Anant Kumar

Reading in Dresden, October 2008

Anant Kumar (born September 28, 1969 in Katihar / Bihar ) is a German writer of Indian origin. Kumar spent his early school years in Motihari . He lives in Kassel .

Life

The son of an Indian family of teachers from Bihar studied German, sociology and international protection of human rights at the University of Kassel , the University of Vienna and the University of Montpellier . He graduated with a master's thesis on Alfred Döblin's epic Manas .

Kumar is a member of the Association of German Writers .

Works and work

In his literature, Kumar tries to combine the experiences of a stranger in German society with Indian culture . His first work Strange Woman, Strange Man is characterized by sharp-tongued observations and mediating understanding. The aspect of contemplative satire and fine gloss runs as a constant through Kumar's work. With his work Zeru - A seven-day story , Kumar reflects on the literary form of the epic and depicts in a colorful splendor the everyday life of an African boy amid the wild and ancient myths of the dark continent.

For a number of years, Kumar has been performing regularly in schools and prisons. Kumar regularly runs writing workshops and poetry workshops at North American universities and in the EU .

The indolent writer organized around 700 events for children, schoolchildren, students and senior citizens across cultures and countries.

reception

Kassel Live (a project by HNA.de) ranks Kumar among the contemporary greats in the German literary scene. "The cycle" Gleis 1 "increases with the poem" 04 Uhr "to an almost expressionistic style similar to the" Nachtcafé " Gottfried Benns ." Writes Stefanie Zimmermann about Kumar`s poetry in the Kasseler Hochschulzeitung.

The two first works "Fremde Frau-Fremder Mann" and "Kasseler Texte" addressed the issues of immigration on the one hand, but Kumar's texts go beyond that in their treatment of topics. "He has expanded the horizons of> Ausländerliteratur <" wrote World Literature Today in 1998 .

"Ethnicity or age are suspended in the texts as it were"

- Tim Schomaker: Daily newspaper .

“DIE INDERIN, prose” was written throughout in the 3rd person “she”. “And now Kumar is developing his ways of seeing and writing towards a“ feminine ”position, which, far from any classification or subordination to theoretical constraints, represents the deeply humanistic position of human existence for him - the passionate affirmations of life, of his own individual-human nature . "

Works

In German

novel

• Berlin-Bombay. From the life of Dipak Talgeri and Eva Seilmeyer. Verlag auf der Warft, Münster 2016, ISBN 3-939211-16-8 .
• Berlin-Bombay. The career of a teacher whose life as a con man perished. Anthea Verlag, Berlin 2020, ISBN 3-8999-83-49-1 .

Short stories

• FRIDO - a German voice. Der Neue Morgen, Rudolstadt 2013, ISBN 978-3-95480-035-3 .

Poetry

• Strange woman - strange man. An Indian writes in Kassel. Wiesenburg, Schweinfurt 1997, ISBN 3-932497-00-7 .
• Kassel texts. Poems, short stories, observations, glosses, sketches, reflections. Wiesenburg, Schweinfurt 1998, ISBN 3-932497-12-0 .
• ARCHETYPUS. Epla, Ganderkesee 2011, ISBN 978-3-940554-61-1 .
• AYSE. custos Verlag, Solingen 2020, ISBN 978-3-943195-33-0 .

prose

• The Indian. Prose. Wiesenburg, Schweinfurt 1999, ISBN 3-932497-32-5 .
• The galloping herd of cows: essays and other prose. Wiesenburg, Schweinfurt 2001, ISBN 3-932497-58-9 .
• The boundless stories. Wiesenburg, Schweinfurt 2003, ISBN 3-937101-04-7 .
• Three kilos of chickens. Grotesques, glosses, satires. Fünf-Finger-Ferlag, Leipzig 2005, ISBN 3-9808934-5-6 .
• India I. Sweet. IATROS, Mainz 2006, ISBN 3-937439-48-X .
• India II. Sauer. IATROS, Mainz 2006, ISBN 3-937439-49-8 .
• An Indian in Germany. Wiesenburg, Schweinfurt 2008, ISBN 978-3-939518-91-4 .
• Ibiza: Conversations, Poems and Reflections. Projekt-Verlag, Halle (Saale) 2013, ISBN 978-3-95486-331-0 .
• Chili Chicken , chiliverlag 2015, ISBN 978-3-943292-27-5 .

Children's books

• ... and a piece for you. A picture book for children and adults. Geest, Ahlhorn 2000, ISBN 3-934852-29-7 .
• Zeru. A seven day story. Wiesenburg, Schweinfurt 2005, ISBN 3-937101-78-0 .
• The moon and its boredom. A picture and coloring book for big and small children and for the adult child. Epla, Ganderkesee 2009, ISBN 978-3-940554-29-1 .
• Halli Galli in Gotha: Gotha an Welt !, A reading, self-reading and coloring book for ages 6 and up. chiliverlag, Verl 2015, ISBN 978-3-943292-34-3 .

