Michael Roes (born 7 August 1960 in

Rhede Rhede () is a municipality in the district of Borken in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located near the border with the Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern ...

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

) is a German

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

and

filmmaker Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

. Roes was born in

and grew up in Bocholt,

Education and academic career

He was a student of

Philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

Anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

and

Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

at the

Free University of Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public university, public research university in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in West Berlin in 1948 with American support during the early Cold War period a ...

. He holds a

Diploma A diploma is a document awarded by an educational institution (such as a college or university) testifying the recipient has graduated by successfully completing their courses of studies. Historically, it has also referred to a charter or offi ...

in Psychology (1985) and a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in Philosophy (1991). His anthropological field research was conducted in

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

and the

Palestinian territories The occupied Palestinian territories, also referred to as the Palestinian territories, consist of the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip—two regions of the former Mandate for Palestine, British Mandate for Palestine ...

(1987,1991),

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

(1993–1994), the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

('' Native Americans in the State of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

'' 1996-1997; ''The Social Construction of Race at the Mississippi''1999) and

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

(1999). He has been a lecturer at universities in Berlin,

Konstanz Konstanz ( , , , ), traditionally known as Constance in English, is a college town, university city with approximately 83,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the Baden-Württemberg state of south Germany. The city ho ...

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

and

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

. Roes was a fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in

(1994–1995). Roes was the guest professor at the

Central European University Central European University (CEU; , ) is a private research university in Vienna. The university offers graduate and undergraduate programs in the social sciences and humanities, which are accredited in Austria and the United States. The univ ...

, Budapest (2004; 2005/2006) At present Michael Roes is research fellow at the International Research Center "Interweaving Performance Cultures" of Freie Universität Berlin (2012 / 2013)

Literature

Michael Roes is a novelist, poet, anthropologist and film-maker with an interest in interaction with the foreign. He has drawn inspiration from a wide and diverse range of cultures in his work, from the North American Indians, featured in the novel ''Der Coup der Berdache'', to contemporary China in ''Die Fünf Farben Schwarz'', and from Welsh mythology in ''Lleu Llaw Gyffes'', to the Islamic world in ''Leeres Viertel'', ''Weg nach Timimoun'', ''Nah Inverness'', and ''Geschichte der Freundschaft''. His work is characterised by syncretism, experimentation and a multicultural flavour. It reveals a desire to engage with people from other cultures, and he has a vision of intercultural learning as an active exchange, an experience that must be sought, in which one must give as well as take. ''Leeres Viertel'' published in 1996, was the novel that earned Roes his reputation as one of the leading German ''Poeten des Fremden''. In this novel the protagonist is an anthropologist travelling in Yemen researching traditional children's games. His account is a juxtaposition of travel writing, observations on daily life, anthropological lists, and reflections on the theory of play. Another complementary narrative strand in the novel comprises a diary written by an early nineteenth-century traveller to Yemen, Ferdinand Schnittke. Sharing a sensitivity to local customs, an interest in the traditions of the Arab world, and a similar fate, the two diary accounts closely intertwine. ''Nah Inverness'', published in 2004, likewise features two diary accounts. One is by Hal Dumblatt, an American director hell-bent on filming a production of Macbeth in the Yemeni hinterlands, using Yemeni tribesmen as actors. The second narrative strand is provided by Ahmed, a Yemeni officer appointed to report on the film crew's activities. The novel's plot is based on real events: Michael Roes took a small film crew to Yemen in 2000 to film a version of Macbeth, entitled ''Someone is Sleeping in my Pain: Ein west-östlicher Macbeth'' (2001). This daring project can only be viewed as the epitome of the experimentation, and an eagerness to approach the unknown, that is inherent in Roes' work as a whole. Of all Roes' works the novel is, however, the least optimistic about the possibilities of making a successful and meaningful connection with people from different cultures. In his most recent novel, ''Geschichte der Freundschaft'', published 2010, Roes returns to this theme with a novel that tells the story of a friendship between a German tourist and an Algerian student. – In all these novels intercultural encounters are portrayed as being complex and fragile. Relationships and friendships between people of vastly different backgrounds induce personal growth, deeper cultural understanding and involve a questioning of one's own cultural prejudices. An idea fundamental to Roes' thinking on the topic of interculturality is the concept that that which unites the human race is much greater than that which divides it. No matter where on earth he or she may live, every human being has one thing in common – a physical body. Language and culture may keep people apart, but the experience of physical sensation forms a bond that is deeper than the superficial factors which separate the human race.

