Usedom Literature Days: In the face of the comet, Durs Grünbein in conversation

In Durs Grünbein's world, history and the present become interlocutors. His 2023 novel, "The Comet," traces a luminous path to the great upheavals of our time—the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East—and to questions of guilt, fate, and the survival of civilization. The novel tells the story of his grandmother Dora's life: she moved from impoverished Silesian circumstances to Dresden, finding modest happiness in the shadow of the Nazi regime, until the firestorm of February 13, 1945, destroyed everything. Grünbein weaves this biography with poetic precision, philosophical depth, and a warning against catastrophes that come from afar and change everything—an echo in the wars of today. 

Against this background, cultural historian Manfred Osten speaks with Durs Grünbein about the novel in the face of a sleep of reason – grand, clear sentences about war, memory and language.

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