He has a penchant for poetry – and for the fantastic. The former has the author and ex-titanic– Editor-in-chief Moritz Hürtgen proved in his volume of poetry “Angst vor Lyrik”, elements of both were interwoven in his debut novel “Der Boulevard des Schreckens”. On March 9th he will read Wortspiele im Ampere at the festival.
Monday: Observe and learn
I just recently moved to Munich. Before that I was an editor at the satirical magazine in Frankfurt titanic a reasonably settled life. Now, as a freelance writer without office hours, I’m naturally at a loss on Mondays: what do I do with a new week in Munich? I think I’ll drive to Starnberg in the morning, sit down in a nice café with a view of the lake and watch other private individuals kill their time. I want to learn relaxation from them. I’ll probably have to write about her sometime later, because unfortunately I’m not financially secure yet. Life is hard!
Tuesday: Laugh with the dead
The Old North Cemetery in Munich.
(Photo: Sina Schuldt/dpa)
For Tuesday I’m planning a trip to Maxvorstadt, where I lived a good twelve years ago for my studies. I’m going to stroll through the Old North Cemetery and look at Hauck & Bauer’s new cartoon book “The Worst Selling Book in the World”, which will be published in a few days. Because I know the authors personally, I already have a copy.
Wednesday: Down with the patriarchy
International Women’s Day – Impressions of a demo in Munich in 2021.
(Photo: www.7aktuell.de/A. Friedrichs/imago)
Today is International Women’s Day, or Women’s Struggle Day, as they say in left-wing circles that I sympathize with. It’s also a tradition in my small family: my wife gives up her wage work, our daughter skips her commitments in kindergarten and we go to demonstrations together. Unfortunately, there are still enough reasons such as unequal pay, sexist discrimination and violence, even here in the most progressive Free State in the whole wide world.
Thursday: Hope for 2000 euros
Excerpt from the book cover of Hürtgen’s first novel.
(Photo: Kunstmann)
The “Wortspiele”, a festival for young literature, take place annually in Vienna and Munich. From Wednesday to Friday, authors who, like me, can just about be considered “young” appear in the Muffatwerk with their books; at the end a jury decides who gets 2000 euros. I could use the money for more trips to Lake Starnberg (see Monday) and I’m really excited about my performance on Thursday at 8:50 p.m. For the best I will give an explosive passage from my novel “The Boulevard of Terror”.
Friday: Duty calls
After four working days of laissez-faire, I have to “do something” on Friday: I’m currently working on my second novel and some deadlines are threateningly approaching. What most writers don’t reveal in their vanity: writing a novel isn’t a big deal in itself, but submitting all funding applications on time, completely and correctly on the way to the finished book is the real challenge. Behind every story told as light as a feather is a bureaucratic tour de force of the extra class. If I find my way out of the labyrinth of Excel files and PDFs in the evening, I might go to Heppel & Ettlich, where the rapper Panik Panzer will present his autobiography “The Best Man in the World” with Martin Seeliger in the evening.
At Heppel & Ettlich, rapper Panik Panzer presents his autobiography with Martin Seeliger.
(Photo: Sebastian Gabriel)
Saturday: homesick
I like it a lot on the Isar, but I’m not really over Frankfurt yet. It’s a good thing that I can rush there with the ICE in just over three hours. And from the main train station in Frankfurt, it only takes me a few minutes on Saturdays to get to the producer’s market at the Konstablerwache, where I can fortify myself with a few ciders for the walk up Berger Strasse to Bornheim. If I can tear myself away from the wonderful scenery in Frankfurt’s most beautiful quarter, I’ll drive back to Munich in the evening. And if I do want to stay, I ambush the prominent Frankfurt satirists who frequent the restaurant “Henscheid” and sip a plate of green sauce with them. By the way: It’s only until March 19th Exhibition on the original satirical magazine “Pardon” in the Caricatura Museum to see. I was already there in autumn, it is strongly recommended to all other visitors to Frankfurt.
Sunday: childhood memory
Bruno the Bear in the Museum of Man and Nature in Nymphenburg Palace.
(Photo: Stefan M. Prager/imago)
You’re not supposed to do anything newsworthy on Sunday, and I plan to stick to that this week as well. Where: does it exist Museum Man and Nature in Nymphenburg Palace yet? A quick Google search shows: yes! I grew up in the district of Munich and have wonderful memories of a museum crammed full of noisy, hilarious children. My daughter will love this for sure! And I can relax at Lake Starnberg on Monday.
Moritz Hürtgen, born in 1989, lives in Munich and works as a freelance writer for newspapers, magazines and television. After a short degree without a degree, he worked at the satirical magazine “Titanic” in Frankfurt am Main from 2013 to 2022, the last four years as editor-in-chief. He is the author of a collection of poetry (“Fear of Poetry”, 2019) and a novel (“The Boulevard of Terror”, 2022). Both books were published by Kunstmann Verlag.