Juli Zeh

Juli Zeh has grown in less than ten years from a promising young author into an established literary name in Germany. In the Netherlands too, her novels Adelaars en engelen (2001), Speeldrift (2008), Vrije val (2008) and Corpus Delicti (2009) were very well received. At BorderKitchen she will present her new and so far most accessible novel on 1 May: Nultijd.

“Nultijd” is a term from diving that refers to the maximum time you can stay underwater without needing a decompression stop. In Zeh’s novel, it is during this “nultijd” that relationship conflicts are fought out to the extreme.

Actress Jola has come to one of the Canary Islands with her partner Theo to prepare for a new role. Sven has left Germany and settled on the island as a diving instructor. Non-interference in other people’s problems is his motto. But during diving lessons with Jola and Theo, Sven shifts from observer to participant, and an innocent flirtation develops into a life-threatening love triangle.

Juli Zeh has been a guest at Crossing Border several times before (most recently together with the indie rock band Slut), but this will be her first appearance at BorderKitchen. She will be interviewed in English by Arjan Peters (de Volkskrant).

This BorderKitchen event is organised in collaboration with Uitgeverij Anthos and the Goethe-Institut. The book Nultijd is translated by Hilde Keteleer.