Thomas Frahm

Thomas Frahm in November 2016 at a reading in Bad Saarow

Thomas Frahm (born June 29, 1961 in Homberg , Niederrhein ) is a German writer , publisher , translator and journalist . He has lived in Germany and Bulgaria since the early 2000s .

Life

Thomas Frahm studied geography , urban planning , soil science and philosophy at the University of Bonn . He has been writing poetry since childhood, later adding essays and stories . He published his first collections of poetry in 1987 and 1991 with Irene Kuron , a science and culture publisher based in Bonn at the time .

In 1992 Frahm founded Avlos-Verlag , which mainly published intercultural literature (migrant literature ), from 1995 also literary works by writers and poets from Bulgaria , as well as "regional literature " from his own home region, the Lower Rhine region . The publishing house was always at Frahm's place of residence and thus moved from the founding place Bonn to Sankt Augustin , Siegburg , Linz am Rhein , Cologne and 2000 to Duisburg .

Frahm has been a freelance writer and journalist since 2000. His literary publications include short stories , essays, and poetry . His short prose works have been published regularly in the German literary magazine Am Erker and in the Austrian literary magazine erostepost . Frahm also translates fiction texts from Bulgarian into German . In addition, until 2010 he wrote journalistic articles, mainly on the topic of Bulgaria , for various German-language newspapers (including FAZ , SZ , WeLT and Tagesspiegel ), magazines (including Wespennest , Merkur , Sinn and Form ) and radio stations in Germany ( WDR , SR , DLF , DRadio ). The Bulgarian Association of Journalists recognized his fair representation of the Bulgarian situation in its volume of essays The Two Halves of the Walnut in autumn 2016 with their special award.

Frahm is considered to be an “important translator from Bulgarian” ( Heinrich Heine Institute ) ; In 2009 he was awarded a working scholarship from the German Translator Fund, and in 2010 he was nominated for the Brücke Berlin Literature and Translator Prize for Family Brand (Bulgarian title Bitieto ) by Vladimir Zarev . In the same year he was allowed to take part in the translation workshop of the Berlin Literary Colloquium . With his translation of the second part of the Bulgaria-trilogy Zarevs hotheads . Frahm made the short list for the Prize of the Leipzig Book Fair 2012, and in 2013 he was among the three finalists for the Helmut M. Braem Translator Prize , where he only had to admit defeat to one book by the Nobel Prize winner Mario Vargas Llosa translated by Thomas Brovot . The state of North Rhine-Westphalia supported his work in 2016 with residency grants for the European Translators' College in Straelen on the Lower Rhine.

When, despite so much positive feedback, no German publisher was ready to publish Bulgarian authors, Frahm made the decision to take matters into his own hands again and to resume his publishing activities with a new goal: with CHORA Verlag, the “ Publishing house for PEOPLE who hold their shoulders ”. Aware that Bulgarian literature had little chance in the overcrowded and competitive literary market, he decided to first provide information about Bulgaria - initially that which he had discovered and acquired himself since 2000. In addition, there were thematically conceived anthologies with narrative prose in his translation, but which went beyond the literary but were also intended as "Contemporary Info Bulgaria". If the opportunity arises, important works of Bulgarian literature will follow later, regardless of their publication date.

Thomas Frahm lives and works today as an author, translator and publisher in Sofia and Duisburg .

Works (selection)

