Elisabeth Reichart

Elisabeth Reichart

Elisabeth Reichart was born in 1953 in Steyregg, Upper Austria. She studied history and German literature in Salzburg and Vienna. Afterwards, she spent extended periods in Japan and the United States. She now lives in Vienna as a freelance writer. Elisabeth Reichart has received numerous awards for her literary work, including the Veza Canetti Prize, the Austrian Prize of Distinction for Literature, and the Anton Wildgans Prize. Her novel Come Across the Lake was published in 2025.

Komm über den See

Ruth Berger relocates from Vienna to Gmunden for a year. There, she is close to the subject of the research she has been conducting for years on the side: she collects files on female resistance fighters against the Nazi regime in the Salzkammergut region, among them Anna Zach. After speaking with this courageous woman—now elderly but still unbroken—Ruth suddenly understands her own inner sense of alienation, as well as the meaning of silence and betrayal. A powerful and timelessly relevant novel.

Exclusive Coffeehouse Reading
Elisabeth Reichart read from "Komm über den See"
June 17, 2025, 6:00 PM
© Photo: Alexander Golser

As always, free admission.
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