Q&A:WLT INTERVIEWS ^I^4iy¿jj4l¡^g^^ ^h X u O *: z oc O >i oc ^ O u O O x Koch,theauthor ofsevenbooks,is a Swissjournalist. He is thetwotime recipient oftheEgonErwin KischPrizefor German-language journalism (1988and 1996);hiscarefully constructed, dystopian first novel,Sara tanzt (Saradances)was awardedtheMaraCassensPrizefor thebestfirst novelof 2003.Notableamonghisworksaretheriveting novelDerFlambeur (Theflimflam flambeur), basedonthedifficult life ofa Swiss-German entrepreneur, andthefinely wrought journalistic collectionVorderTagesschau, aneinem späten Sonntagnachmittag (LateSundayafternoon, justbefore thenews).Hismostrecent publication isa collaborative workabouta Swissmonastery withthephotographer Giorgio vonArb. Koch'swork isoften setagainst a backdrop ofcurrent socialorpolitical issues, butit typically eschews politics andideology tofocusonhumanreactions todisillusionment , absurdity, andfailure. John K.Cox:Greetings, Erwin!As we conduct thisinterview (bye-mail), youarein Albania, and youhavejustrecently beento Chileand Russia.Is thisyourfirst triptoAlbania? What takesyoutotheBalkansat thispointin your longcareer? Canyoushare someimpressions of that little-known European country? Erwin Koch: I first wenttoAlbaniathree years ago,though itwas onlytothecapital, Tirana. ThereI visited withthefiveUighurs, Chinese citizens, who earlierhad been imprisoned at Guantánamo for several years andthen, because theywere innocent of everything, had been deported to a country thatvolunteered - and not out of altruism - to take them:Albania. Asidefrom allthepolitical aspects, thepsychologicalside ofitinterested me,as always.To sayitdifferently: thevagaries offate. Thesefive men,politically persecuted in their homeland, had left their country tofinda better life, and then, becausethey wereinthewrongplaceat thewrong time, they gotintovery hotwater in Afghanistan. Thistime, atthebeginning ofOctober 2010, I wasinthecity ofShkodër, inthenorthern part ofthecountry. Thesubject I was investigating there was thebloodfeud,a phenomenon that has increased in impactand frequency since thecollapseof communism. The Committee ofNationalReconciliation, an AlbanianNGO, assertsthatin thepast twenty years,10,000 peoplehavebeenkilledin vendettas and that there arecurrently almost1,500 families living inisolation, barely everleaving their homesout offear ofbeingshotdownbya "blood-taker." Onceagain,itwas theemotional angleabove allthat interested mehere:How doesa person dealwitha situation inwhich there issomeone lurking outside hisdoorwhowantstokillhim? How doesonemanage nottogoinsane? So the protagonist ofmystory, "ButItWasBeautiful," isa seventeen-year-old whosegreat unclekilled someone twenty-seven yearsago.Andnowhe is counting onbeingmoweddown,too,sometime , inanactofbloodvengeance. Meanwhile, thepsychological stress is so tremendous that theyoungmanis weighing whether ornothe shouldgivehimself up totheavengers so they couldpickhimoff, so therest ofthefamily can finally beatpeaceagain. JC:How would you describeyourself as a writer? Is the relationship betweenfactand fiction inyourtexts a central partofyourselfdescription ? EK:Thequestion ofwhatkindofwriter I am is unimportant to me. Granted, thisperhaps hassomething todo withthefact that I livefar awayfrom theplaceswherepeopleconcerned withsuchthings work.I livein a little village incentral Switzerland, surrounded byeveryday things, bytrees anddogs,andI don'thearmuch aboutthesortsofthings thatareimportant to others. DespitethethreenovelsI've written, anddespite myradiodramas, I wouldidentify myself as a reporter. As someonewho travels someplace,takes a look at something, and comeshomeandtransfers whathehasseentoa story that isas true andasbeautiful as possible. And,as trite as itsounds,I am abletobe the authority defining whatis maximally trueand beautiful. Editorial note:To read "Butit Was Beautiful; translatedby JohnK.Cox,visitthe WLT website (worldliteraturetoday.com). March-April 2011 139 JohnK.Coxisprofessor and department head in history at North Dakota StateUniversity inFargo.He receivedhisundergraduate degreefrom Guilford College andearnedhisdoctorate atIndianaUniversity. The History ofSerbio (2002), Slovenia: EvolvingLoyalties (2005),and translations of novelsbyDaniloKisand IvanCankarareamonghis chiefpublications. The relationship betweenthefactual and thefictional onlymatters, and has onlymattered , inmynovels andinthe radiodramas. Two ofthethree novels arebasedonreportage that I hadwritten earlier; that is tosay,they're based on real-life events. Eventually, then, a genuine feeling ofdelight gripped mewhenI realized, during theactofwriting thenovels, that I had thefreedom to divergewithout penalty from so-called reality, from thefacts, thestraitjacket of Withmynotebook crammed full,I makethe trip homeandputmyplunder inorder: I create a subject indexso that I don'tgetlostas I write mywaythrough theacquired materials. Whathappensnextis probably themost important step.I try togetsomedistance from myimpressions. Actingas ifI werenotthe personwho had been on thereceiving end of theimpressions, I tryto figure out which effects and detailswouldbestservethewritthereal .Itwas a feeling of liberation, and I enjoyed it a great deal.I wasfree and was onlycommitted tothe characters and theworldI hadinvented while writing. JC:Do you think thatthe designation "creative nonfiction " fitsmostof your works? How do youdraw the line betweenfactual reporting and dramatization (interpolation?)in your pieces? EK:I like thisterm"creativenonfiction ," although thisis the first timeI've encounteredit. Perhaps it is the best fitformy approachand myviewof things. I need to confess, Iwould identify myself as a reporter. As someone who travelssomeplace, takesa lookat something,and comes home and transfers what he has seen to a story...