Thomas Böhm (Author)

Thomas Böhm (first from left) with Dieter Wellershoff and Klaus Sander at the German Audio Book Prize 2015

Thomas Böhm (born June 18, 1968 in Oberhausen ) is a German author , literary educator and moderator . He lives in Berlin.

Life

After training as a banker, Thomas Böhm studied general and comparative literature from 1992 to 1998 at the GHS Essen (today: University of Duisburg-Essen ) with a focus on literary communication and media practice .

From 1995 to 1999 he worked as a freelance editor for the literary magazine Schreibheft and as editor of the Essen literature calendar .

In 1999 he took over the program management of the Literaturhaus Köln. By 2010 he conceived and organized over 1,000 readings, among others with the following winners of the Nobel Prize for Literature : Imre Kertész , Orhan Pamuk , Kenzaburō Ōe , Czesław Miłosz and Herta Müller , as well as other internationally known authors such as Siri Hustvedt , Paul Auster , Umberto Eco , Carlos Fuentes , Susan Sontag , Michel Houellebecq , Assia Djebar , Jonathan Franzen , Inger Christensen , Jonathan Lethem , Lydia Davis , Mark Z. Danielewski , Kiran Nagarkar , Stewart O'Nan and Haruki Murakami .

In 2003 Böhm published the volume Auf short Distance , in which he pleads for a “literary understanding” of reading by authors and for the first time proclaimed literary reading as an art form in its own right. He continued his exploration of the art form of reading by authors in 2006 in the volume Weltempfang , in which he presented the forms of reading by authors in various literary cultures.

In 2006, together with Matthias Wagner K, he developed a concept for Iceland's guest of honor at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2011, which he helped to organize as literary program manager.

From 2012 to 2014 Böhm was program director of the Berlin International Literature Festival , for which he was responsible for the projects What Children's and Young People's Literature Does Europe Need? , Developed and directed a literary rescue package for Europe , cultures of aging , new level computer games and literature as well as cultures of trust in religion, literature, politics and everyday life .

In 2014 he was the curator of the Swiss Book Fair at the Leipzig Book Fair on behalf of the Swiss Booksellers and Publishers Association .

In addition to teaching literature, Böhm also regularly works as a literary critic , presenter and columnist for Radio Bremen and Radio Eins from Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg , where he and Lydia Herms present the magazine Die Literaturagenten .

His radio play, feature and audio work includes the radio play based on the novel Das Haus - House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski , which was awarded the German Audiobook Prize in 2011 . It is the only adaptation of the cult novel in the world. It was broadcast in parallel on three WDR channels on December 10, 2009 and is considered the “first 3D radio play”.

His audio books, created together with Klaus Sander for the Berlin audio label supposé , among others with Dieter Wellershoff , Georg Klein , Kristín Steinsdóttir and about the Isländersagas , have won several awards as "Audio Book of the Month" and "Audio Book of the Year".

The production The Night is Made of Ink attracted particular attention . Herta Müller recounts her childhood in the Banat , which was published a few weeks before the announcement of the Nobel Prize for Literature to Herta Müller and which literary critic Denis Scheck judged: “Not only an ideal introduction to the work of the Nobel Prize winner for literature, but also a kind of quintessence from it . "

Thomas Böhm lives in Berlin.

Works (selection)

Books

• with Martin Hielscher: World literature - From the Nobel Prize to the comic. Könemann, Cologne 2001, ISBN 3-8290-7456-5 .
• At a short distance. The reading by the authors: original sounds, stories, ideas. Tropen Verlag, Cologne 2003, ISBN 3-608-50067-7 .
• World reception. Panorama of international author readings. Tropen Verlag, Cologne 2006, ISBN 3-932170-92-X .
• with Andreas Blühm: Pictures. Stories. Writers see painting. Luchterhand, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-630-62113-9 .
• The reading circle book. An instruction. Berlin Verlag, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-8333-0773-7 .
• New Level - computer games and literature. Metrolit, Berlin 2014, ISBN 978-3-8493-0360-0

Audio books

• Georg Klein : Bad bad media. supposé, Cologne 2007, ISBN 978-3-932513-77-0 .
• The night is made of ink. Herta Müller tells about her childhood in the Banat. supposé, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-932513-88-6 .
• Look at this, this is the war. Dieter Wellershoff tells his life as a soldier. supposé, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-932513-95-4 .
• The house: House of Leaves. Radio play based on the novel by Mark Z. Danielewski . Berlin, DAV 2010, ISBN 978-3-89813-995-3 .
• Life in fish. Kristín Steinsdóttir tells about Iceland from her childhood. supposé, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-932513-99-2 .
• The saga recordings (I): Njáls saga / Laxdæla saga . supposé, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-86385-001-2 .
• The saga recordings (II): Grettis saga / Egils saga . supposé, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-86385-002-9 .
• Come to the end. Dieter Wellershoff tells about aging and dying. supposé, Berlin 2014, ISBN 978-3-86385-009-8 .

Radio plays

• Staged demolition. A piece of Monkey Wrench Gear. based on the novel The Monkey Wrench Gang by Edward Abbey . WDR 2012.
• Professor Kiesel. In steel storms. with excerpts from the world war books by Ernst Jünger . WDR 2014