In this essay, Kinsky explores the human and natural influences on our environment that bring about fundamental changes. But what exactly characterises a disturbance, and how can we approach this negatively-charged word in a way that opens up unexpected avenues of thought? Esther Kinsky centres this essay around the concept of ‘disturbed land’. The term refers to a piece of land that is gradually being returned to a state of nature, generally after a period of very intensive use and appropriation by human beings. Drawing on various examples, Kinsky offers a powerful analysis of the tension between nature and culture, exploitation and reconquest, as well as historical pollution as a far-reaching field of disruption. Her perspective on the world leads to surprising and poetic insights.

Two women are on their way home in central Vienna one summer’s night when they happen upon a horse without a rider in a small alley. The slightly neglected animal trots along behind them until they reach their house in the suburbs, where it takes up residence in the garden. From this point on, the two women look after the latest addition to the household. What seems like a fairytale fantasy at first grows into an extraordinary novel about the coexistence between animals and humans, about animal rights and exploitation, self-determination and its limits. With elegance and wit, Jana Volkmann tells a highly topical story in which chicken factories are stormed and pigs gallop across the high street – a story in which every individual must decide for themselves how we, collectively, want to live in the future.

„Schatten und Wind“ erzählt einfühlsam von einer Familie vietnamesischer Herkunft, die in einer kleinen Stadt in Finnland lebt. In magischen Szenen schildert der acht Jahre alte Erzähler den Alltag mit seiner Mutter Má, die vom großen Geld träumt, und dem älteren Bruder Hieu, der von der Liebe träumt. Herr Tèo, der sich für japanische Kultur begeistert, die schrullige Tante Tei Tei oder Más engste Freundin, die Dolmetscherin Lan Pham, bilden den Kosmos des Jungen, der versucht, nicht nur seine fremde Umgebung zu begreifen, sondern auch das seltsame Verhalten seines pubertierenden Bruders und seiner eigenwilligen Mutter. Zwischen Poesie und Realität, Zugehörigkeit und Distanz bewegt sich dieser sehr besondere Familienroman, dessen Erzähler uns unmittelbar ans Herz wächst.

Dazzling blue beetles, furry moths, bold grasshoppers and shimmering dragonflies are the heroes of Barbara Frischmuth’s new short stories. Yet when we look more closely, we realise they are about more than just carefully observed insects: they are about the delicate symbioses between humans and nature, about rare hybrid beings, half girl and half beetle, about talking dragonflies and about what we can learn from the ingeniousness of grasshoppers. Written with affectionate humour, these stories reveal how profoundly human beings are a part of nature. As gardener and poet Barbara Frischmutch never tires of repeating: our only chance of survival is to develop a relationship with nature based on respect and mindfulness.