Book Launch & Discussion - Channel Swimmer by Ulrike Draesner

Join us for the London launch of ULRIKE DRAESNER’s compelling novel CHANNEL SWIMMER, now available in English, expertly translated by REBECCA BRAUN. Enjoy an evening of literature and conversation, as we celebrate this poetic and psychologically insightful tale of self-discovery and the forces of nature.

Charles, an Oxford scientist on the eve of retirement, decides to counter his wife’s mid-life dream of a ménage à trois with his own dream of swimming the English Channel. His Channel crossing turns into an ordeal, a rite of passage, and, ultimately, a tribute to the vagaries of love. At the end of his quest, Charles realises that he can't jump over his own shadow - he can only swim across and through it.

Oxford Professor of German Karen Leeder will lead a thought-provoking conversation with the author and translator. Whether you're a fan of contemporary fiction, German literature, or stories that dive deep into nature and the human spirit — this event promises insight, inspiration, and a chance to meet one of Europe’s most compelling literary voices.

ULRIKE DRAESNER is one of Germany’s most acclaimed poets and novelists. She has been awarded the Nicolas Born Prize (2016), the Gertrud Kolmar Prize for Poetry (2019), the Bavarian Book Prize (2020), the Grand Prize of the German Literature Fund (2021), and the Literature Prize of the Konrad Adenauer-Foundation (2024), among others. Her many novels and poetry collections include: zu lieben (2024), Die Verwandelten (2023), hell & hörig (2022), Schwitters (2020), and subsong (2014). A member of the German Academy for Language and Poetry, she has been a poet in residence at Goethe University Frankfurt, the University of Oxford, Dartmouth College, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is a professor of creative writing at Deutsches Literatur-institut Leipzig and resides in Berlin.

REBECCA BRAUN is Established Professor of German and World Literature at the University of Galway, Ireland. An expert on the production and reception of literature, she has worked extensively with contemporary writers, translators and individuals right across the publishing chain. Her many publications include World Authorship (2020) and Authors and the World: Literary Authorship in Modern Germany (2022). This is her third book-length translation.

KAREN LEEDER is the Schwarz-Taylor Chair of German at the University of Oxford. As an academic she works especially on modern and contemporary literature and is the co-editor (with Lyn Marven) of Ulrike Draesner: A Companion (2022). She is also a prize-winning translator of modern German literature, most recently Durs Grünbein's Psyche Running: Selected Poems 2005-2022 (Seagull, 2024) for which she was awarded the Griffin Poetry Prize 2025.