A passionate plea for a political discourse that examines facts instead of exploiting emotions

With intellectual precision and an uncompromising approach, Olga Flor takes a stand against the kind of populist propaganda that is currently so eager to pose as representing the perceived majority opinion of a vaguely defined section of the public. These “politics of emotion” exploit justified fears, rather than analyse their true cause. The increasing lack of economic transparency and growing information density are their feeding ground, simplistic finger-pointing and “gut feelings” their ideological capital. Against this, Olga Flor sets the need for a public discourse that permits dissension and doesn’t shy away from the complexity of the facts, that aims to enlighten rather than obscure.

Mitteleuropäisches Panorama und präziser gesellschaftlicher Befund: Peter Rosei schreibt pointiert und unerbittlich über unsere orientierungslose Zeit.

Jana, the ambitious daughter of a tired-out hotel owner in the Slovakian Tatras, only has her beauty to help her realise her dreams of a better and more exciting life in the wealthy West. She encounters the profiteer Gstettner, who conducts his murky dealings from Vienna. No matter whether it’s fake designer goods or desperate refugees, Gstettner will trade with anything. Tone Kral, a farmer’s son from the Slovenian Karst region who ekes out a living as a waiter and gigolo, and the aged Viennese theatre critic Kalman complete the quartet. Eager for life, the four characters try to make their way in the grey zone between the old and new political order.

Women are the best and sometimes also the worst thing that can happen to a man

Uli Brée, creator of the Austrian satirical TV series “Vorstadtweiber”, tells stories about women. Stories that are moving or refreshingly funny, sincere or dishonest, poetically condensed or truthfully remembered. Nothing in this book actually occurred quite like that, yet it’s exactly how it happened. Uli Brée shines a light into dark corners, pays homage to bygone amours, lures us into a world of real and virtual desires and reveals himself as one who never stopped gazing in wonder at the strange yet familiar world of women. But most of all he reminds us of our own amorous adventures – as well as the subsequent comedowns. “A head for heights” speaks about first sex, crushes, moist boyhood fantasies, absurd dreams, the great passion, hormones and chocolate, and journeys through a dating app. It is a sensual and almost honest book which Uli Brée dedicates to all women, from A for adorable to Z for zonked.

Everything you’ve always wanted to know about literature but were afraid to ask

K. is an occasional critic, a second-tier commentator who nevertheless writes about important books for a number of well-known broadcasting companies. The discussions he holds with editors about recent publications by Martin Walser, Martin Mosebach, Thomas Hettche, Fritz J. Raddatz and many others are outspoken, witty and direct. At the same time, K. is increasingly preoccupied by questions of survival and moves from Stuttgart to Leipzig because the rents are cheaper. But the fight over time slots for book reviews gets harder ... Has K. himself become incapable of continuing his work, or is he the victim of a book review that is committing self-eradication?

A courageous and deeply personal novel about strong women and the fight for a life after survival

Born into a Jewish pre-war family in Vienna, Fritzi’s childhood is characterised by visits to the Viennese Prater and early romances. As a young woman, she flees to England to escape Nazi persecution. She marries Theo, returns to Vienna and is a vivacious and warm-hearted mother to her daughter Lea. But sometimes, Fritzi is so overcome with a nameless sorrow that she cannot get out of bed in the morning. Later, her daughter Lea’s life also seems to be a success, full to the brim with marriage, children, grandchildren and career. Yet she too is haunted by dark dreams and family memories. When more and more people arrive in Vienna fleeing war and terror in Syria and Afghanistan, this challenges Lea’s feeling of helplessness and her successful life threatens to fall apart.

Rich in imagery, this novel takes us up close to one of the definitive feelings of our time: fear

Spending a year in Antarctica and enduring the polar night in a research station takes stamina and determination. That is what Erika appears to have: a renowned bioacoustics specialist, she listens to whales, goes on long dives and challenges herself by practising aikido. Barely anyone knows that she does all of this in order to fight back a paralysing fear, the fear of a world that threatens to overwhelm her. Then musicologist Judith, a young woman full of contradictions, appears in her circle of friends. As the two women grow close, Erika suspects that Judith has given in to the same force that Erika is battling against. Perhaps she went crazy, or then again, perhaps she found a counter-spell and saved herself...

With intelligence and tenderness, Rosemarie Poiarkov weaves the threads of quotidian life and its secrets, of memory and the present into a compelling contemporary novel.

At the flea market Luise discovers an old wax cylinder, used to record sound more than a century ago. The label reveals it was recorded in 1903, in Vienna’s second district, where Luise happens to live. What does the voice from the past have to say? How well do we listen and what are we willing to hear? The characters in Poiarkov’s immersive debut novel deal with these questions as they face their own issues: Luise’s boyfriend Emil, a sound archivist who loves recording cracking ice and rumbling streets; Luise’s friend Milan who passionately yearns for beautiful Zorica from Novi Sad; her other friend Julia who must face her alcoholic mother; and Josef Grasl, Luise’s father, who roams the streets in search of ghosts from the past.

Some moments feel like regular, everyday life, but turn out to be pivotal turning points that change our future forever.

One hot day in August Elena celebrates her 88th birthday. Everyone is there: her daughters Martina and Renate, her grandson Daniel and his girlfriend Sasha. Their celebration is abundant, with lots of honey schnapps, wild polkas, and much joy. And yet, all Elena can think about is Martina’s childhood friend Rike who fell to her death from the cherry tree right here in the garden fifty years ago. Tina Pruschmann’s intense and heart-felt debut novel delves deep into the lives and fates of its characters. It examines those special moments in life, those turning points that determine our future. They are days of irrevocable decisions; days when time and all its promises and desires come to a standstill.

A critical cultural history of terrorists claiming to act in the name of God while denying his very existence in their actions

Terrorists shoot into a crowd at Bataclan in Paris killing dozens; Guardians of public morals have thousands beheaded during the French Revolution with the aim of realizing the "ideals of enlightenment"; Dostojevsky's "Demons" murder because their nihilism has destroyed any sense of morals – What goes on in these minds? How can people declare themselves lords over life and death, thus putting themselves above God? When they act in the name of God or political ideals, Wali claims provocatively, they are in fact enacting the opposite: What drives these murderers is a fascination with violence, the feeling of absolute power, the desire to spread mortal fear, and the wish to destroy the social fundament of trust.

The last heartache was twenty years ago. Twenty years without heartache: Good grief, what a meek existence! A most unusual love story full of reckless charm

A man and a woman. She: Pernilla Brigido, once an acclaimed theater actress, now a charmingly elegant, vivacious septuagenarian member of Vienna's society. He: Ildefons Krehmayr, known as Illo, affluent master builder, divorcee and father of a puberty-struck daughter. He's twenty years younger and has led a life with temperate passions and ambitions. Coincidence crosses their paths and so begins a ravishingly outrageous love story that Pernilla and Illo waltz through with the grace of well-trained dancers. Until one of them makes a wrong move and oversteps a boundary better left uncrossed. But when the curtain rises once again, the two star-crossed lovers have already set out on a summery roadtrip…