Non-fiction

• India - a world power! - with internal weaknesses. Der Neue Morgen, Rudolstadt 2012, ISBN 978-3-95480-021-6 .
• Views of Gotha, Kumars Gothaer Kolumnen: Germany from inside and outside. City administration Gotha, Gotha 2015.
• East Germany is diversity, essays-reportages-poems. , Berlin 2019, ISBN 9783943583199 .

In English

• Stories Without Borders. Wiesenburg, Schweinfurt 2010, ISBN 978-3-942063-41-8 .
• The Boredom of the Moon. Epla, Ganderkesee 2014, ISBN 978-3-940554-29-1 .

Awards, conferences, symposia

• 2000: Workshop discussions on contemporary literature, "Focus: poetry & short prose", BBS Osterholz-Scharmbeck in cooperation with the Friedrich-Bödecker-Kreis, Lower Saxony
• 2002: Finalist of the Würth Literature Prize , ( Tuebingen Poetics Lecturer )
• 2003: Poeticus Short Stories Prize , Spittal an der Drau
• 2003: Scholarship as part of the Inselschreiber competition , Sylt-Quelle , Rantum
• 2004: Finalist, May Ayim Award ( poetry ), Berlin
• 2006: Rudolf-Descher-Feder , annual award from the IGdA authors' association
• 2010: Finalist, 14th short story menu competition, h + s Veranstaltungen GmbH
• 2011: Final work grant "FRIDO - A GERMAN VOICE (stories), Hessian Ministry for Science and Art , Wiesbaden
• 2012: Finalist, Geertje Potash-Suhr Prize for prose in German, SCALG, Colorado
• 2013: Guest Lecturer "Adjunct Visiting Lecturer II", Taos Summer School, The University of New Mexico in consortium with California State University Long Beach, June 25 to July 26, 2013.
• 2014: WORK FUNDING "DIPAK TALGERI IS THE FALL" (novel), Hessian Ministry for Science and Art, Wiesbaden
• 2015: Kurd-Laßwitz- Scholarship , City Clerk Prize of the residential city of Gotha
• 2016: Winner of the competition "Keller, Schlüssel", Ruhrliteratur, Bochum
• 2016: Summer School Südtirol-I, workshop scholarship for dramatic and essayistic writing under the project management Maxi Obexer and Veronika Springmann.
• 2016: Finalist, Siegfried Pater Prize In the footsteps of Siegfried Pater - Anant Kumar
• 2017: University of Würzburg, English literature and cultural studies, LITERATURE IN A GLOBALIZED WORLD: CREATIVE AND CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES
• 2020: WORK FUNDING "AYSE" (Alhambra-Lyrik), Hessian Ministry for Science and Art, Wiesbaden

literature

• Tim Schomacker: Multicultural with fine cracks . In: The daily newspaper . March 15, 2000 ( taz.de ).
• Marilya Veteto-Conrad: German Minority Literature. Tongues Set Free & Pointed Tongues . In: The International Fiction Review . No. 28 (English, lib.unb.ca ).
• Alfred Büngen: Anant Kumar: The Indian woman . In: Berlin Reading Signs . 2000 ( luise-berlin.de - June – July).
• Ralph Gotta: Anant Kumar: The galloping herd of cows. Essays and other prose . In: ASEAN, German Society for Asian Studies e. V. April 2002 ( asien.asienforschung.de ).
• Matthias Gniffke: The Indian film on the way to internationalization . University of Applied Sciences Stuttgart, Stuttgart 2002 ( hdms.bsz-bw.de [PDF; accessed on February 1, 2017] German).
• Jürgen Suberg: Anant Kumar - The boundless stories. In: IDV - Magazin, The International Association of German Teachers . December 2004 ( idvnetz.org [PDF]).
• Bert Hähne: Landed by chance, stayed on purpose . In: Vereinsanzeiger Leipzig . 2005 ( Vereinsanzeiger-leipzig.de ).
• Kirsten E. Kumpf: Improvement through movement. A thematic and linguistic analysis of German minority writing through the works of Anant Kumar . Graduate College of The University of Iowa, Iowa 2005 (English, ir.uiowa.edu [accessed June 8, 2007]).
• Amrit Mehta: Identity Divergence of an Indian Author in Germany . In: Symposium “Communication and Conflict” . University of Salzburg, Vienna 2006 ( storiesbeyondbanks.files.wordpress.com [accessed October 5, 2015]).
• Ulrike Brisson: Zanzibar or the real reason. Drama in a College German Language Class . In: Scenario . No. 1 , 2007, ISSN  1649-8526 (English, research.ucc.ie [PDF]).
• Mita Banerjee: Traveling Theory, Reshaping Disciplines? Envisioning Asian Germany Through Asian Australian Studies . In: Journal of Intercultural Studies . tape 27 , no. 1/2 , February 2006, p. 167-185 , doi : 10.1080 / 07256860600607983 (English).
• Tom Cheesman and Sukanya Kulkarni: Dancing Words and Dancing in Diaspora . In: Dimension2, Contemporary German-Language Literature . tape 9 , no. 1/2 . Nacogdoches (English, dimension2.org ).
• Jana Fedtke: Bitter-sweet Universality as a Catalyst for Change in Anant Kumar's India I: Sweet and India II: Sauer . University of South Carolina Press, Columbia 2006 (English, kflc.as.uky.edu [PDF]).
• Qinna Shen: “The Nomadic Subject in Emine Sevgi Özdamar, Herta Müller and Anant Kumar” Response paper at the 17th Annual German Graduate Student Conference “The Outsider Within,” Panel “Immigrants / Postcoloniality” . Department of German, Yale University 2006 (English).
• Monika Freier: “The repositioning of migration literature using the example of the German-Indian writers R. Singh and A. Kumar” . Hamburg 2004 ( kataloge.uni-hamburg.de ).
• Kirsten E. Kumpf-Baele: “I'm in love with the German language”: Anant Kumar mythicizing German? Kentucky Foreign Language Conference, Lexington 2011 ( kflcabstracts.uky.edu ).
• Carmine Chiellino: "Intercultural Literature in Germany" A manual . JB Metzler, Stuttgart 2017 ( [3] ).
• Helen O'Sullivan: Language Learner Narrative, An Exploration of Mündigkeit: Chapter Five: The Linguistic Construction of the Subject . Editions Rudopi, Amsterdam / New York 2014, p. 121 .
• Kathrin Klein-Zimmer: Transformations: Young Adults in the Context of Generation and Migration . Basel 2016 ( beltz.de [PDF]).
• Jan-Frederik Wendt: Kassel author: Fiction of Truth & Alfred Döblin . Hessische Niedersächsische Allgemeine, Kassel 2018 ( wordpress.com [PDF]).