Theatre and Film

Michael Roes took part in

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

and film work with adolescents in Berlin. He worked as Director's assistant at ''Schaubühne Berlin'' (1987–1989) and at ''

Munich Kammerspiele The Munich Kammerspiele (German: Münchner Kammerspiele) is a state-funded German-language theater company based at the ''Schauspielhaus'' on Maximilianstraße (Munich), Maximilianstrasse in the Bavarian capital. The company currently has three ...

'' (1989). His first feature film ''Someone is Sleeping in My Pain'', a contemporary version of

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's ''

Macbeth ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...

'', was shot in New York and Yemen with tribal warriors (2000–2001). In 2003/2004 Roes made the documentary film ''City of Happiness'' about the present situation of young men in

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

. He also made the feature film ''Timimoun'', an Algerian

road movie A road movie is a film genre, genre of film in which the main characters leave home on a road trip, typically altering the perspective from their everyday lives. Road movies often depict travel in the hinterlands, with the films exploring the the ...

, based on the Greek tragedy of

Orestes In Greek mythology, Orestes or Orestis (; ) was the son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, and the brother of Electra and Iphigenia. He was also known by the patronymic Agamemnonides (), meaning "son of Agamemnon." He is the subject of several ...

(2004/2005). This road movie and the novel ''Weg nach Timimoun'' by Michael Roes are based on the Ancient Greek myth of Orestes who returned to

Mycenae Mycenae ( ; ; or , ''Mykē̂nai'' or ''Mykḗnē'') is an archaeological site near Mykines, Greece, Mykines in Argolis, north-eastern Peloponnese, Greece. It is located about south-west of Athens; north of Argos, Peloponnese, Argos; and sou ...

together with his friend Pylades to kill his mother and her lover in revenge of their murder of his father. Laid owns a small photo studio in the Algerian harbour city of Bejaia. In a letter his sister appeals to him to avenge his father who was shot by Laid’s mother in an act of desperation. Together with his friend Nadir young Laid reluctantly embarks on a trip to his hometown Timimoun, the legendary oasis in the

Sahara desert The Sahara (, ) is a desert spanning across North Africa. With an area of , it is the largest hot desert in the world and the list of deserts by area, third-largest desert overall, smaller only than the deserts of Antarctica and the northern Ar ...

. The film and novel are a kind of anthropological journey full of danger and adventure through a country torn with political tension and under the growing influence of religious fundamentalism. In strong and vivid language Roes paints a picture of a society with violent fathers and hard-hearted mothers, but also with tenderful friendships. Main subject of Roes' poetical and academic work is the role of the "stranger" or the "foreigner" in our societies. Specially the European view to the Arab world is one of the main topics in his major novels and recent films. His wide talent as a poet, novelist, play writer, essayist and film maker and his interest in outsiders puts him into the tradition of

Jean Cocteau Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau ( , ; ; 5 July 1889 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, film director, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost avant-garde artists of the 20th-c ...

Pier Paolo Pasolini Pier Paolo Pasolini (; 5 March 1922 – 2 November 1975) was an Italian poet, film director, writer, actor and playwright. He is considered one of the defining public intellectuals in 20th-century Italian history, influential both as an artist ...

Bruce Chatwin Charles Bruce Chatwin (13 May 194018 January 1989) was an English travel writer, novelist and journalist. His first book, ''In Patagonia'' (1977), established Chatwin as a travel writer, although he considered himself instead a storytelling, s ...

Publications

*''Jizchak''

Essay An essay ( ) is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a Letter (message), letter, a term paper, paper, an article (publishing), article, a pamphlet, and a s ...

