In 2002 the British author Michelene Wandor gave a creative writing course at Mainz university, which I attended as a
student assisstant. Some of our poems and short stories were published in the anthology FROM FORM TO FORM, edited by
Michelene Wandor and Ulrike Hattemer. To celebrate the publication of the book, we held a book launch with a public reading
at the town hall of Mainz.
Here you see one very nervous Sandy, when the book launch is just about to start. (By that time I was already intimately
acquainted with the way to the restrooms. Would have found them blindfolded, in fact! *LOL*)
Yeah! The reading has finally started! Here I'm reading a snippet from STRAIGHT TO THE HEART, which would eventually
become THE LILY BRAND. As you can see from the mic in front of me, there was press present and they reported about our book
launch on Deutschlandfunk, a nationwide radio station.
ST. GEORGE. I am here to save you ... er ... thee from thou horrible fate.
GIRL. Which would be?
ST. George. Er ... to be devoured by the dragon, the ghastly fiend.
WOLF.I ain't no dragon!
GIRL. How stupid can you get? This is not a dragon! This is a wolf! He's got big ears, big eyes, and a big mouth -- Wolf!
This is the reading from A FAIRY TALE BURLESQUE, with Marc Littig as the Wolf and Gideon Haberkorn as St. George of
England (and in case you're wondering why he's holding up an umbrella: that's his banner!)
And finally, a group picture of all the people who took part in Michelene's writing course. The lady in black on the
right is Ulrike Hattemer (now Behlau), who did an awesome job in organizing and coordinating not just the writing course,
but also the book launch. Standing next to her is Professor Reitz, who supported the project -- and happens to be my boss
:O)
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