We blathered for three or four cups before I mentioned, as if quite randomly, Sophie Klomp. Unnervingly Trollop hunched closer to me, and told of how Sophie had previously been married to a Herr Klomp, who鈥檇 seemingly blown in on the wind. One sunny summer morning back in the mid-1980s, he鈥檇 been lying fast asleep in the doorway of Sophie鈥檚 flat. Black leather jacket, dark beard, old-fashioned canvas carryall, no shoes. She herself had been the first to see him and rang the doorbell to get Sophie, who鈥檇 come to the door all sleepy. Between them they鈥檇 given him a 鈥渞ight good flannelling down鈥 in the flat (the turn of phrase allowed me to hazard a guess at where Frau Trollop hailed from 鈥 probably today鈥檚 Saxony-Anhalt) 鈥
Bio:
Kathrin Schmidt is an award-winning poet and novelist. She was born in the German Democratic Republic, and her work has often focused on the unjust social situation of East Germans during and since Germany鈥檚 reunification. Her 2009 novel You鈥檙e not dying, translated into English by Christina Les鈥(Naked Eye, 2021), won the German Book Prize and has appeared in 13 languages. Her short story collection It鈥檚 over. Don鈥檛 go there. has just been released in English.
After the UK鈥檚 Brexit vote, poet and writer Sue Vickerman decided to reach out to Europe by turning to the translation of poetry and literary fiction. Being northern English, she empathized with Kathrin Schmidt, who similarly hails from a region where people feel 鈥渓eft behind鈥 and where right-wing populism is on the rise. Her translations include Twenty Poems by Kathrin Schmidt (Arc Publications, 2020) and Schmidt鈥檚 story collection It鈥檚 over. Don鈥檛 go there. (Naked Eye, 2021).
This story is excerpted from Kathrin Schmidt鈥檚 collection It鈥檚 over. Don鈥檛 go there. (originally published as Finito. Schwamm Dr眉ber. by Kiepenheuer & Witsch in 2011), translated by Sue Vickerman.