'Cooking in the Wrong Century': A Book Presentation and Discussion with Teresa Präauer and Eleanor Updegraff

Acclaimed Austrian novelist and essayist Teresa Präauer is joined by translator Eleanor Updegraff in an evening marking the English publication of Präauer’s latest novel Cooking in the Wrong Century (Pushkin Press).

Cooking In the Wrong Century tells the story of a dinner party, keenly observed from various angles, each opening up different ways in which the evening might unfold. It is a witty novel about taste in the age of social media, with a Spotify playlist as an ironic musical counterpoint. Teresa Präauer and Eleanor Updegraff will discuss the novel, its themes and the process of literary translation.

The event will be chaired by Andrea Capovilla, Director of the Ingeborg Bachmann Centre for Austrian Literature and Culture at the ILCS, and will conclude with an audience Q&A session.This bilingual event is accessible to non-German speakers.

The event will take place in person at the Austrian Cultural Forum, London SW7 1PQ. Attendance is free, but advance online registration is essential. 

Teresa Präauer is an author and visual artist based in Vienna. She studied German at the University of Salzburg and the Humboldt University of Berlin as well as painting at the Mozarteum Salzburg. Her novels include Für den Herrscher aus Übersee [For the Ruler from Overseas], Johnny und Jean, Oh Schimmi, as well as the essay ‘Tier werden’ [Becoming Animal]. She has received several awards for her novels, essays, and short stories, including the 2022 Ben Witter Prize and the 2017 Erich Fried Prize. Kochen im falschen Jahrhundert (Wallstein, 2023) won the prestigious 2024 Bremer Literaturpreis and is her first novel to be translated into English.  Präauer has made a name for herself as an incisive and witty essayist with her own column on the ways we speak and live now in the Süddeutsche Zeitung. She writes about images and fashion, about trash TV and pop culture, about art and everyday life, and in Cooking in the Wrong Century the qualities of the novelist and the essayist are merged to great effect.

Eleanor Updegraff is a writer, editor, and translator of contemporary German and Austrian literature. Born in London and raised in Hampshire, she lived for several years in Vienna and Carinthia before returning to the UK. Her recent translations include Tanja Paar’s The Trembling World and Annabelle Hirsch’s critically acclaimed A History of Women in 101 Objects.

Image: Eleanor Updegraff (© Beatrice Updegraff) and Teresa Präauer (© Martin Stoebich).