Iris Wolff

In 2012, she published her debut novel Halber Stein (Half a stone), followed by Die Unschärfe der Welt (Blurred [literally:The Blurriness of the World]) in 2020.

Wolff's latest novel Lichtungen (Clearings; 2024) is a love story told backwards about a boy and a girl named Lev and Kato who are living in a small Romanian village.

"[9] Alexandra Roesch finds that "‘Clearings’ is a beautiful work of literary fiction depicting a lifelong friendship alongside the changes wrought on Romania under Communism and after the fall of the Iron Curtain."

While the novel focuses firmly on a specific period in the history of Central and Eastern Europe, the themes that underpin it have continued relevance today: (national) identity, home and family, migration and what constitutes belonging.

"[10] Annemarie Stoltenberg writes about the novel Lichtungen: "With an extraordinary, powerful and delicate imagery, Iris Wolff tells of a childhood and youth in a dictatorship (...).

The most recently published novel, 'Blurred', was celebrated for good reason: the way the author interweaves contemporary history with magical elements, the way she leads her characters across borders is of captivating eloquence.

Der Roman zeigt wiederum Menschen in europäischen Zusammenhängen, das Politische ist diesmal noch dezenter benannt.