In her manuscript “Keine Angst, mein Herz” (Don’t be afraid, my heart), Berlin-based author and performer Olivia Wenzel tells of racist attributions and forms of resistance, of growing up and reflecting, of right-wing terror and images of fear between Brandenburg, New York, Berlin and Thuringia.
“The heart, just a snack machine on a railroad track.
A voice keeps asking ‘Where are you?’ In your own head, abroad, in New York or Durham in North Carolina, in your thoughts and memories. Between questionnaire and interrogation, questions are asked about identity, racism, family and home, about home and traveling.
And they always return to that railroad track, the railroad track with the snack machine.”
The audio recording was made during a joint reading with actor Martin Schnippa at the PROSANOVA|17– Festival for Young Literature in Hildesheim and can be listened to on the Litradio website.
Excerpts of the text also appeared in issues 47 and 48 of the literary magazine BELLA triste.