The Peacock

Isabel Bogdan was born in Cologne and studied English and Japanese. She is an enthusiastic Hamburg-dweller, reader, writer and translator into German (including Jane Gardam, Jonathan Safran Foer, Nick Hornby, Jasper Fforde). Her first book Sachen machen came out in 2012, followed in 2016 by "Der Pfau" ("The Peacock"), and in 2019 by Laufen. She has won prizes for her translating, her writing and the online interview project “Was machen die da?”.

Annie Rutherford champions poetry and translated literature in all its guises. She works as Programme Co-ordinator for StAnza, Scotland’s international poetry festival, and as a writer and translator. Her published translations include German/Swiss poet Nora Gomringer's "Hydra's Heads" (Burning Eye Books, 2018) and Belarusian poet Volha Hapeyeva's "In My Garden of Mutants" (Arc, 2021). She co-founded the literary magazine Far Off Places and Göttingen’s "Poetree" festival.

'A great blend of entertainment and sophisticated literature.'
Julia Westlake, NDR Bücherjournal

'A colossal pleasure for anyone who appreciates subtle irony.'
Brigitte magazine

'Isabel Bogdan's debut novel transports you into the kind of buoyant jollity only ABBA songs can achieve otherwise. That's down to the casual but polished language. And the wonderful cast.'
emotion magazine

'The Hamburg-based writer draws her characters and situations with such skill, you have to say: This is British humour.'
Barbara magazine

'Isabel Bogdan has created a merry band of unforgettable characters reminiscent of John Cleese and Fawlty Towers. And her tight style produces irony worthy of comparison with authors such as Alan Bennett.'
Hamburg Emerging Writers' Prize Jury

'British humour made in Germany - delightful.'
Kieler Nachrichten

‘A great blend of entertainment and sophisticated literature.’
Julia Westlake, NDR Bücherjournal

‘A colossal pleasure for anyone who appreciates subtle irony.’
Brigitte magazine

‘Isabel Bogdan’s debut novel transports you into the kind of buoyant jollity only ABBA songs can achieve otherwise. That’s down to the casual but polished language. And the wonderful cast.’
emotion magazine

‘The Hamburg-based writer draws her characters and situations with such skill, you have to say: This is British humour.’
Barbara magazine

‘Isabel Bogdan has created a merry band of unforgettable characters reminiscent of John Cleese and Fawlty Towers. And her tight style produces irony worthy of comparison with authors such as Alan Bennett.’
Hamburg Emerging Writers’ Prize Jury

‘British humour made in Germany – delightful.’
Kieler Nachrichten