LiteraTour Nord: Elias Hirschl, Schleifen

Franziska Denk grows up in the circle of the Vienna Circle and suffers from a strange illness as a child: every symptom she hears or reads about immediately manifests in her. In Otto Mandl, a brilliant mathematician, the young Franziska finds her soulmate. She learns to immunize herself against her suffering using words from dead languages. The two develop an absolute obsession with language and from then on, together, search for the perfect language, pushing their quest to every conceivable limit.
“Schleifen” is a grand, intelligent novel about the power and influence of language on our lives—and it’s a real pleasure to read. Time and again, in Elias Hirschl’s work, the seemingly unbelievable turns out to be true, and the rest is extremely well-crafted.

Elias Hirschl was born in Vienna in 1994. He is an author, musician, slam poet, and writes for theater and radio. In 2020, he received the Reinhard Priessnitz Prize; in 2022, the Audience Award at the Bachmann Prize; and in 2026, the Düsseldorf Literature Prize. His most recent novels published by Zsolnay are “Salonfähig” (2021), “Content” (2024), and “Schleifen” (2026). Elias Hirschl lives in Vienna.

Nominated for the 2026 German Book Prize – “A great novel of ideas by one of today’s most delightful authors.”“ Clemens J. Setz

Organizers: Institute of German Studies at the University of Osnabrück, Literaturbüro Westniedersachsen, and Literaturbüro Westniedersachsen

Location: Renaissance Hall at the Ledenhof, Am Ledenhof 3–5

Ticket sales: Altstädter Bücherstuben, Bierstraße 37, Tel. 0541 26391