Alissa Walser (born 1961) is a German writer, translator, and artist. She was born in

Friedrichshafen Friedrichshafen ( or ; Low Alemannic: ''Hafe'' or ''Fridrichshafe'') is a city on the northern shoreline of Lake Constance (the ''Bodensee'') in Southern Germany, near the borders of both Switzerland and Austria. It is the district capital (''K ...

on Lake Constance. Her father is the German writer

Martin Walser Martin Johannes Walser (; 24 March 1927 – 26 July 2023) was a German writer, known especially as a novelist. He began his career as journalist for ''Süddeutscher Rundfunk'', where he wrote and directed audio plays. He was a member of Group 47 ...

. She is known for her short stories, plays, novels, and translations. Many of her stories include drawings which seem to interrupt them but instead continue the narrative on a different level. She has won a number of German literary prizes.

Life

From 1981 to 1986 Alissa Walser studied painting in Vienna and New York City. After 1990 she began publishing translations and fiction. She lives in Frankfurt/Main (Germany) and is married to Sascha Anderson.

Works available in English

''Mesmerized'', her first novel (''Am Anfang war die Nacht Musik,'' 2010), has been translated into English by

Jamie Bulloch Jamie Bulloch (born 6 September 1969) is a British historian and translator of German literature, with over fifty published titles to his name, and twice winner of the Schlegel-Tieck prize. Life and work Bulloch was born at East Dulwich Hospital ...

. It retells the encounter of the blind eighteenth-century pianist and composer Maria Theresia Paradis and the healing attempt by the scandalous doctor

Franz Anton Mesmer Franz Anton Mesmer ( ; ; 23 May 1734 – 5 March 1815) was a German physician with an interest in astronomy. He theorized the existence of a process of natural energy transference occurring between all animate and inanimate objects; this he cal ...

. The original book cover for the German edition is based on a drawing by Walser of a

glass harmonica The glass harmonica, also known as the glass armonica, glass harmonium, bowl organ, hydrocrystalophone, or simply the armonica or harmonica (derived from , ''harmonia'', the Greek language, Greek word for harmony), is a type of musical instr ...

, an eighteenth-century musical instrument.

Barbara Albert Barbara Albert (born in Vienna) is an Austrian writer, film-producer and film-director. She studied filmmaking at the Wiener Filmakademie. Her first film to become known to a larger audience was '' Nordrand'', which describes the reality of ...

directed a film adaptation under the title ''

Mademoiselle Paradis ''Mademoiselle Paradis'' () is an Austrian-German biographical drama film, directed by Barbara Albert and released in 2017.Allan Hunter"'Mademoiselle Paradis': Toronto Review" ''Screen Daily'', 8 September 2017. An adaptation of Alissa Walser's hi ...

'' (''Licht'', 2017). ''Painting in a Man's World: Four Stories about

Berthe Morisot Berthe Marie Pauline Morisot (; 14 January 1841 – 2 March 1895) was a French painter, printmaker and a member of the circle of painters in Paris who became known as the Impressionists. In 1864, Morisot exhibited for the first time in the ...

, Mary Cassatt,

Eva Gonzalès Eva Gonzalès (19 April 1849 – 6 May 1883) was a French Impressionist painter. She was one of the four most notable female Impressionists in the nineteenth century, along with Mary Cassatt (1844–1926), Berthe Morisot (1841–95), and Mari ...

, Marie Bracquemond'' by Diane Broeckhoven, Noëlle Châtelet, Annette Pehnt, Alissa Walser. Hatje Cantz, 2008. Several stories appeared in English translation in journals such as ''

Open City In war, an open city is a settlement which has announced it has abandoned all defensive efforts, generally in the event of the imminent capture of the city to avoid destruction. Once a city has declared itself open, the opposing military will ...

'' (vol. 8, 2000) and '' Grand Street''.

Translations into German (Selection)

Prose and poetry

* Diane Glancy: ''Kriegstanz.'' Frankfurt 1995. *

Sylvia Plath Sylvia Plath (; October 27, 1932 – February 11, 1963) was an American poet and author. She is credited with advancing the genre of confessional poetry and is best known for '' The Colossus and Other Poems'' (1960), '' Ariel'' (1965), a ...

: ''Max Nix.'' Frankfurt 1996. * Sylvia Plath: ''Die Tagebücher.'' Frankfurt 1997. *

Kay Boyle Kay Boyle (February 19, 1902 – December 27, 1992) was an American novelist, short story writer, educator, and political activist. Boyle is best known for her fiction, which often explored the intersections of personal and political themes. Her ...

: ''Das kleine Kamel.'' Frankfurt 1998. * Robert Barry: ''Ein kleines Stück vom Glück.'' Frankfurt 1999. *

Anne Carson Anne Patricia Carson (born June 21, 1950) is a Canadian poet, essayist, translator, classicist, and professor. Trained at the University of Toronto, Carson has taught classics, comparative literature, and creative writing at universities across ...

: ''Glas, Ironie und Gott.'' München 2000. *

Paula Fox Paula Fox (April 22, 1923 – March 1, 2017) was an American author of novels for adults and children and of two memoirs. Fox won the Newbery Medal in 1974 for her novel '' The Slave Dancer''. She also won the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 19 ...

