Mathilde Montpetit
@mathildegm.bsky.social
PhD student & translator (French-English) studying medieval West Africa, eunuchs, and the Mediterranean. Plus contributing editor at The Auflauf and the Public Domain Review
Loved this LRB piece about screwball comedies, which really captures what is so amazing about the genre:
Ruby Hamilton · At the Movies: Screwball Comedies
Screwballs aren’t miserabilist-humanist comedies about learning to revel in imperfection; they’re comedies of...
lrb.co.uk
This Women in Translation Month, very happy to be working at The Auflauf, where it's WITM every month: in our first 6 months we've run reviews of Franck, Maci, Mehr, Reimann; original translated fiction by Sylvia Krupicka; and an interview with Herta Müller's latest translator:
Kate McNaughton: 'Herta Müller reminds us that writers are on the front line.'
The novelist on her new translation of the Romanian-born Nobel Prize winner—and the limits of beauty as resistance
theauflauf.com
Studying to become a medieval priest was a real drag – thank goodness Solomon (?) had a series of mysterious diagrams and chants revealed to him (?), to make things go down easier. Loved working on this excerpt from Anne Lawrence-Mathers' THE MAGIC BOOKS:
Artificial Intelligence: Ars Notoria and the Promise of Instant Knowledge
Centuries before Neo instantly mastered Kung Fu in The Matrix, medieval scholars found a shortcut to years of difficult study: a magical manuscript that promised to fast-track advanced learning. Anne ...
publicdomainreview.org
we asked berlin's hottest what they're reading this summer
Mathilde Montpetit@mathildegm.bsky.social · last wk.Experimental German poetry, Casanova, Virginia Woolf and John Lanchester's debut novels... Summer reading is looking even more eclectic than usual. What's on your list?
Experimental German poetry, Casanova, Virginia Woolf and John Lanchester's debut novels... Summer reading is looking even more eclectic than usual. What's on your list?
Oi! What are you reading this summer?
Friends and collaborators share what's on their bedside table at the moment.
theauflauf.com
A few weeks ago we had a great chat with @ajbwells.bsky.social on the legacy of neon signs in Germany. Read the full interview here: www.theauflauf.com/p/jesse-simo...
Jesse Simon: ‘Is it possible to be nostalgic for a time you didn’t live in? I think it is.’
The Anglo-American typography expert on the magic of neon, signage in both Germanys, and the umlaut as engineering problem.
theauflauf.com
After seeing it through @neondeutschland.bsky.social's eyes, you'll never see Germany's neon signs the same way again:
Jesse Simon: ‘Is it possible to be nostalgic for a time you didn’t live in? I think it is.’
The Anglo-American typography expert on the magic of neon, signage in both Germanys, and the umlaut as engineering problem.
theauflauf.com
Loved working on this essay, which features some of the greatest ever insults – will be referring to my enemies as "soup slurpers, bean eaters, lasagna pits" from now on
The Public Domain Review@publicdomainrev.bsky.social · 4w agoNEW ESSAY — Arnoud Visser investigates the stock character of the pedant and his association with individual superiority, social distinction, and sexual transgression, finding a form of satire that took aim at the Renaissance humanist’s erudition and lofty ideals.
This month on The Auflauf: @gabrielflynn.bsky.social reviews Rebecca Birrell's exploration of the interwar Berlin art scene, Julia Bosson surfs Susan Finlay's craziest brainwave yet, and Hunter Dukes finds out where idiots come from. Plus we finally found a gossip columnist who doesn't use AI!
July Books: Finlay, Emmerling, Birrell
A frenetic Berlin tech satire from Susan Finlay, Leonhard Emmerling's erudite account of idiocy, and Rebecca Birrell on art, fascism, and polyamory in interwar Berlin
theauflauf.substack.com
Out today!
Gabriel Flynn@gabrielflynn.bsky.social · 3mo agoMy novel is coming out in paperback soon with this handsome new cover! If you've been thinking of picking up a copy, please do me a solid and consider putting in a preorder for £10.44, which I understand is roughly the price of a pint in London. Thank you! uk.bookshop.org/p/books/poor...
If you're traveling this summer, you'll need to be aware of the primary dangers: delays at passport processing, heat stroke, the hypothetical constellation/planet/?? known as the shukur yulduz...
Diagrams for Travel from the *Qanoon-e-Islam* (1832)
Diagrams from a lost Urdu manuscript illustrating the propitious days and directions for travel.
publicdomainreview.org
We're into the last few hours of our fundraiser! — https://publicdomainreview.org/support/. If you like what we do, and would like to see it continue, then please do consider donating. We are a not-for-profit endeavour and rely on your donations to keep the project alive.
Next month, under the auspices of @cabinetmagazine.bsky.social, Sally O'Reilly et al. will have 10 hours to make a musical about the history of hurrying. As proof of concept, she managed to answer over 10 questions from @return2sanders.bsky.social in 10 minutes:
Hurry! 3:09–3:19, Wednesday, June 10, 2026
A bit over 10 questions in 10 minutes on the musical Hurry, 591 BC–2007
theauflauf.substack.com
Carlo Ginzburg est mort, annonce la presse italienne. Immense historien, il a su construire une oeuvre originale entre micro-histoire et anthropologie historique qui a considérablement renouvelé la discipline. www.repubblica.it/cultura/2026...
Carlo Ginzburg è morto, addio al grande storico italiano
Aveva 87 anni. Era famoso in tutto il mondo per le sue ricerche sulla stregoneria e le credenze popolari
repubblica.it
I wrote a little essay – and then some experimental poems – about Banjo Paterson, the terrible Australian poet I somehow can't get out of my head
Creative Critical@creativecritical.bsky.social · 2mo ago'No, there was something in the poetry itself, something that I was unable to simply dismiss as nostalgic white-nationalist kitsch-mongering, something bittersweet and strange that seemed to rumble away beneath the surface of the text.' New on our website: @ajbwells.bsky.social on Banjo Paterson
Very proud to be publishing @ajbwells.bsky.social's ingenious piece on Banjo Paterson, 'the best-known and least-liked poet in Australia'. Please read and share widely!
