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 the postwar literary movement in Germany was heavily male dominated, it often flew under the radar. Our aim is to showcase the remarkable female talent of the time in a collection that is as fresh and thematically relevant today as it was seventy years ago.

Marie Luise Kaschnitz is one of our chosen authors. She received many accolades in her lifetime, including the prestigious Georg Büchner Prize and two nominations for a Nobel. Her extraordinary work illuminates the loss of innocence, female agency, and the aftereffects of trauma.

Audrey and I were longlisted for the 2023–24 John Dryden Translation Competition for our co-translation of two of Kaschnitz’s short stories (extracts on the right). Foreign rights are held by Suhrkamp Verlag.

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.

Was Wanda Will (Wanda’s Game) is a laugh-out-loud middle grade heist novel by successful German children’s author Lena Hach. Published in 2023, it has already scooped a Glauser Prize in the children’s crime category.

Wanda only has one goal: stealing Mr B.’s signed and ridiculously valuable tennis ball. Annoyingly, it’s locked away in an almost impenetrable glass cabinet. So what can she do? Recruit a team of talented misfits from her new school, that’s what! And so her meticulously planned heist begins…

Lena Hach’s plan to steal our hearts with this book has landed perfectly: her sense of humour, mischievous and affectionate portrayal of her characters, and her talent for storytelling make this fast-paced adventure stay with you long after the dust has settled.

For foreign rights information, please contact Anja Mundt at mundt agency.

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.