Rights sold to:
English world rights (Contra Mundum)
Previously published in the respective language / territory; rights available again: Spanish world rights (Galaxia Gutenberg), France (Verdier), Czech Republic (Archa), Slovenia (Hermagoras)
When the Time Comes / Wenn es soweit ist
Story
In Josef Winkler’s native village there used to be a »bone-cooker«, who would collect the bones of the animals from slaughterhouses, put them in a clay jug and let them simmer on glowing coals until a black brew smelling of decomposition formed. The farmers would spread this liquid around the horses’ eyes, ears and nostrils to keep away pesky insects.
In this book, narrator Maximilian takes on the task of collecting bones and stories. Soberly, he reports the...
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In Josef Winkler’s native village there used to be a »bone-cooker«, who would collect the bones of the animals from slaughterhouses, put them in a clay jug and let them simmer on glowing coals until a black brew smelling of decomposition formed. The farmers would spread this liquid around the horses’ eyes, ears and nostrils to keep away pesky insects.
In this book, narrator Maximilian takes on the task of collecting bones and stories. Soberly, he reports the stories of the deaths of his relatives and the villagers. Death follows death; death is caused by cancer, by tractor wheels or by one’s own hand. When a story is finished, the narrator puts the bones of the deceased into the clay jug. Never before has Josef Winkler told the life stories of his village from the end, as death stories, so confidently, urgently and with such perfect form.
»a good example of Winkler's powerful art ... The standing of Winkler in German-language literature is undisputed. The German writer Martin Walser was euphoric when he discovered Winkler's work; Grass praised him for the intensity of his writing.« Alberto Manguel, The Guardian
»a good example of Winkler's powerful art ... The standing of Winkler in German-language literature is undisputed. The German writer Martin Walser was euphoric when he discovered Winkler's work; Grass praised him for the intensity of his writing.« Alberto Manguel, The Guardian
1998, 192 pages
Persons
OTHER PUBLICATIONS
Latest first
Year of Publication: 2020
Josef WinklerYear of Publication: 2020
Embark on the Journey or Manipulator of Sunbeams
It is fuelled by life and death in his native Kamering, by the bustle of Italian markets – by the turbulence between the pyres in Varanasi, India. But it can also be fuelled by books, paintings and sculptures, as this collection shows. And sometimes it ignites itself, the zest for language simply starts to burn – when the author sweeps together what needs to be sung of. Then he...
Year of Publication: 2019
Josef WinklerYear of Publication: 2019
The City Chronicler of Kolkata
»On New Market two white roosters with sickle-shaped tails and red, jagged, translucent, upright combs that keep flapping to one side like rubber with every movement are standing in a basket. All around the shining light bulbs are coated in silver foil, so that the light falls focused on the piles of papayas, mangos and the fruits of the pineapples from Kerala.« This is one of the chapter...
Year of Publication: 2018
Josef WinklerYear of Publication: 2018
Take the Blame, Father or Death Be Writ into My Heart
It was only a few years ago that Josef Winkler learned about the fact that his fellow Carinthian Odilo Globocnik, who had headed the »Aktion Reinhardt« and boasted about the mass...
Rights sold to:
France (Verdier), Czech Republic (Archa), Bulgaria (Black Flamingo)
Domestic Rights Sales: German Audiobook (Der Diwan)
Year of Publication: 2011
Josef WinklerYear of Publication: 2011
Saying Reality as Though It Wasn't Real Anyway or The Angels' Tantrums
After Josef Winkler received the Georg Büchner Prize in Darmstadt on 1 November 2008, he gave a speech that forms the basis of this book. It answers a few questions: Josef Winkler,...
Rights sold to:
Previously published in the respective language / territory; rights available again: Czech Republic (Archa)
Year of Publication: 2008
Josef WinklerYear of Publication: 2008
I'm Going to Pluck One of My Eyelashes Out and Stab You to Death With It
»Travelling in order to become homeless«, writes Henri Michaux. When Josef Winkler was writing his novels about his Austrian region of Carinthia, the author repeatedly journeyed to Italy,...
