Die Lächerlichkeit und das Glück, sie zu erleben – Ulrike Damm liest aus ihrem Werk

"The man takes off his trench coat. Should he order or wait
longer? He changes his sitting position, slides down as if
he doesn't want to be seen by anyone, hangs casually in the chair, stretches
out his legs, mimes comfort, and focuses his eyes on nothing in
utmost attention.

The trouble comes anyway, because the person waiting is always the
stupid one. And this wait is also a completely
superfluous one, one that he should not necessarily
have had to expose himself to. Who is he waiting for and why?
He doesn't even know this woman, doesn't even know her
name!" (from: Ulrike Damm, Hadermacher and Vogel, 2024)

How hard this man tries, corrects himself, designs himself.
At the mercy of his own staging, he wants to appear a certain way.
The promising mistake: he observes himself.

Wanting too much is a wonderful thing, especially when you observe the failure of others.
But even those who lose their overview and nonchalance experience a brief moment of happiness: they lose control of themselves - and are free.
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So there are only winners in ridiculousness.
Many of them are the characters in Ulrike Damm's work. We will hear from them this evening.

Moderator: Dr. Joachim Scholl, DLF

Ulrike Damm, born in Frankfurt am Main, is a writer and artist. She studied visual communication in Mainz and has been working as a freelance designer since 1984.
She has been writing novels and short stories since 2015. Her most recent novel "Die Poesie des Buchhalters" was published by DRAVA (Klagenfurt) in March 2025. In October 2026, her collection of essays on reflections on art will be published by edition frölich, Berlin.

Dr. Joachim Scholl, who holds a doctorate in German studies, works as a journalist and presenter for Deutschlandradio programs.