LCB
Sofia Andruchowytsch

Sofia Andruchowytsch

Kiew, Ukraine

Zu Gast im LCB:
November 2018

Sofia Andruchowytsch wurde 1982 in Iwano-Frankiwsk, Ukraine, geboren. Sie hat bis heute fünf Prosabücher verfasst. Ihre Werke wurden ins Englische, Polnische, Deutsche, Tschechische, Französische, Ungarische und Serbische übersetzt. Mit freundlicher Unterstützung der Goethe-Institute in Osteuropa und Zentralasien.

Sofia Andruchowytsch @ privat

»(Un)distorted memories«

What are you working on at the moment?
I am working on my novel about erased, distorted and manipulated memories, about amnesia of a person and a group of people, about history and identity. Do the events of the past which were erased by the previous generations because of trauma, guilt or danger, or were erased by the political regime impact on the life of a person? What happens if someone starts to substitute the lost memories with false ones?
It’s the story where I am trying to find the connection between Ukrainian history of 20th century and current events, between the possible differences of the people from the regions with the different kinds of history, between the lost memory and search for identity. It’s the story of one Ukrainian family during the 20th century.

How does your stay in the LCB affects you and your work?
It’s always so helpful for the work to find yourself in a new place: you get a distance to what you’ve been doing on the one hand and a new experience which gives you a chance to make a shift, to change the angle of view, to get new ideas on the other hand. The LCB is a fantastic place to work: you have your peaceful time for writing in beautiful surroundings, and all the possibilities to meet the other guests, all the wonderful people, and to explore Berlin.
My stay here helps me to structuralize my writing better and to add some of the new insights and ideas which I got here.

What experiences will you take home?
The long walks in the forest. Pleasant breakfasts and chats with the view of the lake. The discovery of other authors. Experience of knowing someone better with time. Museum Island, Charlottenburg, Tiergarten, Kreuzberg, Spree. All the cosy places, talks and undistorted memories :-).

This interview took place in December 2018.

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