André Thiele, VAT Verlag, had a great idear. Let’s get an expat American who believes whole heartily in capitalism (and wishes real capitalism actually existed) and see what he thinks about the East German, Marxist playwright Peter Hacks. When I asked how I should write the stuff it was agreed that I should do it the same way as I was writing my blog. Ok, I thought, what the heck. At the time I didn’t really know where to go with this “assignment”–which was nothing more than reading an unknown author and writing about him. What I quickly learned was that Hacks is what some might consider a black-listed author. That is, after the wall fell, Peter Hacks was one of the first to publicly denounce the west and was avid in opposing opening borders. Even though he wasn’t a fan of the then East German leadership, he believed till the bitter end in a separate communist Germany. Reading Peter Hacks turned out to be a great experience. As far as my writing about his work… Well, I’m not sure I hit that mark. Needless to say, when Thiele and his VAT Verlag sent me a copy of the book I was shocked. VAT Verlag’s “Argos” is an anthology of literary essays from various authors all writing about Peter Hacks. My work is featured in Argos Five. Or you can read them here:
- To Be A Monologue Or Not To Be
- You Are Your Environment. Sometimes.
- Party Conventions Are Fun, As Are Golden Cages
- What’s In A Title
- Singing Hacks in NYC, Or Something Like That
- The Thing I Really Want To Know Is, Who Should Play Eve?
- The Proletariat United… At Around 522 B.C.
- How Did Seneca Really Die?
- How To Run Away From A Sinking Ship
- Looking For Some Absurdity – Part 1
- Looking For Some Absurdity – Part 2
- Chip On Shoulder
- Going Fishing
- Hacks and Anglo-Germanic Rivalry
-Tom
worstwriter 