Sven Pfizenmaier
Sven Pfizenmaier, born in 1991, is an illustrious figure in contemporary literature. His novel, “Draußen feiern die Leute” (2022), was celebrated with the aspekte Literature Prize for the best debut of the year, the Kranichsteiner Literature Encouragement Award from the German Literature Fund, and the Literature Prize of the State Capital Hannover. In 2024, his second novel, “Schwätzer,” graced the literary scene. Sven Pfizenmaier resides in Berlin.
How did your journey as a writer begin? What inspired you to choose writing as your primary medium of self-expression?
It actively began when I was in University and read White Noise by Don DeLillo. Up until that point, I didn’t think about literature as something that I could do, even though I was interested (I studied German and English Philology) and even wrote little stories when I was a kid. But I lost interest in writing and reading as a teenager because I felt like literature was something for the upper class. I decided to make movies instead, but when I read White Noise, it changed again because suddenly literature was something that could actually be fun. After that, I started reading again and rediscovered my love for writing.
Although you refrain from defining yourself within a specific genre, both your readers and you have noted elements of magical realism in your work. How would you describe the key narrative and thematic features that create this effect? How have your personal and cultural experiences shaped the emergence of these elements in your work?
My family migrated from Kazakhstan to Germany shortly before I was born, so I was always surrounded by Russian language folklore, superstitions, weird tales from the village life in the steppes and all around a tradition that was closer to supernatural ideas than German culture typically is. So when I discovered Magical Realism, I felt very drawn to it and immediately sensed that this mixture of supernatural stuff and everyday life is a very good way to approach reality. I felt like this way of storytelling is very true to the emotions of people.
“Am Himmel über Neukölln sind die Sterne unsichtbar. Eine Kuppel aus Milch verschleiert den Glanz der Meteore, die auf dem Weg zu ihrem Ende hier vorübersegeln. Für die Straßen spielt der Weltraum keine Rolle, das Auge Galileo Galileis schiebt sich durch den Flaschenhals in den Schaum des Bieres. Jemand nimmt einen Schluck daraus, schaut zum Wettbüro. Dort steht ein Mann im Hemd und wischt sich die Tränen von der Wange. Hoch über ihm, im Dachgeschoss der Mall, werden Gespräche an der Hantelbank geführt. Ein Ratschlag für die Muskeln, vier Silben für das Herz. Der Zapfhahn spuckt Magnesium.”
Sven Pfizenmaier
Which literary movements or influences from other art forms have played a role in shaping your unique style?
The earliest influences were video games, especially Final Fantasy VII, which completely hypnotized me as a kid. It is a story about a group of sword-wielding, monster hunting eco terrorists who take on a huge corporate conglomerate that makes money by sucking the life essence out of the planet. Obviously, I didn’t get the political implications of this story back then, but the way it mixed modern day technologies and fantasy elements and then tells a story about greed, love and friendship with it, and even does that by being at the same time funny and horrifying – it was just mind blowing. I played that game over and over again.
The biggest influence to this day would be cinema – I love movies a lot, especially horror films, but I can find in any type of film something that I like. There are so many films that I deeply love that it would be wrong to name any.
How would you describe the influence of Berlin on your literary world? In what ways does the city manifest itself in your writing?
I think Berlin influenced my writing in the sense that you see a lot of very different lives here, good and bad, you see poverty and addiction and you have the excessive nightlife, you have nerds and lovers and activists. Seeing these extreme realities getting mixed up together and trying to find my own position in there makes me question myself all the time, what I do, how I live, how I write.
“Als die Apfelschorlen geleert waren, bestand Gewissheit darüber, dass es keinen Kuss mehr geben würden, kein Wiedersehen, nur ein aufmunterndes Wort. Der Mond leuchtete am Himmel, doch das Licht, in dem sie standen, kam von der Laterne. Ein Lächeln, eine Umarmung, ein Gruß, die Augen. Warme Luft, die Sterne, volle Bäume, vertrocknete Böden. Am Horizont eine Wolke und auf beiden Heimwegen die leise Ahnung, etwas falsch gemacht zu haben.”
Sven Pfizenmaier
Do you have a regular writing routine? Could you share some insights into your creative process and the sources of your inspiration?
I don’t have a strict routine, but when I work, I do so every day in the morning, it’s the time I function best. In the afternoon, I mostly just read. There are weeks or even months where I don’t write much at all, this is the time for going out, meeting people, coming home after sunrise – things I don’t do a lot when I’m in a writing phase. I usually don’t drink then, do sport, write every day. Then, when I’m done, I’m letting it all go and don’t think about writing at all. I need these big, long breaks from writing, I don’t think I would write very well otherwise.
Do you think German literature is evolving toward a more multicultural direction? Considering that Turkish people constitute the largest minority, how visible do you find their contributions in the German literary scene? How do you assess the impact of Turkish-origin writers and cultural motifs on literature? Additionally, which Turkish authors writing in German do you follow?
I do think it is evolving in a more multicultural direction, at least compared to twenty years ago. Obviously Germany is still a place with a lot of hate for multiculturalism and the literary scene is not spared from that – but I do think that there is bigger interest in the stories of migrants and their children now. I recently read the Berlin Trilogy by Aras Ören, it is a cycle of poems about the time of his arrival in Berlin (in the 70s, I think). As I write this, Cemile Sahin just got nominated for one of the most prestigious literary prizes in Germany for her novel Kommando Ajax. It is kind of a heist story about a Kurdish family and art theft in (mostly) the Netherlands. I read that book a couple of weeks ago and it truly is great, I loved it.
What future projects are you currently working on?
I started writing another novel, but it still feels unsure. I talked to different friends about doing projects, a theater play, a comic. Working feels shaky nowadays- fascism is on the rise again in Germany and it needs to be fought. I’m more worried about that than about my work at the moment.
“In der Nacht ihres Falls kletterte der westdeutsche DJ Westbam gemeinsam mit Hunderten anderen über die Berliner Mauer. Oben angekommen, drehte er sich um, um der Person hinter sich hochzuhelfen, und da stellte sich heraus, dass es sich bei dieser Person um den lettischen DJ Eastbam handelte. Auf der Mauer stehend reichte Westbam Eastbam die Hand. Ein Triumph, der Jubel, die Freiheit. Menschen zogen ihre Warnwesten über und begaben sich hinter schweres Gemäuer. Wummernde Gravität. Liebe in der Dunkelheit, die Pupille ein See. Das Jahrzehnt des Raves war angebrochen.”
Sven Pfizenmaier
Interviewee: Sven Pfizenmaier
Interviewer: Tevfik Hürkan Urhan
