Literary readings based on the novel by the Austrian writer were held at the ENU

The Department of Foreign Philology of the Faculty of Philology of the L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, together with the Tajik State Pedagogical University named after S. Aini, with the support of the Austrian Embassy in Kazakhstan, conducted online readings from the novel by the modern European talented writer Maria Hamilshegh "Everything that Glitters". The novel can be attributed to postmodernism.

Maria Hamilscheg was born in the Austrian city of Graz in 1992, and today lives and works in Berlin, Germany. Maria, despite her young age, became a famous writer, distinguished by her special way of writing and choosing interesting storylines, combining them with prototypes and parallels in reality. She has received several prizes and scholarships, including the Literary Prize of the city of Graz, the scholarship of the Senate of Berlin and Pagliano (Italy). Her novel Alles was glänzt (2018, Luchterhand) was awarded the Debut Prize of the Austrian Book Award 2018 and the Märkisches Stipendium für Literatur 2019. In 2020, the author adapted the book for the stage, the world premiere took place in the autumn of 2022 at the Vienna Cosmos Theater.

About 70 people took part in the online reading, among them Kazakh and Tajik students studying German. The meeting was moderated by Professor Aigul Bizhkenova. The participants were welcomed by the Head of the Department Faridun Giesov from the University of Tajikistan.

The writer Maria Hamilschegh first told about herself and read the first chapter of the novel, and then talked with the audience and answered questions.

The fate of people and nature is closely intertwined in the novel. There are sad episodes related to the stopped tunnels and ore quarries in one mountain, which has been exploited for many years and today gapes with voids from the inside and poses a threat to the village at the foot, as it can collapse inward and cause an earthquake.

The death of a young man in a car accident on the serpentines of the mountain becomes a conflict intrigue around which the action unfolds. People are leaving the area, tourism and activity around have stopped. But still, life is slowly developing, as gardens bloom, animals live, and water flows. And this is the author's philosophy that despite sadness, life goes on.

The novel aroused particular interest among readers. Students were interested in how long the author had been writing the work, what formed the basis of the novel, what motivated the author to write such a novel, what is the main idea of the novel. Readers also emphasized the parallel of the novel's plot with the development of nature.

In conclusion, the author thanked everyone for their participation and expressed hope to meet with the students of the L.N.Gumilyov ENU personally in Astana.