Kevin Vennemann
Literature
Kevin Vennemann (born 1977 in Dorsten, Germany) is a German-Austrian author, translator, and literary scholar whose work is known for its experimental, often nonlinear narrative style and its uncompromisingly antifascist and antinational perspective. He studied German literature, English, Jewish studies, and history in Cologne, Innsbruck, Vienna, and Berlin, and received his Ph.D. in German from New York University in 2015, with a dissertation on the literary and cultural history of fatigue.
Vennemann’s literary debut came in 2002 with the short story collection Wolfskinderringe. His breakthrough novel, Nahe Jedenew (Close to Jedenew, 2005), which explores the fate of two Jewish girls during a pogrom, received international acclaim, numerous awards, and has been translated into several languages. He followed this with the novel Mara Kogoj (2007) and the essay collection Sunset Boulevard. On Filming, Building, and Dying in Los Angeles (2012), an inquiry into Hollywood cinema, architecture, and race politics in Los Angeles. His most recent book, The All-Round Reduced Personality-Redupers (2024), is the first monograph on filmmaker Helke Sander.
In addition to his literary work, Vennemann is an accomplished translator and editor, with volumes including works by Chris Kraus, Mark Greif, Franco Berardi, and Else Lasker-Schüler. He has been recognized with numerous awards and fellowships, including residencies at Villa Aurora in Los Angeles and Villa Kamogawa in Kyoto.
After academic and literary appointments in Vienna and Berlin, Vennemann now lives in Los Angeles, where he serves as Associate Professor of German Studies at Scripps College and Assistant Director for the Core Curriculum in Interdisciplinary Humanities.