Sasha Marianna Salzmann is a playwright,
essayist, curator, and writer in residence of the Maxim Gorki
Theater in Berlin. They are a cofounder of the culture
magazine freitext and were the artistic director of
Studio Я from 2013 to 2015. They also cofounded NIDS – New
Institute for Drama, where they give workshops on political
writing. Their work has been translated, performed, and bestowed
awards in more than twenty countries. Their first
novel, Beside Myself, won the Mara Cassens Prize and the
Jürgen Ponto-Stiftung Prize for best debut novel, was short-listed
for the 2017 German Book Prize, and has been translated into
fifteen languages.
Imogen Taylor studied French and German at New College,
Oxford, and the Humboldt University in Berlin. She is the
translator of Sascha Arango, Dirk Kurbjuweit, and Melanie Raabe,
among others. In March 2016 she received the Goethe-Institut Award
for New Translations.
“[Beside Myself] challenges the idea of fixed, immutable identities
and whether they are even worth having…A melancholic matryoshka
doll of stories within stories spanning four generations of family,
the novel is an exploration of the in-between.” —Playboy
“Salzmann has an undeniable knack for crafting vivid scenes. So
many of this novel’s images have impressed themselves into my
mind…The author’s command of detail is especially impressive, and
her vision is stunningly expansive.” —The Believer
“[A] fascinating first novel…Salzmann’s cool, disaffected narrative
voice…is a wonder to behold.” —Kirkus Reviews
“A compelling journey of discovery and change.” —Booklist
“This imaginative, multithreaded work by playwright Salzmann
reimagines Twelfth Night within a contemporary LGBTQ
context.” —Library Journal, Best Debut Novels of Winter/Spring
“Salzmann thoughtfully and cleverly addresses the themes of memory,
identity, and migration, asking if language, nationality, or gender
are important for our self-definition…[an] at times quirky, at
times graphic tale of lost and found.” —World Literature Today
“[A] fascinating journey.” —Star Magazine
“Fiction at its highest purpose…Beside Myself reads like a classic
and is yet refreshingly modern…[It] beautifully interweaves four
generations of characters of different ages, times, places,
languages and genders.” —ArtsHub
“Salzmann’s brisk storytelling builds into a sort of brilliant
literary labyrinth, one where the sanctuary of belonging remains an
elusive, transient, and constantly evolving thing.” —The Age
“Beautifully written despite the darkness of its story and texture.
There are hundreds of glimpses of worlds inside worlds…Beside
Myself is both a cool thriller and a meditation on family.”
—Saturday Paper
“Expertly translated from the original German, [Beside Myself]
conjures up emotions, sights, sounds, and tastes in breathtaking
detail.” —Adelaide Advertiser
“Exciting and enriching…Beside Myself is a book that requires work
but it is work worth being lost in.” —Lifted Brow
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