Reading & Discussion as part of the Kempowski Days 2026 | Moderator: Dr. Katrin Möller-Funck
Richard Sparka is the urban neurotic of the 21st century! In *Hoplopoiia*, Jochen Schmidt paints a pointed portrait of society that reveals the overwhelming pressures and isolation people face in our fast-paced present, all while repeatedly turning his mercilessly comic gaze toward his hapless hero, Sparka.
As everything changes far too quickly, Richard Sparka can only watch events unfold with a mix of astonishment and resignation. His relationship with Klara is over; the children are growing up, and his parents are getting old. Even life in the city where he was born—and which has always been his home—seems increasingly impossible to him. The newspaper stand at his trusted late-night store has had to make way for a shelf of potato chips—nothing short of a catastrophe for Richard. And the trendy new ice cream shop around the corner will change his neighborhood until the rents are unaffordable—Richard is convinced of that. How do others manage to keep their heads above water in the face of these drastic changes? Richard sets out to explore his childhood in the GDR. Does his inability to cope with life have anything to do with growing up in a dictatorship? Would his outlook on the future be more optimistic if he had seized the opportunity back then to become a mathematician? “Hoplopoiia” is a clever, profound, and hilarious reflection on the world by a masterful skeptic who is far from giving up on his search for the right life.
Jochen Schmidt was born in Berlin in 1970 and lives there. In 2023, he received the Literature Prize from the Stahl Foundation in Eisenhüttenstadt.
Advance tickets: 8 € plus fee at the Press Center or at mvticket.de; at the door: 10 €
Reduced rate for students, members of Literaturhaus Rostock e.V., and people with severe disabilities: 5 € (Registration at: reservierung@literaturhaus-rostock.de)
Students at the University of Rostock/hmt Rostock: free admission with the AStA Culture Ticket. Registration: reservierung@literaturhaus-rostock.de
Location: Konzilzimmer at the University of Rostock, Universitätsplatz 1, 18055 Rostock
A joint event organized by: Kempowski Archiv e.V. – A Bourgeois House, University of Rostock & Literaturhaus Rostock