Web links

• Literature by and about Anant Kumar in the catalog of the German National Library
• Official website of Anant Kumar
• Anant Kumar: The Dance of Kanakans: Migrant literature (s) and the non-European literatures in their socio-cultural and economic context: Positions. In: ACTA GERMANICA German Studies in Africa 9, Vol 29, 2001.
• Short story “Springer im Gallop”, Purnav Literary Magazine
• Echo Germanica, Toronto: KUMAR reads KUMAR Peter Wood about Kumar's lecture at the Waterloo Center for German Studies / Edition June, 2005 - No. 6 / Echo Germanica
• bick MAGAZINE, Berlin: "ANANT, AMBASSADOR PER LITERATURE" Claudia Brockmeyer on Kumar and his reverence for F. Dostojewski and S. Rushdie / Edition 2009 / bick
• Hans Dembowski, Anant Kumar: It doesn't matter in the constituency. In: D + C development and cooperation .
• Anant Kumar: Post-Colonial Indian Literature from the outside in. In: Interculture Journal. 9, No. 11, 2010.
• Sophie Appl in India Aktuell, Düsseldorf: Interview with the Indian author Anant Kumar
• Interview at Leipzig Book Fair 13: Broadcast from March 24, 2013 - broadcast BÜCHERKISTE on Radio SRB (MP3; 8.1 MB)
• Evening high school, Frankfurt a. Main: Kumar's UNESCO Lecture, April 2013
• Thuringian national newspaper, explorations from a foreign perspective by Frank Quilitzsch from January 30, 2015
• Press interview, Lessing-Saal, vhs Hannover: writing, racism ... successful integration June 11, 2015
• Thuringian national newspaper, Gotha city chronicler ... by Frank Quilitzsch July 13, 2015
• Hessische Niedersächsische Allgemeine, Liebe und Tragik by Steve K.-Stein July 13, 2016
• Mittweida University of Applied Sciences press office, hikers between the worlds visiting Mittweida November 8, 2016
• Die Rheinpfalz, No. 263, Love across intercultural boundaries by Christina Körner from November 14, 2017
• STUBE Hessen, management of intercultural events from June 8th to June 10th, 2018

Individual evidence

1. ↑ kassel-live.de ( Memento from November 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
2. ↑ Kumar biography at the city of Gotha
3. ↑ Narrative or Africa by Jürgen Suberg ( Memento from December 6, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
4. ^ Report on the appearance at the Hessian-Saxon Literature Days at the Carl-von-Weinberg-Schule Frankfurt
5. ↑ Press review of the reading in the JVA Bielefeld. In: Bielefelder Tageblatt. November 12, 2008 (PDF).
6. ↑ J. Martin: Poetry reading in the JVA. In: Donaukurier. April 8, 2010.
7. ^ Course of the workshop at Cardiff University, UK in March 2012
8. ↑ Gotha.de, 2015
9. ↑ Education for SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, Saxony 2015
10. ^ Wilhelm Ditzel: Anant Kumar in the oasis ( memento from March 19, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Kassel Live from March 9, 2016.
11. ^ Ambassador for literature by Stefanie Zimmermann (PDF).
12. ↑ taz: taz.de
13. ↑ World Literature Today: [1]
14. ↑ - ( Memento from June 15, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
15. ↑ [2] Berlin bookmarks
16. ↑ Anant Kumar's wonderfully politically incorrect collection of short stories
17. ↑ Anant Kumar is a Kurd-Laßwitz scholarship holder 2015. on: gotha.de
18. ↑ NIDS (New Institute for dramatic writing), Berlin: nids.eu
19. ^ Retap Verlag, Düsseldorf