The ACF DC welcomes Austrian poet and writer Verena Mermer and American author and translator Geoff Howes for an engaging literature reading.
The evening will start with a reading of German excerpts with English translations from Mermer’s book Autobus Ultima Speranza by the author, followed by a discussion with Mermer and Howes about the development of their author-translator relationship and collaborative writing. Afterwards, this international, intergenerational duo of co-authors will present and read in English with German translations from Shrinkbots, their mildly dystopian story of dysfunction in the American Midwest. The reading will be followed by a Q&A and an Austrian wine reception.
ABOUT AUTOBUS ULTIMA SPERANZA
One December evening, a bright pink long-distance bus bearing the inscription SPERANZA sets off on its journey from Vienna to Romania. The nocturnal drive brings together people who spend their life in the grey zones of Europe’s labour market. Their pay secures their family’s subsistence, their absence creates new problems. Florin hires himself out as a harvest hand to enable his mother in Bucharest to retire. Daiana cleans private homes in Vienna, even though she has a degree. Ioan, one of the drivers, recounts his first border crossing. Autobus Ultima Speranza finds a language for a life spent continuously on the hop, for the hopes and disappointments, the restlessness and structural violence that accompany it.
ABOUT SHRINKBOTS
Shrinkbots is set in a near future of fake sunrises, chronic lockdowns and de-professionalization, where pragmatism and idealism could either hang together or go down separately. On his first day on the job at mServices, Eli tries to get a read on his new coworkers. He registers their personal quirks, their coffee preferences, and their professional—or unprofessional—attitudes. But in important ways, he will never be a regular member of this team of mental health workers, and being privy to inside data, he knows the company will soon face a crisis that will force his boss Angela, his coworkers Beth, Roger, and Larry, and their clients like Cathy and Ryan to make hard choices.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Verena Mermer | Austria
Verena Mermer lives and works in Vienna and abroad, whenever possible. Besides writing poetry, prose and texts beyond genres in German and English, she is a freelance stenographer at the Austrian Parliament. Shortlisted for the European Union Prize for Literature in 2019, she also received a Project Grant for Literature from the Austrian Federal Ministry of Arts, Culture, Civil Service and Sport in 2021. She was a Writer in Residence at Bowling Green State University in Ohio in 2020 and has returned to the same role in 2025. Her latest publications include die stimme über den dächern (2015) and Autobus Ultima Speranza (2018), both novels published by Residenz Publishing House.
Geoff Howes | USA
Geoff Howes, Professor Emeritus of German at Bowling Green State University, has published widely on Austrian literature and culture and translated the work of over thirty Austrian authors into English, including Robert Musil, Peter Rosei, Gabriele Petricek, Verena Mermer, and recently, a series of poets for the online magazine poesiegalerie.at. From 2000 to 2005 he was co-editor, with Jacqueline Vansant, of Modern Austrian Literature (now Journal of Austrian Studies). From 2016 to 2022 he was on the editorial staff of No Man’s Land.
Image © Verena Mermer & Geoff Howes