, Berlin 1992/2005 *''Cham''

Play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

, Berlin 1993 *''Lleu Llaw Gyffes''

Novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

, Berlin 1994 *''Rub Al-Khali'' Novel,

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

1996 *''Madschnun Al-Malik'' Play, Frankfurt 1997 *''Durus Arabij''

Poem Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

s, Frankfurt 1998 *''Der Coup Der Berdache'' Novel, Berlin 1999 *''Haut Des Südens'' Novel, Berlin 2000 *''David Kanchelli'' Novel, Berlin 2001 *''Kain. Elegie'' Poems, Berlin 2004 *''Nah Inverness'' Novel, Berlin 2004 *''Weg Nach Timimoun'' Novel, Berlin 2006 *''Krieg und Tanz'' Essays, Berlin 2007 *''Perversion und Glück'', Essays, Berlin 2007 *''Ich weiss nicht mehr die Nacht'', Novel, Berlin 2008 *''Die fünf Farben Schwarz'', Novel, Berlin 2009 *''Geschichte der Freundschaft'', Novel, Berlin 2010 *''Engel und Avatar'', Essay with Hinderk Emrich, Berlin 2011 *''Die Laute'', Novel, Berlin 2012 *''Der eifersüchtige Gott'', Essay with Rachid Boutayeb, Aschaffenburg 2013 *''Die Legende von der Weißen Schlange'', Novel, Berlin 2014 * with Hinderk Emrich: ''Einige widersprüchliche Anmerkungen zur Vergeblichkeit der Liebe: Ein Gespräch.'' Essay, Aschaffenburg 2015 *''Zeithain'', Novel, Frankfurt a.M. 2017 *''Herida Duro'', Novel, Frankfurt a.M. 2019 *''Melancholie des Reisens'', Essays, Frankfurt a.M. 2020 *''Der Traum vom Fremden'', Novel, Berlin 2021 *''Lesebuch Michael Roes.'' Anthology, Bielefeld 2022 *''Death in Aden'', Novel, KDP 2023 *''The Jews of Raidah'', Novel, KDP 2023 *''The Blind Director'', Novel, KDP 2023 *''Spunk'', Novel, Berlin 2023

Premieres

*''Aufriss'' Theater der Stadt Koblenz, 1992 *''Cham'' Schauspielhaus Köln 1993 *''Madschnun Al-Malik'' Schauspielhaus Düsseldorf, 1998 *''Durus Arabij'', Berliner Festwochen, 1998 *''Kain. Elegie''

Hebbel Theater The Hebbel-Theater (Hebbel Theatre) is a historic theatre building for plays in Berlin-Kreuzberg, Germany. It has been a venue of the company Hebbel am Ufer (HAU) from 2003. The theatre, with approximately 800 seats, was built by Oskar Kaufmann ...

, Internationales Poesie Festival Berlin, 2004 *''Der Coup Der Berdache'', Palast der Republik, Berlin, 2004

Features

*''Ein Kurzer Sommer in Tichy. Diary of a Journey into the Rebellious Kabylei''. Radiofeature, SWR Baden-Baden, WDR Cologne, 2003 *''Der Internetharem''. Radiofeature. WDR, Köln 2005 *''Weg nach Timimoun''. Radiofeature. SWR, 2007

Films

*''Abdallah and Adrian'' Documentary, Yemen 1996 *''Someone is Sleeping in My Pain'' Feature, Yemen, USA 2000 *''City of Happiness'' Documentary, Algeria, 2003/2004 *''Phaidra Remade'', an Essay on Film, Budapest 2004 *''Timimoun'' Feature, Algeria, 2004/2005 *''Elevation'' Feature,

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

, 2006 *''Breakdance in China'', Dokumentary, China 2007/2012 *''Bardo'', Feature, Tunisia 2016

