Reading German Books in 2020 discussion

I live in Switzerland and am joining this challenge to read more Swiss authors. My intention is to read three books by Swiss authors in 2020. Have not picked any books yet and will post here, once I've decided on titles.

Looking forward to see what you pick :)

I've read my first book by a Swiss author! I beati anni del castigo by Fleur Jaeggy.
It won't count for this challenge, as the book was written in Italian, but I thought I list it here anyway. I enjoyed this book, esp the sparse and sharp prose.

In the meantime I have decided on my first German language book:
Elefanten im Garten by Meral Kureyshi.

Will report back once I've read it.

Natalie wrote: "I've read my first book by a Swiss author! I beati anni del castigo by Fleur Jaeggy.
It won't count for this challenge, as the book was written in Italian, but I tho..."

Never heard of that one, let me know what you think

Ok, I have read two books in German:

I discovered Regina Ullmann (1884-1961) through Lydia Davis who mentions her in her new book Essays One.

Ullmann wrote short stories and poetry.

My library has quite a few of her books and I picked Schwarze Kerze : Erzählungen. I love these stories. Most are set in the country side or in health resorts and the protagonists experience some sort of emotional transformation, realization or epiphany. The language was rich and beautiful and I've encountered some German words that I had never heard before. My favorite is 'fuerbass' which means 'onwards'.

I highly recommend her books for readers who love rich language, and interior, quiet stories.

The only collection published in English is The Country Road: Stories.

The second book that I've read is the above mentioned Elefanten im Garten. This is a short book told in a fragmented, nonlinear style about a young woman processing the death of her father and growing up in an immigrant family in Switzerland. It took me a moment to find my footing due to the structure of the book, but once I was in, I liked it. The prose is sparse and direct. It's told mostly in recollections/memories of the narrator, the family scenes in particular were the most effective and memorable part of the story for me.

I picked this book because I am particularly interested in reading stories by female/female-identified/nonbinary Swiss authors or authors living in Switzerland who are immigrants or second-gen. It seems like the majority of authors published in Switzerland are men with no immigrant background. If anybody has any recommendations, please let me know! :-)

For my next read by a Swiss author in German I will read Mariella Mehr.

Mariella Mehr is of the nomadic Yenish People, who have experienced severe discrimination and terror in Switzerland, including the forced separation of children from their parents. Mariella Mehr has lived through this experience; and has written several books about it (I believe she has written both fiction and nonfiction?).

Nice to see, that you want to read swiss autors. I also lives in Switzerland, und try to read local autors. I 've to make a separete shelf so others can find the swiss books.

Dear Natalie, Melinda Nadj Abonji is another Swiss author born in former Yugoslavia. Her book "Tauben fliegen auf" won both Swiss and German literature prizes back in 2010. Maybe is worth checking out.