Daniela Seel | © Dirk Skiba
“The founding of a publisher that became a force field” (Dieter M. Gräf). “A peerless success story linked to many award-winning authors” (SWR). “Fabulous!” “The legendary publishing house!” And so on, and so forth… These are but a small sample of the many attempts to describe the Berlin-based kookbook publisher that has just turned 20. Launched in 2003 by Daniela Seel and graphic designer Andreas Töpfer, it has since also spawned the artists’ network KOOK.
The venture was more than happy with its image as “a bit kooky”, although the years that followed brought forth a stream of literary-sociological and esthetic innovation that would long be disparaged as “unable to pay its way” (to quote the title of a book by Tristan Marquardt and the long-time motto of the publisher’s catalogue). A new esthetic, linguistic, visual and haptic appeal; a fresh approach to the concept of lyrical authorship (as a central but also cooperative phenomenon rooted in reciprocal perception and support); even a shift in the customs surrounding how a new book is received.
This evening event will celebrate 20 years of kookbooks with an exemplary line-up of outstanding voices: Monika Rinck, whose book Honigprotokolle (Honey Protocols; kookbooks 2012) won the Peter Huchel Prize; Uljana Wolf, who has just published muttertask (Mother Task) via kookbooks (her fifth book with the same publisher); Tristan Maquardt, who is currently working on his third volume of poetry with kookbooks; Daniela Seel; and Andreas Töpfer.
With the kind support of Bayern liest e.V. (Bavaria Reads).
Tickets: 9 euros / 6 euros (discount rate). Lyrik Kabinett members receive free admission. For more information, please visit the Lyrik Kabinett website. The event will be held in German.
LMU and the Lyrik Kabinett have worked together very intensively for over 30 years. The more than 70,000 works subsumed under the Lyrik Kabinett Foundation are available via OPAC to everyone related to LMU. Numerous events provide a fascinating insight into the current poetic landscape.