Reading with Kerstin Hensel "Abendgruss" moderated by Carola Wiemers, literary critic and author
Karin and Wolf Kohlmann are a brother and sister growing up in the GDR at the end of the 1960s, in a chemical town in central Germany. Wolf wants nothing more than to leave. After serving in the People's Navy, he makes a career as a cameraman and photographer in the capital. But his sister Karin repeatedly forces him to return home - to the confines of the prefabricated housing estate, to the supposedly intact world of their childhood. Or Tillandsia Grütz. A young woman born in the first minute of the year 2000 - with an extraordinary analytical mind. A nerd girl who lives in her own world. As admired as she is lonely. Even as a child, however, she is preoccupied by a seemingly strange question: how is it that she is unable to yawn when everything else falls into her lap?
The book was published by Luchterhand Verlag in 2026.
Kerstin Hensel was born in Karl-Marx-Stadt in 1961. After training as a nurse, she studied at the Institute for Literature in Leipzig. She is considered one of the most versatile and influential representatives of contemporary German literature. Her work includes poetry, novels and short stories. She teaches at the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts. Kerstin Hensel has been head of the literature section of the Akademie der Künste Berlin since 2024. Her most recent publications with Luchterhand include the poetry collection "Schleuderfigur" and the novel "Regenbeins Farben". Kerstin Hensel lives in Berlin.
