were actually lyrics lampooning Swiss politicians, Sarkosy, Brown & Merkel included, their speeches in the past year, promises, collateral decisions that have backfired, scandals or whatever. Cortege´with cliques, Guggen musicians, Chaisen and wagons and horse-driven coaches. The wonderful and colourful costumes and sujets (printed mottos), Gugge songs, glowing lanterns, drums and shrill piccolo flutes. For your patients, you are rewarded with oranges, chocolates, sweets, roses and mimosa by the people behind the Fastnacht masks. The Basler Fastnacht developed gradually to its present unique form. In 1900 there were Trachten groups wearing traditional Swiss clothing and utensils of daily use according to one’s profession, brass bands and even a Carneval Prince. The Gugge musicians turned up at the beginning of the 20th century.

You are advised to take a break at 4:50 after the magical music session of the Morgenstraich. Have a traditional Mehlsuppe (flour soup for 7,50 Franks) or a piece of Ziibelewaaie to strengthen yourself.

A loveable Basler Fastnachts pair at the Kohlenberg were Frau Breesmeli and Herr Luschtmolch: she with a pointed nose and a long flowing beige dress, and he with an orange wig, black hat and teeth like a well-kept horse. In Liestal, 330 Chienbäse or wooden wagons with piles of wood, arranged like towers, were pulled around in the Old Town. This tradition dates back to 1902. I asked a young Swiss onlooker about her opinion and she said, “I like it.” She found ‘lässig and toll.’

Engadin has its own 2000 year old tradition when it comes to banishing winter. The 1st of March is celebrated as
the Chalandamarz every year. Schoolkids go about with heavy bells through the hamlet to drive winter away. In the early days Chalandamarz marked the beginning of the year and was celebrated to banish the evil spirits. I thought the Schwarzwäldertorte was the non plus ultra of cakes, till I tried the Engadiner torte. If you haven’t tried it, you must do it sometime. It’s delicious.

I love the sound of the shrill piccollo flutes and drums of the Swiss cliques. When you come to think of it, you’re one of the 10,000 fasnacht revellers. There are witch costume balls everywhere in the evenings, where you eat salted pork, drink schnaps, but hopefully not, one too much for the road, even though fun is the order of the day.

Whereas the Breisgauer members of the Narrenzunft celebrated their 75th jubilee on February 1, 2009, in Switzerland’s small Klinen Valley the ‘Wild Maa’ reached land at 11am on January 20, 2009 and was greeted with firecrackers. On the bank of the Rhine were the bird Gryff and the ‘Leu’ were waiting to greet the ‘Wild Maa,’ surrounded by hundreds spectators who’d come to see the spectacle. The three symbolic Swiss fasnet figures danced all the way to Small Basle for the big-shots of Basle. The highlight was the dance in the middle of the bridge across the Rhines near Käpplijoch, and a thunderous crowd, accompanied by blue coated drummers, wearing white wigs and quaint hats like the Tin Drummer.

In the middle of Thun, a town in Switzerland, the Merlinger group ‘Grönbachgusler,’ costumed as blood-suckers with vampire-like canines jutting out of the corners of their mouths, black and white striped clothes and big drums were to be admired. This was the day of the ghouls.

In Evolene (Switzerland), you could see the Strawmen in outsized clothes that are actually gunny-bags stuffed with straw, each with a broom in the hand, protruding, exopthalmic eyes and dangerous looking fangs. These figures went around the narrow lanes of Evolene after the Sunday mass was over, according to the annual Fasnacht tradition of the Canton Wallis. The masks were indeed awesome, as they went about cleaning the snow in Wallis. In Allschwil, they even had a Herrenfasnacht, a gentlemen’s celebration. Sunday was the day when the Cliques and Guggen went about with their flutes, drums and gugge-music along the streets of Aesch, Therwil, Oberwil and Laufen. This year the Allschwiller celebrated the 60th anniversary and poured into the streets in merriment, despite the rain.

It has been a long, snowy, icy, rainy winter this time, and all want to see the sun again. Spring can’t be far behind, but first we’ll have to banish winter in grand style, you know, the European way.

On February 24, 2009 the lovely town of Breisach upon the Rhine invited all fasnet-friends to celebrate the Brysacher Fasnet the whole day. And on Ash Wednesday, when everything was over, the people of Freiburg washed their wallets at 10am in the clear, cold water of the Freiburger Bächele, a sort of canal that runs through this Schwarzwald town, as it is thought to be auspicious, and will bring one happiness and financial benefits in the course of the year. What a pleasant thought, now that the WEF is over, isn’t it?

©satisshroff 2009
N.B. If you want to know more about the Swissfasnacht and want to visit the celebrations next year, do look up: www.fasnachts-comite.ch
www.fasnacht-liestal.ch

About the Author:
Satis Shroff is a prolific writer and teaches Creative Writing at the Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg. He is a lecturer, poet and writer and the published author of three books: Im Schatten des Himalaya (book of poems in German), Through Nepalese Eyes (travelogue), Katmandu, Katmandu (poetry and prose anthology by Nepalese authors, edited by Satis Shroff). His lyrical works have been published in literary poetry sites: Slow Trains, International Zeitschrift, World Poetry Society (WPS), New Writing North, Muses Review, The Megaphone, Pen Himalaya, Interpoetry. He is a member of “Writers of Peace,” poets, essayists, novelists (PEN), World Poetry Society (WPS) and The Asian Writer.

Satis Shroff is based in Freiburg (poems, fiction, non-fiction) and also writes on ecological, ethno-medical, culture-ethnological themes. He has studied Zoology and Botany in Nepal, Medicine and Social Sciences in Germany and Creative Writing in Freiburg and the United Kingdom. He describes himself as a mediator between western and eastern cultures and sees his future as a writer and poet. Since literature is one of the most important means of cross-cultural learning, he is dedicated to promoting and creating awareness for Creative Writing and transcultural togetherness in his writings, and in preserving an attitude of Miteinander in this world. He lectures in Basle (Switzerland) and in Germany at the Akademie für medizinische Berufe (University Klinikum Freiburg) and the Zentrum für Schlüsselqualifikationen (University of Freiburg where he is a Lehrbeauftragter for Creative Writing). Satis Shroff was awarded the German Academic Exchange Prize.