Author Jenny Erpenbeck and translator Michael Hofmann share their criticism of capitalism

The author Jenny Erpenbeck, who recently won the International Booker Prize for her novel "Kairos", sees similarities in her attitude to life with her translator Michael Hofmann. "We share this criticism of capitalism," said Erpenbeck in an interview with the "Berliner Zeitung" (Saturday). "That life should be about something other than money and maximizing profits and that we should think about how to get out of this consumerist mindset."

Hofmann told the newspaper that this was "an East German feeling" that Erpenbeck had helped him fall back into. He had lived in England for 60 years, but his ancestors came from Saxony. When reading "Kairos", he felt a "certain familiarity and a sense of home".

On Tuesday, 57-year-old Erpenbeck was the first German to win the International Booker Prize - one of the most prestigious literary prizes in the UK. The writer, who comes from East Berlin, received this year's prize for the English translation of "Kairos" together with translator Michael Hofmann.

The novel "Kairos" is about the love affair between a young student and a much older, married writer in East Berlin during the last years of the GDR. However, their relationship, fueled by a shared love of music and art, falls apart, just as the state around them is falling apart. In April 2023, the Staatstheater Cottbus brought the prose to the stage.