An Austrian Writer Andreas Unterweger Visits Students

On October 23 of this year, a meeting was held at the Center for German Language and Culture of L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University between students studying German and the Austrian writer and poet Mr. Andreas Unterweger, a laureate of several prestigious European literary awards.

The event took place with the active support of the Embassy of Austria and the participation of the Consul of the Embassy, Mr. Fritz Pokorny.

Andreas Unterweger is widely known in Europe as a contemporary writer, poet, and Editor-in-Chief of the literary magazine Manuskripte. He was born in Graz, where he studied German and French philology. In 2009, he successfully debuted with his first novel Wie im Siebenten. Two years later, in 2011, his novella Du bist mein Meer was published, for which Unterweger received the Alpha Literary Award. In 2015, his book Das gelbe Buch appeared and was recognized with the Styrian State Prize. In 2020, he published the poetic work In Zeilen wie diesen. After six prose novels, in 2025, Unterweger released a new poetry collection, Haus ohne Türen, published by the literary house Droschl.

Critics have written about him: “Andreas Unterweger’s poetry illuminates the pain of memory — lyricism about love, loss, and history — with melancholy, irony, and vivid imagery that strikes directly at the heart.”

During the meeting, students attentively listened to excerpts from his prose works and several of his poems read by the author himself. The writer spoke in a clear and accessible manner, despite his distinctive Austrian accent, and students eagerly asked numerous questions, which he answered with enthusiasm, often illustrating his responses with verses and text passages.

At the end of the event, the students performed a Kazakh kui on the dombra, which was a pleasant surprise for the foreign guests and provided a warm and friendly conclusion to the meeting.