Lilli Tollkien's debut, Two Hands Lifting the Sky, is a 2026 New Books in German pick, and has been published in Germany to great acclaim. Jamie Lee Searle's sample translation can be found on NBG's website: https://www.new-books-in-german.com/recommendations/two-hands-lifting-the-sky/
Lale’s childhood in West Berlin in the 1980s is unlike most others – she grows up in a left-wing male flatshare. Her drug-addicted mother loses custody of her, while her father is in prison for attempting to rob a bank in order to redistribute capital. A friend of her father’s takes Lale out of the children’s home and into his shared apartment in Neukölln. Her guardians vacillate between drug binges and political ambitions, between parties and aid projects in Nicaragua. Women are changed like clothes, and those who complain are dismissed as crazy and bourgeois. While the adults politicize, plan the revolution, and sell hashish in the living room, Lale is left to her own devices – and becomes a victim of the abusive men in her environment. As an adult, she pulls herself out of the mire, fighting her own way as a woman, artist, and mother, driven by her insatiable thirst for a better life. A childhood and youth in left-wing Berlin in the 1980s, in the shadow of the excesses of those who tried their hand at parenting and failed. An outstanding debut which is haunting, but never sentimental.
"After the first page I was shaken, but after the first chapter I was captivated. A novel of improbable gravity, a rare gem." EDGAR RAI
"Lilli Tollkien writes with a ferocity that is almost unbearable – and that is precisely why you have to read her." MAREIKE FALLWICKL
Jamie Lee Searle translates German-language and Portuguese-language works into English. Before becoming a translator, she worked for Reuters and did an MA in Anglo-German Cultural Relations at Queen Mary University in London. Her most recent publications include a translation of Kim de l'Horizon's Blood Book, which won the German and Swiss national book prizes in 2022, and a co-translation of Angela Merkel’s memoirs, Freedom. Jamie is a co-founder of the Emerging Translators' Network, a mentor with the National Centre for Writing and a former Royal Literary Fund Fellow.
Lilli Tollkien, born in Berlin in 1980, studied Directing and Music Therapy in Berlin and Heidelberg, among other things. She worked in a wide variety of professions, including as an addiction counsellor in a prison, a job coach, and a set designer. In addition to her current profession, she is a photographer and has published in anthologies. She lives with her children in Leipzig. Two Hands Lifting the Sky is her first novel.
Translation funding guaranteed by New Books in German. https://www.new-books-in-german.com/
Translators Aloud is a YouTube channel devoted to sharing the work of literary translators, for both published and unpublished works.![THE POWERLESSNESS OF INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE - THE RETURN OF WAR AND CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY https://www.new-books-in-german.com/recommendations/the-powerlessness-of-international-law/ With the Nuremberg Trials, a new chapter in the history of international law began after the Second World War. And after the Cold War, a rule-based world order appeared realistic. However, this is not the reality of the early 21st century – international law appears to be in ruins, brute force seems to prevail, and the global community seems to be settling into cynicism or resignation. Safferling’s treatise is concise, competent, personal, and passionate. Despite its seemingly sombre title, the book ultimately offers an optimistic outlook: Safferling argues convincingly that international law should not be written off as a regulatory framework for global relations. In the author’s firm belief, it will ultimately assert its relevance and force. As readers move through the book, it becomes increasingly clear that there are compelling reasons to share this hope. "An impressive and simultaneously disquieting book about the capabilities and limitations of the international legal order […] Equal parts analysis, diagnosis and warning cry."– Peggy Fiebig, Deutschlandfunk (Andruck) "International law has seen better days, and Christoph Safferling does not pretend to his readers that all is well. But it is precisely this realism that makes his book so well worth reading." – NZZ Geschichte "Safferling skilfully reconstructs the debates on peace and international law from 1945 to the present day, including the very latest developments." – Hendrik Simon, FAZ Author/translator bio Christoph Safferling, born in 1971, is Professor of Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure Law, International Criminal Law and International Law at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg. He is the director of the International Nuremberg Principles Academy https://www.dtv.de/autor/christoph-safferling-7908 Translation funding guaranteed by New Books in German. https://www.new-books-in-german.com/](https://translatorsaloud.com/wp-content/plugins/youtube-feed-pro/img/placeholder.png)