Rights sold to:
Previously published in the respective language / territory; rights available again: Slovenia (LUD Literatura)
Year of Publication: 2007
Josef WinklerYear of Publication: 2007
Roppongi
Josef Winkler approaches the life, death and funeral of his father from ever new angles – organizing a »wake« for his father and thus allowing this larger-than-life figure...
Rights sold to:
Bulgaria (Black Flamingo)
Previously published in the respective language / territory; rights available again: France (Verdier), Czech Republic (Archa), Croatia (Leykam), Slovenia (Hermagoras/Mohorjeva)
Year of Publication: 2003
Josef WinklerYear of Publication: 2003
Corpse, Stalking Its Family
In his new book, Josef Winkler introduces us to his poetic, stylistic and geographical universe in 80 prose miniatures. 80 short stories about love and death, childhood and youth; about reading and...
Rights sold to:
Previously published in the respective language / territory; rights available again: Czech Republic (Archa)
Year of Publication: 2001
Josef WinklerYear of Publication: 2001
Natura morta
Crossing the street in the afternoon in a deluge of rain to buy pizza for his colleagues, the fig seller’s beautiful son is hit by a fire engine, and dies instantly. The drama calms in the...
Rights sold to:
English world rights (Contra Mundum), Denmark (Sidste Århundrede), Slovenia (Cankarjeva založba), Turkey (Ketebe)
Previously published in the respective language / territory; rights available again: Spanish world rights (Galaxia Gutenberg), Russia (AST), France (Verdier), Italy (Forum), Norway (Solum), Czech Republic (Archa), Bulgaria (Black Flamingo), Lithuania (Kitos Knygos), Croatia (Leykam), Bosnia (Vrijeme), Ukraine (Knihy XXI)
Year of Publication: 1996
Josef WinklerYear of Publication: 1996
Domra
The Domra, who belong to the untouchable caste in India, are responsible for the cremation sites in Varanasi at Harishchandra Ghat and Manikarnika Ghat. The Domra sell wood, collect a fee for each...
Rights sold to:
Macedonia (Ars Lamina)
Previously published in the respective language / territory; rights available again: France (Verdier), Czech Republic (Archa)
Year of Publication: 1992
Josef WinklerYear of Publication: 1992
Flowers for Jean Genet
»Josef Winkler (born in Carinthia, Austria in 1953) grew up in unhappy circumstances that included a strained relationship with his father and with the community in which he lived, as well as a...
Rights sold to:
Czech Republic (Archa)
Previously published in the respective language / territory; rights available again: USA (Ariadne Press), France (Verdier), Serbia (Karpos)
Year of Publication: 1990
Josef WinklerYear of Publication: 1990
Graveyard of Bitter Oranges
This novel makes evident that Winkler hopes to never stop chasing the fear that keeps him alive. In southern Italy, where Catholic roots run deep, a deceased Carinthian altar boy collects...
Rights sold to:
English world rights (Contra Mundum)
Previously published in the respective language / territory; rights available again: Spanish world rights (Galaxia Gutenberg), Russia (AST), France (Verdier)
Year of Publication: 1987
Josef WinklerYear of Publication: 1987
The Serf
The Serf begins with Winkler’s vision of a Carinthian village in the Drau Valley. Children of peasants, who had watched the adults burn the dry haulm on the fields, pulled a bushel of...
Rights sold to:
Previously published in the respective language / territory; rights available again: USA (Ariadne), France (Verdier)
Year of Publication: 1983
Josef WinklerYear of Publication: 1983
The Abduction
After a lengthy stay in Vienna, Josef Winkler retired to a farm in Carinthia to finish his novel Muttersprache in 1981. He was accommodated by the family of mountain farmer Nyotchka Vasilyevna...
Rights sold to:
France (Verdier)
Previously published in the respective language / territory; rights available again: Japan (Dogakusha), Ukraine (Krytyka)
DISCOVER
News
Josef Winkler: 70th Birthday on March 3, 2023
»Josef Winkler is somebody who negotiates the frontiers and transforms his anxiety into desire by the act of writing, and with the risky balancing act on the brink of the abyss finds a firm...News
Josef Winkler awarded Vilenica Prize 2021
We are delighted to announce that Josef Winkler has been awarded the Vilenica Prize 2021.News