Creative Critical@creativecritical.bsky.social · 2mo ago'No, there was something in the poetry itself, something that I was unable to simply dismiss as nostalgic white-nationalist kitsch-mongering, something bittersweet and strange that seemed to rumble away beneath the surface of the text.' New on our website: @ajbwells.bsky.social on Banjo Paterson
"Yes, I wanted to foreground the idea of erased history—of stories not told." I interviewed Dženana Vucic for this month's AUFLAUF about her debut book, the limits of memoir, and interlingual poetry >> theauflauf.substack.com/p/dzenana-vu...
Dženana Vucic: 'History happens to all of us'
The Bosnian-Australian author talks about war, memory, and what poems can do differently.
theauflauf.substack.com
'I don’t feel like I can write about anything else, honestly. I feel really compelled by the question of why, and how do we stop. Is it possible to be better? That question haunts everything I do.' @dzenanabanana.bsky.social talks to @ajbwells.bsky.social about their debut collection, after war:
Dženana Vucic: 'History happens to all of us'
The Bosnian-Australian author talks about war, memory, and what poems can do differently.
theauflauf.substack.com
just fyi you won't be able to understand the stakes of Netherlands vs Japan tonight without understanding their 17th-century commercial and intellectual exchanges:
Diagrams from Willem ten Rhijne’s *De Acupunctura* (1683)
A Dutch physician’s encounter with acupuncture.
publicdomainreview.org
Method acting is for squares. True artists know that the Delsarte System, which in the late nineteenth century revolutionized the dramatic arts, is the only way to portray real emotion:
Genevieve Stebbins’ *Delsarte System of Dramatic Expression* (1886)
A philosophical system and a practical guide for the cultivation of dramatic genius.
publicdomainreview.org
i spent my Sunday evening some very important international diplomacy (tasting chip flavors of the world) and @heistberlin.bsky.social's got the dispatch: www.heistberlin.com/lays-potato-...
Who Will Win the Potato Chip World Cup?
Mexico Taco, BBQ Brisket, Loaded Fries — only one country's limited-edition chip can take home the trophy.
heistberlin.com
Berlin weekender — 16th & 17th October ft. @wordkunst.bsky.social Lauren Oyler @elusiveword.bsky.social Ryan Ruby @davidhering.bsky.social @mortenhoijensen.bsky.social @lucykulwiec.bsky.social Jared Pollen @minxmarple.bsky.social @gabrielflynn.bsky.social Martin Lechner, Donna Stonecipher ...
shout out (as ever) to @yanina.bsky.social for the posters, and a huge, huge thank you to our friends @ajbwells.bsky.social and @mathildegm.bsky.social @ The Auflauf, without whom this wouldn't be happening
minor literature[s]@minorliteratures.bsky.social · 2mo agoBerlin weekender — 16th & 17th October ft. @wordkunst.bsky.social Lauren Oyler @elusiveword.bsky.social Ryan Ruby @davidhering.bsky.social @mortenhoijensen.bsky.social @lucykulwiec.bsky.social Jared Pollen @minxmarple.bsky.social @gabrielflynn.bsky.social Martin Lechner, Donna Stonecipher ...
City Chicken vs City Chicken: Berlin's brutal and bloody rotisserie feud that's spawned lawsuits, criminal investigations and landed one chicken tycoon in prison for torture... www.heistberlin.com/news/nhas-ci...
City Chicken vs City Chicken: Berlin's Bloody Rotisserie Feud
14 lawsuits and one man in jail for torture: the story behind Sonnenallee's rival rotisserie chicken shops is crazier than you could have imagined.
heistberlin.com
Some pictures from our latest Immer Schon event at Lettretage… this time we were talking about Sebald and I read from A DREAM OF WHITE HORSES (@ofmooseandmen.bsky.social)… it was a fun evening! @marcelkrueger.bsky.social @ajbwells.bsky.social @juliabosson.bsky.social @return2sanders.bsky.social
8:30 on Saturday at Lettrétrage (Veteranenstrasse 21): we‘re chatting about the very alive literary legacy of Sebald. There’ll be some convo, some readings, some CRISIS perhaps—but all in all it should be a GOOD TIME!
Aesthetics was definitely prioritized over clarity in these Turkish infographics from the 1920s, but it's okay because they're the best you've ever seen. My latest for @publicdomainrev.bsky.social:
Covers from *Cerîde-i Adliye*, a Turkish Law Journal (1924–26)
Legal infographics that reflect a Turkish nation in flux.
publicdomainreview.org
I had the absolute pleasure to speak with Maggie O'Farrell about her excellent new novel, LAND, and how it inadvertently addresses "one of today's most potent political stances: Where do you stand on people arriving in your country or people leaving your country?" www.cntraveler.com/story/for-he...
For Her New Book 'Land,' Maggie O'Farrell Turned to the Wilds of Ireland for Inspiration
The Hamnet author on how cartography, travel, and place inform her latest work.
cntraveler.com
In this month's AUFLAUF: - The most depressing street in all Berlin - Rock, funk, and Yes - Northanger Abbey references - Good poetry - Long-awaited John Owen debut - What are history books for? - Gossip columnist seeks hotspot theauflauf.substack.com/p/june-books...
June Books: Rauhut, Miller, Hoyer
The GDR rock band Silly, poems by Alice Miller, and Katja Hoyer on the rise of fascism in interwar Weimar
theauflauf.substack.com
