Literatur:Raum mit Kay Matter

In the fifth edition of “Literatur:Raum”, author Kay Matter will be a guest at Werk*raum. Together with members of the Kammerspiele ensemble, Matter will read from the play “Helena oder Stay safe and sorry” and from the prose work “Muskeln aus Plastik”. The readings will be accompanied by an author talk with the curator of the series, Dîlan Z. Çapan.

Helena is called home: by her boyfriend Menelaus, who flies after her and insists that she break off her vacation on the cruise ship. But above all, Helena is haunted: by the brief moment of her encounter with a sperm whale, which fundamentally shifts her perspective. She can no longer separate herself from the non-human inhabitants of this planet; Helena has forgotten how to ignore their cries: The animals make themselves heard, they stare back and raise their voices in complaint. How do we deal with the paradox of being part of an ecosystem and at the same time part of an economic system that is destroying the livelihoods of everyone, including non-human beings? “Helena or Stay safe and sorry” tells of this great conflict and invents characters who become feverishly overheated in the process. Their impotent, overdriven actionism looks familiar and definitely makes us laugh.

Kay has a serious crush - and a serious illness. The crush is always followed by a crash, severe palpitations are followed by migraines, making out is followed by aching limbs. While Kay tries to escape the consequences of Long Covid, only the longing for Aron and the desire for a strong, androgynous body bring relief. “Muscles of Plastic” deals with chronic illness and transness - and the way our society thinks and talks about ‘healthy’ bodies. Beyond all formal and intellectual traditions, Kay Matter explores the thin line between pleasure and pain, imagining new forms of care, intimacy and queer resistance - an impressive, intuitive and moving debut.

The “Literatur:Raum” series takes an in-depth look at current literary trends. Author and director Dîlan Z. Çapan invites exciting authors to talks and poetically stages new texts. Alternating between the Werk*raum and the Habibi Kiosk.

Kay Matter

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Lee Everett Thieler

Dîlan Z. Çapan

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Sima Dehgani

"Muskeln aus Plastik" book cover

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Kay Matter / Hanser Verlag Berlin

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