Reading by
Helga Flatland

Moderation:
Rikarde Riedesel

Helga Flatland's new novel "Eine moderne Familie" won the 2017 Booksellers' Prize in Norway and the public reaction was very enthusiastic. Now the novel has appeared in German and is waiting to be discovered by the German readership.

A happy, healthy and close-knit family of three generations travels to Italy to celebrate the father's 70th birthday. During the birthday meal the parents announce: They will part after 40 years of marriage. They explain that they have disintegrated and they cannot imagine to stay together in future. Daughter Ellen bursts out laughing: Drifted apart? Future? Seriously, you are 70!

The story is narrated in turn from the perspectives of the three adult siblings: Liv is 40, married, two children. Ellen is 38 and tries to get a baby with her younger boyfriend. And the nestling Håkon, eight or ten years younger than the sisters, is single, a bit spoilt and a marked lover of open relationships. They are all completely surprised, and everyone has to learn to live with this change and try to understand what could have been the reasons for this dramatic decision.

Location:
EJOT Laboratory, Unterm Hain 1

Thursday, 24th of October 2019

Beginning:
7.30 pm

Admission:
5,- € / 2,- €

Helga Flatland

Helga Flatland (born 1984) was awarded the "Norwegian Booksellers' Prize" for her fifth novel, "A Modern Family" (2017). The book is currently being translated into several languages - more than 100,000 copies have already been sold in Norway.

Helga Flatland studied Norwegian language and literature at the University of Oslo and then completed postgraduate studies at the Westerdals School of Communication.

She lives in Oslo.