Authorship

• Seismic poetry. Verlag Irene Kuron , Bonn 1987, ISBN 3-923623-01-1 .
• Trend thunderstorm. Seismic poetry. Verlag Irene Kuron, Bonn 1991, ISBN 3-923623-10-0 .
• Homberg and me. Avlos-Verlag , Sankt Augustin 1994, ISBN 3-929634-02-3 .
• A good man, unfortunately he doesn't belong to us ". Georgi Markov's exile reports on Bulgaria. In: Sinn und Form - Contributions to Literature - Journal for Literature and Culture , Issue 3, May / June 2013, ISBN 978-3-943297-12 -6 .
• The two halves of the walnut: a German in Bulgaria. CHORA / BOOKS on DEMAND , Norderstedt 2014, ISBN 978-3-7357-8652-4 .
• To women. Poems (1995-2014). andiamo-Verlag , Mannheim 2014, ISBN 978-3-936625-60-8 .
• To luck. Near songs and poems. With 1 Sofia poem. CHORA Verlag, Duisburg 2015 ff., ISBN 978-3-929634-67-9 .
• Idealism and madness. Translating from small languages. In: Sinn und Form - Contributions to Literature - Magazine for Literature and Culture , Issue 3, May / June 2015, ISBN 978-3-943297-23-2 .
• Holy letter, desperate times. Bulgarian literature from the beginning until today. With a name register and an annually updated bibliography of works by Bulgarian authors translated into German. CHORA Verlag, Duisburg 2016 ff., ISBN 978-3-929634-70-9 .
• Dream without sleep. Bulgarian women's stories. CHORA Verlag, Duisburg 2016, ISBN 978-3-929634-68-6 .
• Oh, Bulgaria. Country and people, culture and society. CHORA Verlag, Duisburg 2016, ISBN 978-3-929634-77-8 .
• Wonder box. Finds from my life's art. CHORA Verlag, Duisburg 2017, ISBN 978-3-929634-80-8 , new edition 2020 with the bonus text "Forays of a bottle collector" and the changed subtitle "Workpieces from my life art".
• Messenger from Bulgaria. Roman, 327 pages, CHORA Verlag, Duisburg 2018, ISBN 978-3-929634-83-9 .
• Soil samples. Early poems. CHORA Verlag, Duisburg 2020, ISBN 978-3-929634-76-1 .
• Dreams are the most expensive. Novel. 582 pp., CHORA Verlag, Duisburg 2020, ISBN 978-3-929634-87-7 .

Editing

• Konstantin M. Pavlov : Scratched Sky. Avlos-Verlag, Sankt Augustin 1995, ISBN 3-929634-03-1 (edited with Rumjana Zacharieva ).
• Radoj Ralin : Late blackberries. Avlos-Verlag, Sankt Augustin 1997, ISBN 3-929634-21-X (edited with Rumjana Zacharieva).
• My Christmas story. Avlos-Verlag, Siegburg 1998, ISBN 3-929634-43-0 (anthology).
• europabrevier limitless 2 - a literary trip to Bulgaria, a puzzle & other directions out of the narrow (anthology; edited with Klaus Servene ; contributions by: Georgi Markow , Christo Botev , Stojan Mihajlovski , Konstantin Pavlov , Angel Wagenstein , Vladimir Zarev , Kalin Terzijski , Galina Zlatareva , Ivan Kulekov , Mirela Ivanova , Kristin Dimitrova , Dimo Alexiev , Paraskeva Nikoltscheva-Mau , Jürgen Nielsen-Sikora zu Christian Linder , Manfred Loimeier , Meinrad Braun ), Andiamo Verlag , Mannheim 2012, ISBN 978-3-936625-19-6
• Presence. Bulgarian prose after 1989. CHORA Verlag, Duisburg 2014, ISBN 978-3-929634-64-8 .
• Friedrich Wilhelm Hackländer , Marie Countess zu Erbach-Schönberg , Helmuth von Moltke : A visit on the edge. German travelers to Bulgaria in the 19th century. CHORA Verlag, Duisburg 2015, ISBN 978-3-929634-71-6 .

Translations

• Blaga Dimitrova : scars. Avlos-Verlag, Sankt Augustin 1999, ISBN 3-929634-26-0 (translated together with Rumjana Zacharieva ).
• Vladimir Zarev : Decline. Publishing house Kiepenheuer & Witsch , Cologne 2007, ISBN 978-3-462-03769-2 .
• Vladimir Zarev: family fire . Deuticke Verlag , Vienna 2009, ISBN 978-3-552-06098-2 .
• Angel Wagenstein : Goodbye, Shanghai. Bertelsmann , Munich 2010, ISBN 978-3-570-58008-0 .
• Léa Cohen : The Calderon Empire. Paul Zsolnay Verlag , Vienna 2010, ISBN 978-3-552-05490-5 .
• Vladimir Zarev: heads of fire. Deuticke Verlag, Vienna 2011, ISBN 978-3-552-06171-2 .
• Vladimir Zarev: Ashes of the soul. Deuticke Verlag, Vienna 2012, ISBN 978-3-552-06196-5 .
• Thomas Frahm (ed.): Present. Bulgarian prose after 1989. CHORA Verlag, Duisburg 2014, ISBN 978-3-929634-64-8 .
• Evelina Jecker-Lambreva : Nobody's mirror. Poems. Bulgarian-German. CHORA Verlag, Duisburg 2015, ISBN 978-3-929634-69-3 .
• Evelina Jecker-Lambreva (ed.): Hidden Life. New prose from Bulgaria. CHORA Verlag, Duisburg 2016, ISBN 978-3-929634-69-3 .
• Milena Kirova: History of Bulgarian Literature. Volume 1: From Liberation to the First World War. 405 pp., CHORA Verlag, Duisburg 2017, ISBN 978-3-929634-82-2
• Vladimir Zarev: When this is the time. Poetry - prose - journalism. CHORA Verlag, Duisburg 2019, ISBN 978-3-929634-85-3 .
• Milena Kirova: History of Bulgarian Literature. Volume 2: Modernism. 412 pp., CHORA Verlag, Duisburg 2020, ISBN 978-3-929634-86-0 .

