The Cock’s Crow

“When writing, I take my characters for what they are, heroes or villains – whether I like it or not. On the level of content, this is my form of literary integrity.” It is this integrity that has made Arno Geiger one of the most significant contemporary writers, with books like Es geht uns gut, (We are Fine) Der alte König in seinem Exil (The Old King in his Exile) and Unter der Drachenwand (Beneath Drachenwand Mountain). “It is said that a novelist rises from the ruins of his youth” – and so Arno Geiger also talks about Wolfurt, “the place where I began to learn how to live”, about his language, and the town of Mondsee in the shadow of Drachenwand mountain, where a young man wants nothing but to survive the war. Arno Geiger’s speeches are statements from an author who wants to know what his writing means.