Guest of the ilb 2007
Wladimir Kaminer was born in Moscow in 1967. Following training as a sound engineer for theatre and radio, he studied dramaturgy at the Moscow Theatre Institute. In 1990 he immigrated to East Berlin, to the still extant GDR. After initial placement in an immigrants’ home in the district of Marzahn, he made Prenzlauer Berg the centre of his life and writing. He made his name as a columnist with bizarre accounts of every day life in Berlin and the chaos of the German reunification process, as well as reminiscing about life in the now-vanished Soviet world. His articles appeared in various publications, including the »zitty«, the »taz«, the »Frankfurter Rundschau« and the »Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung«. He also did independent readings in Berlin.
His first collection of stories, »Russendisko« (2000; Eng. »Russian Disco«, 2002) is named after an improvised dance event Kaminer organised in 2000 in »Kaffee Burger« alongside Jury Gurzhy, which has since become legendary and is staged regularly. The music featured at these events, a mixture of polka punk, klezmer ska and balalaika rock, illustrates Kaminer’s artistic principle of fun-oriented, nostalgic, friendly anarchism. »Never think things up, just trust life« is the guiding motto of the stories in »Russendisko«, which, with precise observations, irony and benevolence, extract little jewels of absurdity from everyday life. The book swiftly became a bestseller, and has been translated into a number of languages, including English, French, Japanese and several eastern European languages.
His first novel was published in 2001; »Militärmusik« (t: Military music) is a humorous epitaph for the old Soviet Union and his own childhood and youth. »Really existing Socialism« is also the thematic treasure chest of his new, as yet unpublished book, »Legenden und Missverständnisse des XX. Jahrhunderts: Es gab keinen Sex im Sozialismus« (t: Legends and misconceptions of the 20th century: There was no sex in Socialism). That the author is by now an insider in German society, especially in certain districts of Berlin, is proved beyond doubt in »Mein deutsches Dschungelbuch« (2003; t: My German Jungle Book) and »Ich bin kein Berliner. Ein Reiseführer für faule Touristen« (2007; t: I am not a Berliner: A travel guide for lazy tourists).
Kaminer, one of the most popular writers working in German, is also active as a presenter of the weekly show »Wladimirs Welt« (Wladimir’s world) on the radio station SFB4 Radio Multikulti, and appears regularly on the TV show »ZDF Morgenmagazin«. He recently opened his own dance club. His twelfth book, »Mein Leben im Schrebergarten« (t: My life in the allotment) is to be published this year. The artist lives in Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin with his wife and their two children.
© international literature festival berlin
Wladimir Kaminer online: www.russendisko.de
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