2026 _ 100.Geburtstag Ingeborg Bachmann

Ingeborg Bachmann, Schriftstellerin *25.6.1926 Klagenfurt +17.10.1973 Rom.

100.Geburtstag Ingeborg Bachmann _

in the interview _ Mohamed Khalfouf, poet

Hi Mohamed, what are your approaches to the work of Ingeborg Bachmann?

Ingeborg Bachmann is one of the most important German‑language writers. She can be placed alongside: Max Frisch, Günter Grass, Robert Walser, Herta Müller, Elfriede Jelinek, Peter Handke… I first read her in an anthology of contemporary German short stories translated into Arabic, and I greatly admired her style, along with some Arabic translations of her poems.

What makes her writing special for you?

What makes her writing distinctive is its existential philosophical tone. She wrote her doctoral thesis on Martin Heidegger. She was also part of Group 47, influenced by the atmosphere that followed the Second World War. Her works address themes such as death, life, time, language, and love. In addition, there is a feminist dimension in her writing, which gives much of her work a deeply human and existential character, alongside her constant experimentation with literary forms.

Would you like to highlight certain works and why?

There is a story by Bachmann that was the first I read in Arabic, titled “Everything,” from her collection “The Thirtieth Year.” It is a story about the relationship between a father and his son, in which Bachmann presents an existential vision of the world and of others. Through it, she penetrates deeply into the essence of human existence, through the dialectical relationship between fathers and sons and the responsibility of bringing children into the world. In that story, Ingeborg said everything… It is an extraordinarily beautiful story.

What would you have liked to say or ask Ingeborg Bachmann?

“The world needs women writers like you—especially at this particular moment in history.” We are in need of human voices in literature.

What are your current literature project plans?

I am trying to publish my second short‑story collection, and perhaps my first critical book will be released as well.

Please conclude the interview with a quote/text from Bachmann.

A quote from her story “Everything”: “I discovered within myself a weakness; it was the child who made me discover it, and discover a feeling that I was moving toward defeat.”

Thank you very much for the interview!

Foto: Ingeborg Bachmann: Heinz Bachmann

Foto: Mohamed Khalfouf _ privat.

Walter Pobaschnig  29.3.26

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