Sarah Escritt reflects on her internship with New Books in German
What is your professional background?
By professional background I am a lawyer but I read German (and Italian) at
university and have an insatiable interest in German books. So I’m extremely grateful
to have had the opportunity to complete this internship.
How did you first hear about New Books in German?
I think I picked up a booklet at the Goethe-Institut library in London.
What have you enjoyed most about your internship with New Books in German?
There is so much that I have enjoyed about the internship. It’s very interesting to see
the proposals as they come in from publishers – which books they put forward and
why. Given that many of these books are still in the publishing pipeline, it’s also
exciting to see what will be reaching German bookshops in a few months’ time.
Interviewing authors for the New Books in German website has been a privilege and
it has been a particular pleasure to work with Sarah Hemens and my fellow intern,
Gemma.
What have you learned during the internship?
I have learned that seeing a German book through to publication in English takes
serendipity and a lot of hard work. Reading a range of reader reports has been very
instructive, as has attendance at the jury discussions.
I have also gained a sense of the spadework that goes on behind the scenes at New
Books in German to build relationships and keep abreast of the publishing scene in
German- and English-speaking countries.
And I have learned that there are a lot of people who care passionately that books in
German should reach English-language readers.
Do you have a favourite from the books the jury selected and why?
The books put forward are so varied in tone, styIe, form and content that it is difficult
to choose amongst them – though this, of course, is what the jury has to do. I’m going
to narrow it down to three. Ronya Othmann’s sobering Vierundsiebzig, Jana
Volkmann’s feisty, subversive and irreverent Der beste Tag seit langem and musician
Sophie Hunger’s Walzer für Niemand: polyphony laid out on the page.
Thanks, Sarah, for your work and enthusiasm, it has been great to work with you!
