Variations. Parasitic Publishing Evening

Natalie Harapat's texts revolve around themes such as encounters, relationships, the body, power, abuse and violence. Thomas Podhostnik reflects on Slavic identity, writing and the power of the privileged.


Adrian Kasnitz presents ‘Preparing for Everything’ by Elsa Aids, which describes a dystopian atmosphere in a post-communist country in which consumerism is taken to extremes and parts of the population are preparing for the collapse of society.


Natalie Harapat, born in 1986 in Wetzlar, is a German author and artist. She studied in Giessen, Cologne and Hamburg and has published in various literary journals and anthologies. Her first book ‘SCHLUSS. OFF. ENDE’ was published in 2010. In 2024 she is a fellow of the Künstlerdorf Schöppingen. She lives in Cologne and Giessen. ‘Übertrieb’ was published in 2024.


Adrian Kasnitz, born on the Baltic Sea, grew up in the Westphalian mountains, studied in Cologne and Prague, lives as a writer, editor and event organiser in Cologne. His most recent publications are ‘Kalendarium’ #1 to #9 (2015-2024) and ‘Im Sommer hatte ich eine Umarmung’(2023). In 2020 he was awarded the Dieter Wellershoff Scholarship of the City of Cologne. Since 2019, he has been curating the European Literature Festival Cologne-Kalk (ELK) as part of the team.


Thomas Podhostnik was born in 1972 in Radolfzell on Lake Constance as the son of Yugoslavian guest workers. He completed an apprenticeship as a forwarding agent, then trained as an assistant director at the Teatro Nacional de Cuba. He studied at the German Literature Institute in Leipzig. He writes prose and experimental prose, which has been published in individual titles, anthologies and literary magazines. He lives in Leipzig. The novel trilogy ‘Dear Mr Saunders’ (2024/25) was recently published by parasitenpresse. He has also translated the poems of Slovenian poet Ana Pepelnik (in a team with Adrian Kasnitz and others).


Mathias Traxler, born in Basel in 1973. Studied law in Basel and Fribourg. He has lived as a writer and translator in Berlin since 1999. His literary work is at the interface between poetry and music, poetry recital and translation. Of particular importance in his work are readings that incorporate text-generating, interpretative and improvisational elements.


In addition to ‘Variationen Montale Reihe i-iv’ (2025), his most recent publications include: ‘Komplimente machen’ (2020), ‘Álvaro Seiça: 365 vorhergesagte Gedichte’/‘previsão para 365 poemas’ translated by Mathias Traxler (2021).


READING IN GERMAN