Blog of Thomas Meinecke, Resident Writer at Modern Languages in November 2018
Writer in Residence with an Instagram state of mind Mein Name ist Thomas Meinecke. Ich lebe in einem kleinen Dorf südlich von München im bayerischen Voralpenland. Ich bin Romanschriftsteller, Musiker und Nicht-Musiker, Radio- und Club-DJ. Ich möchte meinen 4-wöchigen Aufenthalt als Writer in Residence an der St. Andrews University zum (bereits auf Anhieb in vollen … Read more
Sunday, October 28, 2018, late afternoon (turning into early evening). After a scenic car ride with Tom Smith who had picked me up at Edinburgh Airport I am opening the bedroom windows of my temporary apartment in St. Andrews, 43 South Street, for the first time. Magnificent north-side ocean view (over picturesque rooftops). There’s even … Read more
Found this enigmatic picture (students in their scarlet gowns) in the internet on my first evening in the apartment, and posted it on Facebook the following morning (received 200 likes). Took my first walk to the ruined Abbey and Cathedral in the morning sun after having registered at the Human Resources department of St. Andrews … Read more
On my first day after arrival I am a guest in Tom Smith’s Master’s students’ seminar titled „Intermediality and Identity“. The students have been reading my novel „Musik“ and we have a rich two-hour conversation about and around it (me reading excerpts from a Jochen Bonz interview with me about Techno and House, printed in … Read more
Exploring a town also means discovering grounds, motifs (and hidden subjects). Eine Stadt erkunden heißt auch Gelände, Motive (und verborgene Subjekte) entdecken.
I have been provided with a personal office in the School of Modern Languages at St. Andrews University, Buchanan Building, Room No. 119, which makes me very proud to be not only a writer in residence but also a member of Academia. (Academia being the most cherished echo chamber of all my novels.) Ein persönliches … Read more
Had an exciting conversation with Elise Hugueny-Leger at the Zest Café on my heroine Hélène Cixous (écriture féminine being the thing I’m trying to overcome the sovereign male ego in my writing with), Virginie Despentes (will have to read her „King Kong“ book as soon as possible), and Serge Doubrovsky (who sadly hasn’t been translated … Read more
After having been a guest at a reading group with Bettina Bildhauer, Dora Osborne, Elodie Laügt, Lydie Moudileno and Tom Smith (Sara Ahmed’s „Living a Feminist Life“) Bettina and I arranged to have lunch at Mitchell’s Deli the next day. There we had a great time talking about my number one heroine Judith Butler and … Read more
Buchanan Building closed on weekends. Took my workplace to the University Library. Buchanan-Gebäude an Wochenenden geschlossen. Habe meinen Arbeitsplatz in die Universitätsbibliothek verlegt.
Postscript to my conversation with Michael White about British country life: Roxy Music’s 1974 long-play album “Country Life”, in its original UK sleeve and the censored US sleeve. Postskriptum zu meinem Gespräch mit Michael White über das britische Leben auf dem Land: Die 1974 erschienene Langspielplatte “Country Life” von Roxy Music in der britischen Originalhülle … Read more
Started the second Sunday after my arrival off on my portable record player in the sun-drenched apartment with the 1953 US West Coast Album “Sunday Jazz” by Howard Rumsey’s Lighthouse All-Stars. Am tremendously enjoying solos by Maynard Ferguson on trumpet, Milt Bernhart on trombone, Jimmy Giuffre on tenor sax, and Hampton Hawes on piano, over … Read more
Monument in memory of the Protestant martyrs of the Reformation. Denkmal für die evangelischen Märtyrer der Reformation. Hashtag: Christian Lehnert (one of my residency predecessors here in St. Andrews, see his own blog). Hashtag: Christian Lehnert (einer meiner Residency-Vorgänger hier in St Andrews, siehe sein eigenes Blog). Christian and I both publish our books with … Read more
Two vintage LPs I purchased at St. Andrews’ Oxfam shop (the first records I’ve bought since I’ve been here): Joseph Haydn’s beautifully fragmented arrangements of Scottish folk songs. William Walton’s dedicated take on musical motifs by his German friend Paul Hindemith. Picture background: The floor of my University office (no Harris Tweed). Zwei gebrauchte LPs, … Read more
