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Wolfgang Borchert is a renowned figure of Trümmerliteratur, the German literary movement in the direct aftermath of the Second World War. His short stories are raw, angry, funny, occasionally tender, always honest, and packed with characters that could walk right off the page. His style is simple and sparing; with a few strokes of the pen, he conjures vivid images and emotions that stay with you.

Borchert’s biography is both fascinating and tragic. As a brash young man, he refused to hide his disdain for the Nazis. He was briefly arrested by the Gestapo in 1940 and later conscripted to the German military, where he was court-martialled multiple times for attempting to evade military service, making statements against the regime, and telling parodies of Joseph Goebbels. Although he survived the war, his health was broken, and he died in 1947 at the age of twenty-six.

Although Borchert did not live long enough to receive awards or prizes, his legacy is writ plain in German literary history; he is credited with launching the golden age of radio plays in Germany and being instrumental in setting the style of German short stories – influenced by Ernest Hemingway’s unpretentious understatement.

Borchert was a literary giant, but he was also a boy caught up in something bigger than himself, rebelling where he could. He was an important spokesperson for a betrayed generation, and his work lands in much the same way as Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front or the poets of the First World War. It encapsulates a time and has a natural appeal for those interested in Germany or twentieth-century history; equally, the themes of futility, despair, guilt, and survival are central to the human experience, and his writing is so accessible that it resonates emotionally with a broad audience.

Audrey Delphendahl and I are translating short stories by women writing after the Second World War. Their work is gripping, insightful, dramatic, and witty, but as Nicole Seifert has recently demonstrated in her book, Einige Herren Sagten Etwas Dazu (KiWi, 2024), the postwar literary movement in Germany was hostile to the female perspective. Our aim is to showcase the remarkable work of postwar women in a collection that is as fresh and thematically relevant as it was seventy years ago.

“Quiet! Let them talk!” is the last line of Ilse Aichinger’s award-winning short story, ‘Spiegelgeschichte’; the quotation reflects our intention to create space for these important voices, to date seldom heard in English. We are curating a collection of 10-15 short stories, to a length of approx. 150 pages, featuring critically acclaimed authors such as Aichinger, Marie Luise Kaschnitz, Luise Rinser and Ingeborg Drewitz.

Our co-translation of Aichinger’s short story ‘In the Mirror’ was shortlisted for the 2024–25 John Dryden Translation Competition, and our translations of Kaschnitz’s ‘A Tambourine, a Horse’ and ‘Long Shadows’ were longlisted in 2024. ‘Long Shadows‘ was published by Asymptote in April 2025. For more information, please click on the pop-out book or download our PDF, which includes extracts from Kaschnitz’s work.

Ausgefressen (Meerkat Mischief) is a satirical crime story with a standout premise: spunky meerkat Ray’s dreams come true when he plays sidekick to shambling (human!) PI Phil. Our heroes overcome boundaries, challenge expectations and negotiate family dynamics – all while solving a deceptively complicated misper case.

Our meerkat protagonists are cast from cheekily recognisable human stereotypes, which, coupled with their animalistic tendencies, is the foundation of much of the book’s quirky humour. A critique of the present-day obsession with technology is woven into the background, as is a subtle discourse on unconventional love. This is all served with a generous helping of snappy dialogue, making for a fast-paced read that will have you laughing out loud.

Ausgefressen is the first in Moritz Matthies’s SPIEGEL-bestselling series: nearly 600,000 books and audiobooks have been sold across eight titles.

Isabel Hagedorn and I were longlisted for the 2023–24 John Dryden Translation Competition for our co-translation of this sample. Foreign rights are held by S. Fischer Verlage.

Robbi, Tobbi und das Fliewatüüt (Robbie, Tobbie and the Flywatoot) is a classic, much-loved boy-befriends-robot chapter book by bestselling German author Boy Lornsen, who writes with enchanting lightness and an infectious warmth.

Tobias Finteisen is an inventor in year four at primary school, who finds himself helping Robbie, who’s in year four at robot school, with his tricky robot-school tasks. Their adventures take them across the great, wide ocean to lighthouse keeper Merry Matthias, up to the Eskimos via dolphin-tow, then over to Scotland, the Loch Ness Monster and the mystery of Plumpudding Castle.

Robbi, Tobbi und das Fliewatüüt has sold 250,000 copies worldwide. It was listed for the German Youth Literature Award in 1968, has been turned into various audiobooks and plays, was filmed for television in 1972 and adapted for the cinema in 2016.

Isabel Hagedorn and I were longlisted for the 2022–23 John Dryden Translation Competition for our co-translation of this sample. Foreign rights are held by Thienemann Verlage.