Jenny Erpenbeck’s childhood, she has commented, “belongs in a museum.” Born in the now-defunct GDR; she was twenty-two and in university when the Berlin Wall fell on November 9, 1989. In her most recent novel, Kairos, Erpenbeck narrates two breakups: one romantic, one political. An intense and formative relationship collapses, like the GDR, leaving behind a narrative ruin. In Go, Went, Gone (2015), she centers her novel on the moral question of asylum, through an encounter between a privileged German citizen and a small group of displaced African refugees. Erpenbeck, an epic storyteller and one of the most celebrated authors in Germany, discusses her work with author Louise Steinman at the Wende Museum, whose mission is to explore the complicated legacy of the Cold War and its relevance to contemporary social and political issues.

Louise Steinman is a writer, artist, and literary curator. She is the author of three books, including The Crooked Mirror: A Memoir of Polish-Jewish Reconciliation; and The Souvenir: A Daughter Discovers Her Father’s War. She was the founder and longtime curator of the ALOUD series at the Los Angeles Public Library and currently co-directs the Los Angeles Institute for Humanities at USC. www.louisesteinman.com