Day-trip to Edinburgh. First time in eight days to leave cosy St. Andrews. First time on wheels (bus to Leuchars, train to Edinburgh, crossing the magnificent historic bridge over the Firth of Forth, the red one of the three). My first time in Edinburgh: with my Hamburg school class, mid 1970s. Second time: With my … Read more
View from my St. Andrews bedroom (to the right): Ocean. Blick aus meinem Schlafzimmer in St Andrews (nach rechts): Meer. View from my St. Andrews bedroom (to the left): Office. Blick aus meinem Schlafzimmer in St Andrews (nach links): Büro. View out of my office window on Union Street. (I enjoy biting into sour apples.) … Read more
Bettina Bildhauer picked me up at the office and took me to a road trip to the beautiful countryside. Hashtag: The Kingdom of Fife. Hashtag: The Firth of Forth. Bettina Bildhauer hat mich vom Büro abgeholt und auf eine Autofahrt in die schöne Landschaft mitgenommen. Hashtag: Das Königreich Fife. Hashtag: Der Firth of Forth. On … Read more
On Saturday, November 10, I took the 99 bus from St. Andrews to Dundee. On my route from one record-store to another I discovered a closed pub by the name of George Orwell. Am Samstag, den 10. November, habe ich den Bus 99 von St Andrews nach Dundee genommen. Unterwegs von einem Plattenladen zum anderen … Read more
Wednesday 14 November, 7 PM, Byre Theatre: “Emotions and Gender in Electronic Dance Music Culture. An evening of electronic music and discussions on gender and emotions in the techno scene with Glasgow-based DJ and activist Nightwave (Maya Medvesek), acclaimed German writer and musician, Thomas Meinecke, and St Andrews researcher Tom Smith.” Maya played some of … Read more
Took a bus from St. Andrews bus station to Glasgow, checked into my hotel and crisscrossed through the inner city being led by the location of different record stores. Habe einen Bus vom Busbahnhof in St Andrews nach Glasgow genommen, habe in meinem Hotel eingecheckt und bin dann durch die Innenstadt gestreift, von der Lage … Read more
Walking one of Glasgow’s rich neighbourhoods the next morning (ALG 1). Am nächsten Morgen durch eine der reichen Gegende Glasgows spazieren gegangen (ALG 1). Ditto (18 ER). University of Glasgow tower in the background. Ebenso (18 ER). Der Turm der Universität Glasgow im Hintergrund. Then I walked back to downtown and took photographs of some … Read more
Sunday afternoon, I attended the Choral Evensong at St. Salvator’s Chapel (which one of Tom’s students, Seb Robson, had told me about at a coffee shop) and was very impressed by the beautiful voices of the students’ choir (Seb’s being amongst them). Actually, I was deeply moved by the warmth of the liturgical music that … Read more
The niches by daylight. (Where have the Catholic Saints gone? Most likely: They went to pieces.) Die Nischen bei Tageslicht. (Wo kamen die katholischen Heiligen hin? Am wahrscheinlichsten: Sie sind in die Brüche gegangen.) Three more niches, here seen at St. Salvator. Hashtag: Remnants of the Reformation. Drei weitere Nischen, hier bei der Salvatorkirche. Hashtag: … Read more
Four Creative Writing workshops with students of Tom Smith, Petra Berner, and Elise Hugueny-Léger and me took place in the third and fourth week of my residency and turned out to be very rewarding experiences. Along my own poetics the students had been asked to write a palimpsest (a cover version, a pastiche or parody) … Read more
My busy last Wednesday in St Andrews started with a poster presentation with Tom’s students. I was quite overwhelmed by these updates on ongoing research on German Studies topics like Berlin Techno, femininity performances (Lady Bitch Ray, Nina Hagen and Nena) and male gender performances (in novels by Feridun Zaimoglu and Thomas Meinecke). See excerpts … Read more
Thursday, November 22, the last day of my four weeks stay as a writer in residence at the University of St Andrews. Had to pack my things in the apartment, check my airport transfer for the next day, online check-in, checking out at the Human Resources of the University. Last day of writing on my … Read more
Uneasy thought: This may be my last time leaving the United Kingdom with it being part of the European Union. (Or will Scotland remain?) Schwieriger Gedanke: Dies mag das letzte Mal sein, dass ich das Vereinigte Königreich verlasse, während es noch Teil der Europäischen Union ist. (Oder wird Schottland doch bleiben?) Issue 0 Valid until … Read more