»You Have to Walk against the Wind«

Collected Prose
Edited by Martina Hanf
Suhrkamp | Insel

»You Have to Walk against the Wind« / »Du mußt gegen den Wind laufen«
Collected Prose
Edited by Martina Hanf
Between poetry and rebellion – collected prose spanning four decades
This volume brings together Thomas Brasch’s published and unpublished fictional and essayistic prose (stories, speeches, criticism, commentary, opinion pieces) from 1956 to 2000 – with the exception of the novel material published as Child Killer Brunke. From his first publication in the Lausitzer Rundscahau (in 1956, when Brasch was just 11), the fairytale Fox, Eagle and Hippo, to the short story collection The Sons Die before the Fathers – which would have only been...
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This volume brings together Thomas Brasch’s published and unpublished fictional and essayistic prose (stories, speeches, criticism, commentary, opinion pieces) from 1956 to 2000 – with the exception of the novel material published as Child Killer Brunke. From his first publication in the Lausitzer Rundscahau (in 1956, when Brasch was just 11), the fairytale Fox, Eagle and Hippo, to the short story collection The Sons Die before the Fathers – which would have only been able to appear with Hinstorff Verlag with drastic editorial interference, and became the catalyst for Brasch’s »change of country«, from East to West Berlin – through to the late texts dedicated to figures like Heiner Müller, this volume spans more than 40 years of production. »The plaintive glance at the past is no replacement for the refusal of the future”, writes Brasch in Rhymes Radiate beside Murder (1979).

The collection is divided into the published prose and the prose from his literary remains. These are followed by facsimiles of pages from manuscripts, a brief editorial afterword and extensive annotations featuring bibliographic references and notes on different versions, background information about the origins of the texts, or explanations of their relations between them, along with a biography of the author.
2025, 877 pages
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Persons

Thomas Brasch, poet, playwright, filmmaker and translator, one of the most distinctive figures of contemporary German literature, was born in Westow/Yorkshire (UK) in 1945 as the son of Jewish emigrants. He lived in East Berlin until he left the GDR in 1976. He died in Berlin in 2001.
Thomas Brasch, poet, playwright, filmmaker and translator, one of the most distinctive figures of contemporary German literature, was born in...

OTHER PUBLICATIONS

»They Call it Scream«
Year of Publication: 2013
Thomas BraschYear of Publication: 2013

Thomas Brasch, poet, playwright, filmmaker and translator, is one of the most striking figures in contemporary German literature. From poems with personal dedications and occasional poems to...

Rights sold to:

Previously published in the respective language / territory; rights available again: France (selection; Hochroth)

Lovely Rita — Rotter — Dear Georg
Year of Publication: 1989
Thomas BraschYear of Publication: 1989

Lovely Rita (premiered & first published: 1978), Rotter (premiered: 1977, first published: 1983), Dear Georg (premiered: 1980, first published: 1979): The three...

Rights sold to:

Previously published in the respective language / territory; rights available again: Korea (Sung kyun kwan University Press), Israel (Papyrus Academic Publishing House)

Wonderful 27 September
Year of Publication: 1980
Thomas BraschYear of Publication: 1980
Wonderful 27 September was published in 1980, the same year he was awarded the FAZ Prize for Literature. The jury states the following: »In Wonderful 27 September, Thomas Brasch...
Rights sold to:

Serbia (Radni Sto)


DISCOVER

News
On 19 February 2025, the poet, playwright, filmmaker and translator Thomas Brasch would have turned 80.