Reading with Tanja Paar

Tanja Paar

She studied German literature, history, and philosophy, and has worked in theatre, as a journalist, and as a presenter. In 2015, she completed the Leonding Academy of Literature. Today, she lives in Vienna as a freelance writer. In 2021, she was awarded the Robert Gernhardt Prize. For her work on At Semmering, she received the Elias Canetti Grant from the City of Vienna and took part in the 2024 novel workshop at the Literaturforum im Brecht-Haus, Berlin.

Am Semmering

With verve and an eye for detail, Tanja Paar tells of the world behind the scenes of the elegant summer resort: of maids and woodcutters, large and small farmers, of the post office clerk Negrelli, and of Rahel, who cooks kosher meals for the Jewish guests. Increasingly, political tensions make themselves felt in the spa town, far from the metropolis of Vienna—and when the Nazis seize power in 1938, the fragile idyll collapses entirely.

Photo: Aleksandra Pawloff