Grants and awards

*Grant of the Deutscher Literaturfonds (1991, 2007/2008) * Else-Lasker-Schüler-Award (1993) *Fellowship at the Institute for Advanced Studies Budapest (1994–1995) *Grant of the Foundation ''Preussische Seehandlung'' (1995, 2000) * Bremen Literature Prize (1997) *Elected member of the German P.E.N. (1998) *Grant of the ''Niederländisch-Deutsche Kulturstiftung'' (2004) *Alice-Salomon-Poetry-Award, Berlin (2006) *China-Stipendium des Auswärtigen Amtes (2007) *Grant of the ''Stiftung für deutsch-polnische Zusammenarbeit'', Villa Decius, Krakau (2011) *Poet in Residence of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) in Kabul, Afghanistan (2012) *Fellowship at the International Research Center "Interweaving Performance Cultures" of the Freie Universität Berlin (2012 / 2013) *Nomination of the novel ''Die Laute'' for the ''Deutscher Buchpreis 2012'' *''Spycher'' literary award Leuk 2013 * 2018 / 2019 37. Poetikdozentur der

Universität Paderborn Paderborn University () is a public research university in Paderborn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in 1972 and 20,308 students were enrolled at the university in the winter semester 2016/2017 in 62 different degree programmes. ...

* 2020 Margarete-Schrader-Preis für Literatur * 2020 Annette-von-Droste-Hülshoff-Preis * 2021 Poet in Residence an der

Universität Duisburg-Essen The University of Duisburg-Essen () is a public research university in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. In the 2019 ''Times Higher Education World University Rankings'', the university was awarded 194th place in the world. It was originally ...

* 2022 Alfred-Döblin-Stipendium der Akademie der Künste zu Berlin * 2024 / 2025 Annual grant from the Deutscher Literaturfonds

Literatur

* Christoph Schmitt-Maaß: ''Das gefährdete Subjekt''. Selbst- und Fremdforschung in der deutsch-sprachigen Ethnopoesie der Gegenwart (Hubert Fichte, Hans Christoph Buch, Michael Roes); 2011; * Juliane Rytz: ''Die Metaphorik der Haut in Michael Roes’ "Haut des Südens".'' In: Villigster Werkstatt Interdisziplinarität (Hg.): Haut zwischen Innen und Außen. Organ – Fläche – Diskurs. Villigst Profile. Münster: LIT Verlag 2009; * Seiriol Dafydd: ''Intercultural and Intertextual Encounters in Michael Roes's Travel Fiction''; Bithell Series of Dissertations Book 42; 2015; ASIN: B00WZ4637I * Mark Thornton Burnett: ''Shakespeare and World Cinema''; Cambridge University Press 2012; ASIN: B009XAHDA8. ''Mark Thornton Burnett explores the contemporary significance of Shakespeare cinema outside the Hollywood mainstream and analyses in an extended chapter Roes' Yemeni Macbeth-adaptation "Someone is Sleeping in my Pain".''

References and Sources

*Literature by and about Michael Roes in the ''Katalog der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek'' *Michael Roes in the German and English version of the Internet Movie Database *Michael Roes in an interview about ''Handlungsorte'' in his work in http://handlungsreisen.de/ * http://www.mimecentrum.de/BREAKDANC_Salon.pdf *https://web.archive.org/web/20121111151127/http://www.deutscher-buchpreis.de/de/544793/

External links

* http://handlungsreisen.de/ * https://web.archive.org/web/20100811020602/http://www.matthes-seitz-berlin.de/scripts/autoren/autor.php?ID=5 * http://www.literaturport.de * http://www.ash-berlin.eu/profil/auszeichnungenpreise/alice-salomon-poetik-preis/preistraeger-2006/ * * http://www.cinefacts.de/dvd/58980/timimoun-dvd.html * http://www.perlentaucher.de/autoren/3575/Michael_Roes.html * https://archive.today/20080407214000/http://handlungsreisedialog.blogwerft.de/2007/12/13/michael-roes/ * http://globalshakespeares.mit.edu/someone-is-sleeping-in-my-pain-roes-michael-2002/

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roes, Michael 1960 births Living people People from Rhede Film directors from North Rhine-Westphalia Free University of Berlin alumni Academic staff of Central European University