Thomas Willmann receives the Toucan Prize from the city of Munich for “The Iron Marquis”, his second novel after “The Dark Valley”.
At the counter he orders a strong latte, “as always”. His place is on the first floor of Café Kosmos, Elisenstrasse, at the corner of Dachauer Strasse, by the window at the back through which the autumn sun tickles. This is where he wrote his novel “The Iron Marquis” in recent years. A work of more than 900 pages. The story of a watchmaker’s apprentice who travels from Vienna to Paris through the turmoil of the 18th century. A story about the fascination of automatons, the urge to explore, the question of the nature of life and human hubris. Willman’s debut novel “The Dark Valley” was a surprising success in 2010 and was also made into a film. For the “Iron Marquis” he will be awarded the Toucan Prize of the City of Munich, worth 8,000 euros, on December 6th in the Literaturhaus. To this day, Thomas Willmann also works as a cultural journalist working between music and film.