German Book Office Fiction Rights List - Fall 2009

This season’s list includes a bestselling titles from independent and large publishers in Germany, as well as a German Book Prize winner. Download the rights list PDF for further information about each title, including synopses and rights contacts.

Twice a year, the German Book Office New York (GBO) presents its Rights Lists of adult fiction titles to North American publishers, providing editors the opportunity to read about new German-language titles that are appropriate for the American market.

Translation Funding for Titles on this List

Translation funding for all of the titles on this list is available through the Helen and Kurt Wolff Translation Grant. Additional funding for Austrian and Swiss titles is available. To find out more about funding opportunities through the German Book Office and other organizations for German-language titles, see the links below to download the rights list or contact the GBO directly.

GBO Fiction Rights List – Fall 2009

BLOOD IN THE WATER by Alexander Schimmelbusch

Original German title: Blut im Wasser
Published in 2009 by Blumenbar Verlag

With his novel Blood in the Water Schimmelbusch impressively presents a picture of a decadent generation that is unable to use their privileged situation to create a fulfilling life, instead struggling to find some sense of happiness in their empty existence.

THE TASTE OF APPLES by Katharina Hagena

Original German title: Der Geschmack von Apfelkernen
Published in 2008 by Kiepenheuer & Witsch

Katharina Hagena’s first novel is the magical, bittersweet story of three generations of women and the family secrets that follow them. Hagena has created a moving and captivating tale of fate, remembrance and the art of forgetting.

BRENNER AND GOD by Wolf Haas

Original German title: Der Brenner und der liebe Gott
Published in 2009 by Hoffmann und Campe

Brenner and God is the seventh book in Haas’ wildly popular crime noir series. Whether read as part of the series, or as a stand-alone novel, this most recent tale of ex-detective Brenner is sure to captivate readers.

THE LIGHTS OF GEORGE PSALMANAZAR by Daniela Dröscher

Original German title: Die Lichter des George Psalmanazar
Published in 2009 by Berlin Verlag

Dröscher’s title character is an enigmatic charlatan who convinced many in the highest ranks of 18th- century English society that he was a native of the island of Formosa…he largely succeeded in masquerading as the first visitor to Europe from an exotic island of the Far East.

YOU ARE NOT GOING TO DIE by Kathrin Schmidt

Original German title: Du stirbst nicht
Published in 2009 by Kiepenheuer & Witsch

Inspired by true events, Kathrin Schmidt’s novel is a truly remarkable novel about someone who is forced to reinvent herself on the most fundamental level after suffering a stroke and losing the ability to speak.

WHAT COMES by Thomas Stangl

Original German title: Was kommt
Published in 2009 by Droschl Verlag

Thomas Stangl offers a mesmerizing depiction of Vienna as a city of ghosts, a place where boundaries -– between past and present, reality and dream, inside and outside, self and other, male and female –- are blurred and porous.

AT THE WINDOW by Luc Bondy

Original German title: Am Fenster
Published in 2009 by Zsolnay Verlag

Luc Bondy’s novel At the Window captures and illuminates the struggles of a man trying to come to terms with his own passing in the face of the people and past that have accompanied him to the brink.

SUMMER RESORT by Esther Kinsky

Original German title: Sommerfrische
Published in 2009 by Matthes und Seitz Berlin

The characters in Summer Resort are ordinary people -– they’re working-class, they live and work in or on the edge of a small town, they just about make ends meet, and every summer they congregate in üdülo to escape the trials and tribulations of their everyday lives and enjoy the good life for a while.

DOWNLOAD: A PDF of the GBO’s Fiction Rights List, featuring bestselling German titles available for translation

VISIT: The GBO online

READ: More about the GBO’s rights lists and translation funding

EMAIL: The GBO for more information about their rights lists and translation funding

About the Author

Hannah Johnson

Hannah Johnson is the publisher of international book industry magazine Publishing Perspectives, which provides daily information and news about book markets around the world. In addition to building partnerships with international cultural and trade organizations, she works with the Frankfurt Book Fair to organize and support a number of its overseas initiatives. Hannah has also worked as the managing editor for an online media company, The Hooch Life, focused on craft distillers and cocktail experts. Prior to that, she worked as a project manager for the Frankfurt Book Fair’s New York office, managing various business and marketing activities.