When Maja Haderlap read in Klagenfurt, I thought: Quite nice, but I’ve read it all before somehow. In Slovenian novels no German publisher wanted. Especially in Tito, amor mijo by Marko Sosič. This one is set in Triest at the end of the sixties, and, from the perspective of an eleven-year-old boy – who now and then rides on a motorbike with his father –, depicts in a very poetic way (and, in my humble opinion, much more beautifully) the situation of the Slovenian minority in Italy at this time, the omnipresent memories of the partisan fights, especially in the woods … In most cases rejected because “we don’t have any experience with Slovenian literature”, but just as well because it is set in the sixties and told from a child’s perspective. I went on listening. Waited for something new, surprising. Heard a story set in Carinthia in the sixties, that, from the perspective of a twelve-year-old girl – who now and then rides on a motorbike with her father –, depicts in a sometimes very poetic way the situation of the Slovenian minority in Austria at this time, the omnipresent memories of the partisan fights, especially in the woods … And thought, well, it’s really not bad, but her chances are small. And was very surprised when the jury said it was a topic which almost hadn’t been treated by literature so far, and definitely not like this. To make it short: that it was something NEW. I see. Neither do I want to state that Mrs. Haderlaps text didn’t deserve the Bachmann-Preis, nor do I want to hint at a suspicion of plagiarism. I just want to express my small and humble hope that this year’s award might positively influence the decision criteria of German publishers …

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