Katja Kullmann: The Singular Woman

Katja Kullmann, author and journalist from Berlin, will read an excerpt from her latest book "Die Singuläre Frau": The Singular Woman. Published in 2022, this long-form personal essay explores the concept of living alone as a woman - the historical roots and examples of the female solo life and its contemporary variants. How are tangential relationships with significant others possible? With this book, Kullmann extends her reflection on contemporary living conditions and the challenges posed by class issues to gender roles, a life worth living, and one's desires.

In her widely discussed book "Echtleben. Warum es heute so kompliziert ist, eine Haltung zu haben" (2011), Kullmann explores the precarious working conditions of the contemporary creative industries in the neoliberal Germany of the 2000s. Her sociological travel essay "Rasende Ruinen. Wie Detroit sich neu erfindet" (2012) explores the afterlife of the once vibrant techno city of Detroit. Her first book, "Generation Ally: Why being a woman has become so complicated" (2002), won the German Book Prize in 2003 and has been translated into several languages. Her novel "Fortschreitende Herzschmerzen bei milden 18 Grad" (2004) is a story about work, class and (impossible) love. She is currently working on her sixth book, a novel.

Bio

Katja Kullmann, born 1970 near Frankfurt am Main, is an essayist and writer of fiction and non-fiction. She studied political science, sociology and American studies at the J.W. Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main. In her books, she likes to deal with social status struggles and gender stress, with the world of work and pop culture - with everyday life in all its splendour.