The TDDL 2011 has begun

The beginning of the Festival of German-Language Literature was heralded on Wednesday with the Gypsy-Swing, Latin American rhythms, Balkan and Oriental jazz music from "Dobrek Bistro" at the ORF Theater in Klagenfurt.

Eröffnung TDDL 2011 (Bild: Johannes Puch)

The first day Video-Livestream

On "good" and "bad" literature

The highlight of the opening was the critical examination of literary competitions by the Swiss writer and Klagenfurt speaker Urs Widmer. Because: "Literature does not work according to a "knock-out system when at the end one is proclaimed the winner". Widmer tried to explain the differences between "good" and "bad " literature "from the standard, the variation and the finished parts".

Eröffnung TDDL 2011 (Bild: Johannes Puch)

"Mainstream" does not take literature forward

The speech spoke of "large prefabricated building blocks" from which each author operates "with more or less skill". Each of us should beware of the "all too happy to have read", the all too "familiar".

Widmer: "This is known as the mainstream and there is nothing wrong with the mainstream, it simply doesn't take literature forward".

Thus he gave the authors an indirect  warning not to only want to write the "good" or the "attractive".  Ideally, write "it", write the text yourself, the author is " his own medium" - what remains is just "Work"

"Good books do not steer clear of the familiar but get close to it through variations".

Video of the opening night

URS WIDMERS Klagenfurt Address:

"From the standard, the variation and the finished parts"

Lorenz: Split prize money "democratically"

At this opening, in the face of expiring contracts and their consequences, one could almost feel a little sorry for the last competition participants, such as Clarissa Stadler, Willy Haslitzer and Wolfgang Lorenz. The latter should later take note of the suggestion that the prize money may this year be "democratically" split among all participating authors.

Eröffnung TDDL 2011 (Bild: Johannes Puch)

Ingeborg Bachmann would be 85 years old today

Presenter Clarissa Stadler reminded the audience of the 85th birthday of Ingeborg Bachmann, which the Kärnten-born author would have celebrated that day. According to Stadler - given the recent launch of the radio soap "The Florianis" as a book - it is reassuring to know that even Bachmann  wrote "popular literature" - though this is like saying that Peter Handke has written a few episodes of Lindenstrasse.

Eröffnung TDDL 2011 (Bild: Johannes Puch)

"Bachmann-Preis goes worldwide"

""Bachmann Prize goes worldwide"
"Yes, it's developed very impressively", said the host and Country Director Willy Haslitzer. looking back at the early days of the Ingeborg Bachmann Prize and the two initiators Humbert Fink and Ernst Willner.

He cordially welcomed the assembled "Bachmann Prize family" and the representatives of politics and the media and told of his dream, together with Michaela Monschein, to present the project "Bachmann Prize goes worldwide" in New York.

"Hand-picked Translations"

The Internet project "Bachmann Prize goes Europe" has already attracted 35 translations, including those in Egyptian, Chinese and Korean Each of the participating authors could therefore be called a winner, because they are appearing on an "international platform" with "hand-picked translations".

"Dracula, Dracula" for Michaela Monschein

In the cherished tradition of presenting the organizer of the competition with a special book gift, Haslitzer's decided that Michaela Monschein will be presented with an issue of the book which appeared 40 years ago by H.C. Artmann "Dracula, Dracula", of which there are only 500 copies.

Eröffnung TDDL 2011 (Bild: Johannes Puch)

New Sponsor: VILLIglas

The Host presented the Director of kelag Harald Kogler, whose company has remained loyal to the Bachmann Prize for nine years, as well as the new sponsor of this year's Audience Award: Phillip Daniel Merckle of VILLIglas. 

Eröffnung TDDL 2011 (Bild: Johannes Puch)

"Fascinating that it never becomes routine"

Klagenfurt Deputy Mayor Albert Gunzer said that the city has invested heavily in culture and literature, starting with the public visibility of the competition in the city, but also the expansion of Musil Museum. It is fascinating that routine is never an issue with the Bachmann Prize. He described the competition as having special stimulus and spirit but still wished the jury "stress-free decisions".

Again in the jury: Daniela Strigl

Everything has remained (almost) the same with the jury, once again in the team is Daniela Strigl.

Jury

Eröffnung TDDL 2011 (Bild: Johannes Puch)

Head of 3sat-: "The written word is what counts"

"The written word is what counts," emphasized Hubert Novak from 3sat Austria in his speech, as the supreme "guiding principle" of the Ingeborg Bachmann Prize.

"The word is the true power of the human species". In this era of "hyper-inflation of the word" through email and SMS the Bachmann Prize can be called  the "festival of the word".

Eröffnung TDDL 2011 (Bild: Johannes Puch)

Lorenz: "All the punchlines have already been taken"

In his traditionally pessimistic speech ORF Programme Director Wolfgang Lorenz was indeed "a little bit bemused", but scintillated again this year with his biting and humorous commentary After a dig at Clarissa Stadler (did her dress come from the ORF costume department or did she buy it new?) Lorenz (as a speaker number 5) mourned the "funniest jokes" that had gone before: all the punchlines have "already been taken".

When Lorenz learned of Ingeborg Bachmann's foray into popular literature (meaning "The Florianis") it was "such a shock it almost threw me off the loo seat" . "It is as though the star next door had run off with the toilet duck."

Eröffnung TDDL 2011 (Bild: Johannes Puch)

"Spinnen will put Bohlen in his place"

Lorenz said of the competition being the "most resistant and potentially unruly talent show" and then said, looking ahead: "For four days we will watch spellbound, as Herr von Spinnen puts Dieter Bohlen in his rightful place".

Sparky opening speech by Spinnen

Before the draw of the reading order and further musical delights with Dobrek Bistro, the jury chairman Burkhard Spinnen gave a witty, sparky opening speech - which moved mostly however in the subjunctive. He suggested that the Bachmann Prize had already taken place 14 days ago, it's the audience's mistake as they now have to sit through the repeat, accepting everything that has already been said.  He then gave the authors the good advice not to take too seriously the order in which they had to read - even if there was something in it that the first reader meets a sleepy jury and the last reader meets a jury whose concentration is lost. The right text will in any case prevail over all such random effects.

Eröffnung TDDL 2011 (Bild: Johannes Puch)

The draw for the reading order took place in the ORF Theate, after which the evening drew to a close at the garden party.

The reading order 2011

Seitenblicke: garden party in the ORF-Park

Banner_TDDL2011 (Bild: ORF)