picador

Former Picador Professor Alexander Chee has written a new short story for T-magazine’s Nov. 15 Travel issue. It is set in Leipzig and is one of three original short stories written exclusively for the magazine.

American Studies Leipzig is proud to announce Oksana Marafioti as our next Picador Guest Professor for Literature. She will hold the professorship in the winter term of 2020/21.

As part of her tenure in the winter term of 2020/21, Picador Professor Oksana Marafioti will teach two classes at American Studies Leipzig.

Immigration, Ethnicity, and Citzienship in the American Short Story

Tuesdays, 5 pm-7 pm (taught remotely)

Former Picador Professor Daniel Peña has sent us a brilliant audio essay on Reckonings and Revolution in 2020 in which he explores the possibilities for a revolution in the USA based on the peaceful revolution in Leipzig in 1989:
“Who better to save America from itself than the black and brown people who still buy in the idea of it.”

We are sorry to announce that due to the ongoing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the Picador Chair will have to remain empty for the summer term of 2020. After a lot of careful thought, we decided that this is the most sensible choice in the light of the still unfolding events. While this means that no creative writing workshop will be offered this semester, we will be able to offer LC-III and the Lehramt module “US Popular Culture and American Literature” (-1701), albeit in a slightly different form than usual.

Current Picador Professor Morgan Jerkins's public readings in Leipzig and Berlin both attracted large crowds. In Leipzig, she read from her essay collection This Will Be My Undoing and discussed her work with Senthuran Varatharajah and the audience. The reading took place on October 26 at the Galerie für zeitgenössische Kunst as part of a literary festival co-organized by EDIT and the Literarischer Herbst.

Current Picador Professor Morgan Jerkins was recently interviewed for the print and online edition of die tageszeitung. While the interview focuses on her experiences as a black female writer, she also specifically talks about her tenure at ASL and the courses she teaches this semester.

The interview is available via the taz website.