Showing results by author "Katherine Mansfield" in All Categories

When we read or listen, words can have a transforming effect. Our mood can alter in the space of a few sentences from joy to sadness. And not just our mood. These words can affect us physically, they can engage our emotions and even in their sadness bring a lump to our throat and tears to our eyes. Sometimes the relief can be palpable. Our authors, from Anton Chekhov, Stephen Crane, Willa Cather, Katherine Mansfield and a wealth of others, are well aware of what their talents will evoke. Genius has many names.

Katherine was born on the 14th October 1888 into a prominent family in Wellington, New Zealand, the middle child of five. At 19 Katherine left for England, where she met and befriended the modernist writers D.H. Lawrence and Virginia Woolf, amongst others. She then travelled to Europe before returning to New Zealand. There she began to write the short stories that she would later become so famous for. But there was another less-heralded side to Katherine’s writings; that of poetry. Her verse certainly reflects much of the themes of her life and interests.

Durante los preparativos de la fiesta de los Sheridan, Laura, la hija menor, se entera de la muerte de un vecino, un carretero apellidado Scott. La muchacha da por hecho que su madre anulará la fiesta como muestra de respeto al duelo.

Short stories have always been a sort of instant access into an author’s brain, their soul and heart. They can lift our lives into locations, people and experiences with a sweep of landscape, narration, feelings and emotions that is difficult to achieve elsewhere. Human beings are, in the main, social animals, they like to gather, to herd together, to share experiences. But some do not. Either through choice or exclusion their way forward is difficult. In this volume our authors and their characters share their stories.

Katherine Mansfield verlässt mit zwanzig Jahren ihre neuseeländische Heimat, um in London Schriftstellerin zu werden. Doch erst einmal landet sie schwanger in der Pension eines bayerischen Kurorts. Dort kann sie ihre Beobachtungsgabe literarisch ausleben, vor allem wenn sie auf Menschen trifft, die während der Kur das enge Korsett gesellschaftlicher Zwänge ablegen. Entstanden sind messerscharfe und sehr amüsante Erzählungen. Über scheinbare Banalitäten verdeutlichen sie tief verankerte Verhaltensmuster, Vorurteile und Klischees im beginnenden 20. Jahrhunderts. Nina Hoss leiht der Pionierin der modernen Short Story ihre Stimme.

In a German Pension (1911) was Katherine Mansfield’s first published collection of short stories. Many of these works had been previously published in the British weekly magazine, The New Age, which also featured work by figures including G. K. Chesterton, H. G. Wells, and George Bernard Shaw. The word “pension" in the title refers to a European guest-house.

This collection of short stories, by celebrated New Zealand writer Katherine Mansfield, was first published in 1920. Many of Mansfield’s short stories explore New Zealand landscapes and identity, and her work has been a shaping force in the short story genre.