{"version":"1.0","provider_name":"da.news","provider_url":"https:\/\/da.news\/en\/","title":"Darmstadt roundtable discussion with novelist Barbara Zeizinger","type":"rich","width":600,"height":338,"html":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"Zgpp0SPc07\"><a href=\"https:\/\/da.news\/en\/darmstadt-table-talk-with-novelist-barbara-zeizinger\/\">Darmstadt roundtable discussion with novelist Barbara Zeizinger<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/da.news\/en\/darmstadt-table-talk-with-novelist-barbara-zeizinger\/embed\/#?secret=Zgpp0SPc07\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" title=\"&#x201C;Darmstadt Roundtable Discussion with Novelist Barbara Zeizinger&#x201D; &#x2013; da.news\" data-secret=\"Zgpp0SPc07\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n\/* <![CDATA[ *\/\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll(\"iframe.wp-embedded-content\"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute(\"data-secret\"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+=\"#?secret=\"+t,e.setAttribute(\"data-secret\",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:\"ready\",secret:t},\"*\")},!1)))}(window,document);\n\/\/# sourceURL=https:\/\/da.news\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-embed.min.js\n\/* ]]> *\/\n<\/script>\n","thumbnail_width":1080,"thumbnail_height":720,"description":"She never met Fidel Castro personally. Between 1950 and 1975, the legendary \"Darmstadt Talks\" event series took place. In short, the aim was to bring culturally interested citizens closer to relevant topics and problems through public discussions. This is also the goal of the \"Darmstadt Table Talks,\" where those who contribute to the preservation and further development of our society in various ways have their say. This time, journalist and publicist W. Christian Schmitt, along with cameraman Werner Wabnitz, are guests of novelist Barbara Zeizinger, who lives in Darmstadt-Eberstadt. She is not a \"travel writer,\" she says, even though Wikipedia says so. She only wrote one travel guide about Cuba, back when Fidel Castro was still alive and his image (along with revolutionary slogans) was ubiquitous in Havana. She prefers to be seen as a poet, however, because she \"came to writing through poetry.\" Several of her small poetry collections, including \"Wenn ich geblieben w\u00e4re\" (If I Had Stayed) and \"Weitwinkel nah\" (Wide Angle Close), have been published by Pop-Verlag in Ludwigsburg. To be precise: Barbara Zeizinger is a novelist, a fact she demonstrates once again with her latest publication, \"Leben in Etagen\" (Life on Floors). The book's blurb states: \"Barbara Zeizinger tells the story of a house and its inhabitants between 1931 and 2020.\" Furthermore: \"It is about four families caught between National Socialism, war, the post-war period, reconstruction, and the democratic development of the Federal Republic of Germany...\" And she adds: \"Almost all my books are family novels and have a historical backdrop...\" But we wanted to talk less about the content of the books and more about the author herself: how she got into writing, how a book comes about for her, how much time she invests in it, what she experiences at readings, how large her fan base has become, what her life and writing plans look like, and much more. Barbara, as I may call her, was a teacher at the Bergstra\u00dfe school complex for almost 40 years, trying to instill in her students what is called \"maturity,\" including historical awareness and social skills. We sit opposite each other in her living room. She has prepared breakfast. I make myself a roll and enjoy the coffee before we continue our conversation. \"How did you actually get into writing?\" I ask. \"I didn't feel that I absolutely had to become a writer; I'm a late bloomer and was already in my late forties when I published my first book,\" she says, \"but I've always enjoyed writing.\" In her younger years, she even wrote articles for the Mannheimer Morgen newspaper. Back then, she recalls, her focus was on all the topics \"that others didn't want to cover.\" And so she wrote \"about mini-golf, the hairdressers' guild, carnival sessions, regular get-togethers, but also about films that others didn't want to see.\" Where did her inclination towards journalism come from? Because her father was once editor-in-chief of the Odenwald newspaper. Despite all this, she didn't become a journalist, but first a teacher and later a writer who can boast of being a member of, among other things, the PEN Club, the Darmstadt writers' group Poseidon, and the Kogge literary society. She, too, grew up as a student listening to singer-songwriters like Hannes Wader, Dieter S\u00fcverkr\u00fcp, and others. \"My very first novel,\" she recounts, \"was set in Italy and dealt with hostages and their execution.\" A novel that required a great deal of on-site research. Today she knows that her \"writing time is limited\" and that she can't \"write from morning till night.\" As our conversation at the table drew to a close, she told me that she was \"ambitious when it came to writing.\" What was truly essential, I asked, especially in old age. \"Friendships and being with people are important,\" she confided. This, she explained, was \"good for broadening one's perspective.\" Then she added, \"I feel free to write what's important to me.\" Since she had proven she could do both\u2014write newspaper articles and books\u2014I asked her at the end if she also believed that journalists were (more) responsible for informing and writers (more) for entertaining. She smiled. About Barbara Zeizinger: Born in 1949 in Weinheim, she lives in Darmstadt. She studied German, history, and Italian in Mannheim and Frankfurt. She is married and has two daughters. Further information can be found at www.barbarazeizinger.de. The next interviewee is the Darmstadt crime author Andreas Ro\u00df."}