Worte und Töne II

Silence prevails in the family as soon as the name Désiré is mentioned. In his novel Sleeping Children, Anthony Passeron narrates the story of an uncle who left his village in the south of France in the 1980s, travelled to America, became addicted to heroin and died of Aids. Passeron contrasts the family’s oppressive inability to talk about it with a success story: the successful campaign against Aids in French and American hospitals.

A global geoengineering process is supposed to cool the earth. The price for this: the sky will never be blue again, seas and rivers will fade, and the blue planet will turn a milky grey colour. In Magdalena Schrefel’s novel Sky Blue, climate collapse can be averted but at the cost that everything familiar becomes lost. In this scenario the protagonist, Hannah, attempts to understand what the potential role for art might be in the crisis.

***BIOGRAPHIES***

Anthony Passeron
b. 1983. Writer and grammar school teacher. His debut novel, Sleeping Children, caused an international sensation and received numerous awards. Recently published in German: Jacky, 2026.

“The author achieves both an incredibly touching as well as almost thriller-like novel.”
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on Sleeping Children

Magdalena Schrefel
b. 1984 in Korneuburg near Vienna, the writer lives in Berlin. She writes plays, radio plays and short stories and her awards include the Robert Walser Prize 2022 and the NESTROY Prize 2024. Recently published: Sky Blue, 2026

“The playwright Magdalena Schrefel illustrates in a vividly evocative way the complex interrelationship between man and nature. Thrilling!”
Petra Schulte, emotion

Dörte Lyssewski
b. 1969, is a German actress, director and writer. After many roles, she has been a member of the Burgtheater Wien ensemble since 2009. She writes poetry and short stories. Recently published: Exit Pan, 2026

Sophie Abraham
b. 1986 in The Netherlands, she is a cellist, composer and singer. Her repertoire ranges from classical to jazz and improvisation. She plays in various ensembles and also solo.