Rina Schmeller: “Co”

What begins as love turns into codependency: She revolves around him; he revolves around alcohol. She flees the violence time and again, yet always returns home. This autofictional text by Lübeck-based author Rina Schmeller tells of a cycle of compassion and creeping self-sabotage, of the dynamics of addiction, but also of self-empowerment: the journey of a woman who finds the strength to break free after years— her chance to survive. How, with difficulty but determination, she begins to seek a life of her own and becomes more independent with each phase.

Following the reading and discussion, we will talk with staff members from the Rostock-based organization stark machen e.V., who counsel and support those affected, as well as with the audience. The reading will be broadcast live to two SBZ centers in Rostock and moderated on-site—questions can also be asked from those locations.

Rina Schmeller, born in 1986, studied Creative Writing in Leipzig and General and Comparative Literature in Berlin. She has received residencies and was part of the 2020 Prose Writers’ Workshop at the Literary Colloquium Berlin. In 2024, she published the essay “Bedeutung erleben” (Edit No. 91) about her work on “Co.” She lives in Lübeck.

Admission is free; registration is available at reservierung (at) literaturhaus-rostock(dot)de
Donations to the association stark machen e.V. can be made on site

Location: Literaturhaus Rostock (in the Peter-Weiss-Haus), Doberaner Str. 21, 18057 Rostock

A joint event organized by Stadtgespräche, Frauenbildungsnetz MV e.V., and Literaturhaus Rostock, funded by the Ministry of Education, Family, Seniors, Women, and Youth as part of the federal program “Demokratie leben!” and by the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock as part of the “Partnership for Democracy”