Margarete Lamb-Faffelberger, German Professor emerita, is Director of the Max Kade Center for German Studies at Lafayette College, a member of PODIUM, and on the academic advisory board of Elfriede Jelinek-Forschungszentrum. She is editor of the Studies in Central European Culture book series, coeditor of Women in German Yearbook 2010-2014, and has numerous publications on contemporary Austrian literature.Gabriele Petricek lives in Vienna, and has been a writer-in residence in the United States, Great Britain, and Italy. She is a member of PODIUM, co-founder of the Austrian-American Podium Dialog and founder of LITERATUR AM STEG, Vienna. She has received numerous grants and prizes for her books—Von den Himmeln (2009), Joyce’s Choice (2011), Die Unerreichbarkeit von Innsbruck (2018) and Am Ufer meines Setzkastens (2021) and several texts translated into English.

“PASSAGES, a remarkable volume edited by Margarete Lamb-Faffelberger and Gabriele Petricek, is a testament to the vibrancy of the ongoing transatlantic dialogues and intellectual exchanges between contemporary Austrian writers, North American scholars, and students in the field of Austrian Studies. Chronicling a series of conversations between Austrian writers and North American scholars and students that took place at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania and at the Austrian Cultural Forum in New York between 2013 and 2018, the volume makes accessible, in both German and English translation, some of the most exciting literature being produced in Austria today. The literary texts are accompanied by a series of essays written by prominent North American scholars. These exciting engagements with the authors featured here are rounded out by excerpts from the lively discussions in which writers, scholars, and students engaged during their meetings. PASSAGES eloquently speaks to the liveliness of the ongoing intercultural dialogue between Austria and North America, and to the lasting import of literature.”—Imke Meyer, Professor of Germanic Studies, University of Illinois at Chicago

• Acknowledgments – Introduction – Gabriele Petricek: Übergänge—Grenzen—Lichtungen – Margarete Lamb-Faffelberger: Crossings–Borders–Openings – Mascha Dabić: Was kann Literatur? – Translated by Margarete Lamb-Faffelberger: What is Literature Capable of? – Literature – Prose in German and English Translation – Patricia Brooks: Die Grammatik der Zeit (Excerpts) – Excerpts translated by Peter Waugh: The Grammar of Time – Mascha Dabić: Meine Grenzen – Translated by Geoffrey C. Howes: My Borders – Mascha Dabić: Reibungsverluste (Excerpts) – Excerpts translated by Margarete Lamb-Faffelberger: Friction Losses – Dimitré Dinev: Spas schläft (Excerpts) – Excerpts translated by Deborah Holmes: Spas Sleeps – Dimitré Dinev: Wasser (Excerpts) – Excerpts translated by Geoffrey C. Howes: Water – Marianne Gruber: Erinnerungen eines Narren (Excerpts) – Excerpts translated by Kirsten Krick-Aigner: Memories of a Clown – Udo Kawasser: Ache. Ein Versuch (Excerpts) – Excerpts translated by Margarete Lamb-Faffelberger: Ache. An Experiment – Hanno Millesi: Der Schmetterlingstrieb (Excerpts) – Excerpts translated by Geoffrey C. Howes: The Butterfly Drive – Gabriele Petricek: Streifzüge durch Welt oder: Der Rehe Spiegel funkeln silberdunkel – Translated by Peter Waugh: Roetails Glisten Silverdark – Gabriele Petricek: Labor des Lebens – Translated by Peter Waugh: Laboratory of Life – Judith Nika Pfeifer: Zwischenfall – Translated by Kirsten Krick-Aigner: Incident – Lydia Steinbacher: Die Frau und das Kästchen oder Der Bunker – Translated by Andreas Schachermayr: The Woman and the Casket or The Air-Raid Shelter – Lydia Steinbacher: Wenn der Wind dreht – Translated by Andreas Schachermayr: When the Wind Changes – Erwin Uhrmann: Ich bin die Zukunft (Excerpts) – Excerpts translated by Peter Waugh: I Am the Future – Vladmir Vertlib: Zwischenstationen (Excerpts) – Excerpts translated by Craig Decker: Way Stations – Phillip Weiss: Malachit und Amphisbaena – Translated by Barbara Kosta and Philipp Weiss: Malachit and Amphisbaena – Conversations – Im Gespräch mit Patricia Brooks (Excerpts) – Excerpts translated by Margarete Lamb-Faffelberger: In Conversation with Patricia Brooks – Im Gespräch mit Udo Kawasser (Excerpts) – Excerpts translated Margarete Lamb-Faffelberger: In Conversation with Udo Kawasser – Im Gespräch mit Lydia Steinbacher (Excerpts) – Excerpts translated by Margarete Lamb-Faffelberger: In Conversation with Lydia Steinbacher – Im Gespräch mit Vladimir Vertlib (Excerpts) – Excerpts translated by Margarete Lamb-Faffelberger: In Conversation with Vladimir Vertlib – Literary Analyses – Peter Höyng: Building Bridges: Initial Observations on Dimitré Dinev’s Prose Texts – Kirsten Krick-Aigner: Marianne Gruber’s Erinnerungen eines Narren: A Tale of Border Crossings, Real and Imagined – Britta Kallin: Surrealist Aesthetics and Intertextualities in Selected Works by Hanno Millesi – Geoffrey C. Howes: The Density of Life: Gabriele Petricek’s Literary Laboratories – Elizabeth Ametsbichler: Notions of Interconnectedness: An Introduction to Judith Nika Pfeifer’s Writing and an Interview – Felix Tweraser: Climate Change, Border Politics, and Mass Displacement in Erwin Uhrmann’s Ich bin die Zukunft (2014) – Barbara Kosta: Voracious Productions: Philipp Weiss’s Experimental Explorations – Impact – Barbara Kosta reflects – Felix Tweraser reflects – Student Participants – About the Contributors.