The Institute is delighted to announce that the winner of the 2021 Alice Emily Bithell Prize is Monika Lendermann. Monika, a student at King’s College London, graduated with a BA in European Studies (German), at the top of her cohort. Her dissertation, on Women’s Autobiographical Writing and Gendered Conceptions of National Identity in German South-West Africa, 1905-12, which examined works by Helene von Falkenhausen, Margarethe von Eckenbrecher, Maria Karow and Clara Brockmann, was described by examiners as being of postgraduate-level work and of clearly publishable quality.

The IMLR is delighted to announce that the winner of this year’s Sylvia Naish Lecture competition is Rhoslyn Beckwith . Rhoslyn, a research student at the University of Swansea writing on the cultural afterlives of Queen Luise of Prussia and Empress Elisabeth (Sisi) of Austria, takes as her subject the postmodern literary commemorations of Empress Elisabeth in the 21 st century.

Marlen Haushofer’s five novels, her short stories and books for children, are now bringing her long overdue recognition as one of the most important Austrian writers of the post-war generation. Her most well-known novel, Die Wand [The Wall], in particular, enjoyed international acclaim and has been rediscovered not least through Julian Pölsler’s 2012 film of the same name. As a narrative experiment, the depiction of being trapped in the alps has a special resonance in today's ‘lockdown’ world.

Translation is an activity subject to various constraints, both inherent to the practice of translating, and relative to the general conditions of international cultural exchanges.