Birgit Birnbacher
Austria
Born in 1985, Birgit Birnbacher lives in Salzburg. After leaving school for a time, she later graduated and completed studies in sociology and the social sciences. She worked as a sociologist and social worker in communities and neighborhoods until 2018. In 2016, she published her debut novel, Wir ohne Wal, in which she describes social topographies and exclusion in precise language. In 2019, Birnbacher was awarded the Ingeborg Bachmann Prize for her text Der Schrank.
In her novel Wovon wir leben (What We Live On) Birnbacher focuses on societal matters. Her book is centered on the working world within a hospital and recounts a self-determined, independent life and a return to the provinces. In poetic language Birnbacher describes her protagonist’s loss of work due to illness and her consequent fall from a previously secure life. She is a woman whose feet were firmly planted on the ground who must move back in with her parents in Austria’s Innergebirg. After years of self-sacrifice to her family, her mother has moved to Sicily. Birnbacher’s protagonist takes over the burden of her family as if it was a matter of course, helping care for her brother who has many needs. She is forced to confront the question of what constitutes a meaningful life and to what extent she will accept the boundaries of traditional gender roles. Birnbacher describes the dynamics of village life with empathy, sensitivity, and verbal skill.
Wovon wir leben. Novel. Zsolnay 2023
Ich an meiner Seite. Novel. Zsolnay 2020
Wir ohne Wal. Novel. Jung und Jung 2016
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