literature

• Michael Hellwig: Migrantenliteratur: Background and Situation / Michael Hellwig in conversation with the publisher Thomas Frahm and the writer Rumjana Zacharieva. In: Die Brücke  - Forum for Anti-Racist Politics and Culture , Issue 129, XXII. Volume, July-August-September 2003/3, ISSN  0931-9514 .

Web links

• Literature by and about Thomas Frahm in the catalog of the German National Library
• Works by and about Thomas Frahm  in the German Digital Library
• Information about Thomas Frahm in the literary project Das Wagnis der Demokratie ( Risk of Remembrance) by the Goethe Institute in the Southeastern Europe region (as of 2011)
• Information about Thomas Frahm (PDF file; 132 kB) at the Viennese cultural institution Alte Schmiede (as of 2005)
• Information about Thomas Frahm on Lyrikwelt.de (status: 2001)
• Audio sample fire heads on Literaturport.de; Prize of the Leipzig Book Fair 2012
• Literary trip to Bulgaria September 14, 2012 Mannheimer Morgen
• Thomas Frahm and "Europabrevier 2" on the Robert Bosch Foundation website
• Essay on Bulgarian literature, in: Merkur February 2013, issue 2 (PDF)
• Thomas Frahm on Georgi Markov in Sinn und Form 3/2013
• Website of CHORA Verlag Thomas Frahm

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Information about Thomas Frahm ( Memento of the original dated February 2, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . In: Literatur im Herbst [2005]: Bulgaria - short biographies of the authors . On: Website of the cultural institution Alte Schmiede , Vienna / Austria, autumn 2005; PDF file, accessed April 27, 2011. 
2. ↑ Authors “F” → Thomas Frahm ( Memento of the original from May 6, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . On: website of the literary magazine Am Erker ; Retrieved April 28, 2011. 
3. ↑ Peter Baier-Kreiner: No. 40. November 2009 → Editorial ( Memento of the original from May 8, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . In: erostepost No. 40, November 2009; Retrieved April 28, 2011. 
4. ↑ Thomas Frahm: The two halves of the walnut: a German in Bulgaria . Chora Verlag, Duisburg 2014, ISBN 978-3-7357-8652-4 .
5. ↑ Reading: Literature from Bulgaria. With Vladimir Zarev and Thomas Frahm . On: Website of the Heinrich Heine Institute , Düsseldorf, from November 2007; Retrieved April 28, 2011.
6. ^ Georg Wolf: Thomas Frahm - the Bulgaria traveler. In: berliner-woche.de. October 26, 2016, accessed July 20, 2020 . 
7. ↑ ^{a b} The translators → Thomas Frahm . On: Website of the literary project The Risk of Memory of the Goethe Institutes of the Southeastern Europe region; Retrieved April 28, 2011.
8. ↑ What is the European College of Translators? European College of Translators , accessed on 23 August 2020 . 
9. ↑ On the foundation of the CHORA publishing house. Chora Verlag, accessed on August 23, 2020 : "... that people like Germans and Bulgarians, for example, hold each other's shoulders ..." 
10. ↑ Fabienne Piepiora: Thomas Frahm will bring Duisburgern Bulgaria closer. In: waz.de. March 15, 2017, accessed July 20, 2020 .