: ''Louisa.'' München 2005. * Sylvia Plath: ''Ariel''. English and German. Frankfurt 2008. * Mary Miller: ''Süßer König Jesus.'' Berlin 2013. * Elizabeth Harrower: ''In gewissen Kreisen.'' Berlin 2016. * Mary Miller: ''Big World. Storys.'' München 2017. * Elizabeth Harrower: ''Die Träume der anderen.'' Berlin 2019. *

Margaret Atwood Margaret Eleanor Atwood (born November 18, 1939) is a Canadian novelist, poet, literary critic, and an inventor. Since 1961, she has published 18 books of poetry, 18 novels, 11 books of nonfiction, nine collections of short fiction, eight chi ...

: Die Füchsin: Gedichte 1965–1995. Berlin Verlag, Berlin 2020. Kindle and ISBN 978-3827013866

Theater plays

Joyce Carol Oates Joyce Carol Oates (born June 16, 1938) is an American writer. Oates published her first book in 1963, and has since published 58 novels, a number of plays and novellas, and many volumes of short stories, poetry, and nonfiction. Her novels ''Black ...

: ''Ontologischer Beweis meines Daseins.'' Frankfurt a. M. 1985. * Joyce Carol Oates: ''Tone clusters.'' Reinbek 1990. * Joyce Carol Oates: ''Nackt steh ich vor euch.'' Reinbek 1990. *

Brock Norman Brock Brock Norman Brock (born October 1966) is a British screenwriter and playwright. Early in his career, his play ''Here is Monster'' was nominated for the Verity Bargate Award. The premiere production in 1990–91 was staged by the Show of Streng ...

: ''Da ist Monster.'' Reinbek 1991. * Joyce Carol Oates: ''Die Mondfinsternis.'' Reinbek 1991. *

Janusz Głowacki Janusz Andrzej Głowacki (13 September 1938 – 19 August 2017), better known as Janusz Głowacki or colloquially simply as Głowa, was a Polish playwright, essayist and screenwriter. Głowacki was the recipient of multiple awards and honours, in ...

: ''Antigone in New York.'' 1994. *

Jon Robin Baitz Jon Robin Baitz (born November 4, 1961) is an American playwright, screenwriter and television producer. He is a two time Pulitzer Prize finalist, as well as a Guggenheim, American Academy of Arts and Letters, and National Endowment for the Art ...

: ''Vom wahren Feuer.'' Reinbek 1995. *

Marsha Norman Marsha Norman (born September 21, 1947) is an American playwright, screenwriter, and novelist. She received the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play '' 'night, Mother''. She wrote the book and lyrics for such Broadway musicals as ''The S ...

: ''Nacht, Mutter.'' Reinbek 2002. *

Christopher Hampton Sir Christopher James Hampton (born 26 January 1946) is a British playwright, screenwriter, translator and film director. He is best known for his play Les Liaisons Dangereuses (play), ''Les Liaisons Dangereuses'' based on the Les Liaisons da ...

: ''Die Methode.'' Reinbek 2003. * Several plays by

Edward Albee Edward Franklin Albee III ( ; March 12, 1928 – September 16, 2016) was an American playwright known for works such as ''The Zoo Story'' (1958), ''The Sandbox (play), The Sandbox'' (1959), ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' (1962), ''A Delicat ...

(together with Martin Walser).

Exhibits (selection) and art works

* ''Sprachlaub oder: Wahr ist, was schön ist''. Texts by Martin Walser, water colors by Alissa Walser. Rowohlt, 2021. ISBN 978-3498002398 (German Edition) * ''The small work show'', BACA Downton, NY, 1984 * ''Small work, big ideas'', PAN Art Gallery, NY, 1985 * ''The new show'', Chameleon Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, 1986 * Kunstlichtgalerie, Konstanz, 1998 * ''Dichtung und Wahrheit'', Arte Giani, Frankfurt a. M., 1999 * Kunstraum Brüssel, Belgien, 2001 * Städtische Galerie Backnang, 2001 * ''Text und Bild'', Städtische Wessenberg-Galerie Konstanz, 2001 * Arte Giani, Frankfurt a. M., 2002 * Deutsche Structured Finance, Frankfurt a. M., 2004 * Städtische Wessenberg-Galerie Konstanz, 2005 * Galerie Buchhandlung Lesezeichen, Dresden, 2006 * Galerie Brandstätter, Baden-Baden, 2006 * Galerie Pabst, München, 2007 * Literaturhaus Stuttgart, 2007

Awards (selection)

* 1992:

Ingeborg Bachmann Prize The Festival of German-Language Literature () is a literary event which takes place annually in Klagenfurt, Austria. During this major literary festival which lasts for several days a number of awards are given, the major one being the Ingeborg B ...

* 2009: Paul Scheerbart Prize (Heinrich Maria Ledig-Rowohlt Foundation) for the translation of poems by Sylvia Plath

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walser, Alissa 1961 births Living people People from Friedrichshafen German women short story writers Writers from Baden-Württemberg German women novelists 20th-century German women writers 21st-century German women writers 21st-century German novelists 21st-century German short story writers 20th-century German translators 21st-century German translators Alissa