Leipzig is (like) a gondola - in conversation with Markéta Pilátová
The first impression
Mrs. Pilátová, how did you feel about your stay in Leipzig? How did you like it here?
I had a wonderful time in Leipzig. The residency program was ideal for me because I like to combine my work with travel. When I travel, I write because it inspires me. At the same time, I need a certain routine for writing, which the program provides wonderfully.
What does your everyday life as a writer look like?
Over the years, I have become accustomed to the following rhythm: I get up very early, work in the mornings and go jogging in the afternoons. In the evenings, I teach, translate or learn foreign languages. That's my everyday life. So it wasn't difficult to stick to it during my time in Leipzig.
Where were you accommodated?
I got a nice apartment in the Leipzig Hostel Five Elements. I was the first to be placed there as part of the residency program and I have to say it was an ideal place to write. The apartment is right at the top under the roof, where there are also two terraces. People often meet in the so-called lounge, for breakfast, cooking or just because it has the best wifi reception (laugh). The hostel is very international. In the evenings, I gave Spanish and Portuguese lessons there and learned German and Italian myself. I talked a lot with the guests on site. The international guests were wonderful. There were also others who, like me, were staying there for longer: a Spaniard, two Argentinians and a Romanian woman who works as a ghost writer. I was very pleased that it was so colorful. When I felt like meeting interesting people, I sat in the lounge. But when I needed some peace and quiet, I wrote upstairs in my apartment.
How did Leipzig affect you as a city?
I really liked Leipzig because it's a city with a high quality of life. There are many places where you can escape the hustle and bustle - by bike or jogging. I often just set off and stopped wherever I liked. Sometimes I jogged a route and then cycled back, whether in the parks, at Lake Cossi or Lake Zwenkau. I had a bike at my disposal, which was really great. The cycle paths here are so brilliant. Everything is connected and the paths are very clear. Of course, the geographical location is also a big advantage - Leipzig is very flat. In general, I like the feeling of wilderness in Germany. Practically in the middle of the city, you simply allow nature and people get a sense of how wilderness returns to the city. Here you have the opportunity to be in the middle of the city and in nature at the same time. It's details like this that fascinate me. Leipzig is unexpectedly green and natural. I also liked the city's proximity to the water. I had no idea that Leipzig was such a wonderful water city. I had beautiful weather all month and even swam in the lake once.
How did you like the cultural side of Leipzig?
Leipzig surprised me with its cultural diversity and the wide range of events on offer, despite the impending second lockdown. I was very lucky that I was still able to experience a lot. I visited almost all the museums, I went to the GRASSIMESSE - it was really wonderful. I'm very happy about that because I only knew the city in passing beforehand. When you're here during the book fair, you hardly have time to take a close look at the city. I liked Leipzig's industrial buildings, which are still lively and functional, although they play a different role nowadays. I particularly liked Plagwitz. I was very lucky to be introduced to Leipzig by the writer Heike Geißler, who had been selected as the German writer-in-residence for a stay in Brno. We strolled through the city together and Heike showed me many new facets of Leipzig.
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Leipzig as inspiration
Where else did you write when you weren't at the hostel?
I liked the Café Tunichtgut. There's a lovely bookshop right next door. The café used to be a butcher's shop and today it's an art nouveau space. I wrote a whole story in the Tunichtgut.
Did you already have ideas for your texts before the residency program, or were you inspired by the atmosphere of the city?
I had a plan - now I have an offer from the Czech publisher Fra, who wants to publish a collection of stories. They want me to write three or four stories for it. I collect ideas all the time. They are born in my head, and later a story emerges from them. Actually, I hardly ever write stories, only on commission for a magazine or a story collection with several authors. However, the specific offer was interesting. I wrote down ideas in advance and developed them further in Leipzig. For example, the Café Tunichtgut: on the one hand, the name sounds good in German, on the other, it has several meanings. I put all my ideas together and ended up with four stories. Such a residency program is very encouraging for me, because I usually create a lot more during it than at home. I usually write a story for one to two months. In this case, I wrote four stories within a month. I am very pleased that this place has inspired me so much. I'm always inspired by travel, where I see the world with fresh eyes. This helps me immensely with my writing.
Has the current situation influencedhow and what you write about? Do you think it's good to have more peace and quiet to write? Is corona subliminally reflected in your writing?
I perceive the situation very negatively. On the one hand, I have more time to write at home due to the lockdown, but on the other hand, my writing is influenced by the pervasive uncertainty. The people in the hostel were just as affected. There were some guests who ran away from Corona from country to country. When I went, the hostel was closed, so some had to cancel or cut short their stay. It was sad. The situation is also very difficult for me financially, as many readings are canceled every month, from whose income I normally live. On top of that, my latest book was published on October 23, when the bookstores were closed. The situation is terrible, and it doesn't really help my writing either.
Not even in the sense that it awakens existential questions in you that inspire your creative writing?
I'd much rather have other sources of inspiration. Something more cheerful.
Where else do you write your stories?
I get a lot of ideas when I'm jogging. In Leipzig, for example, I wrote the children's book "Veverka z Vamberka" ("A Squirrel from Vamberk") - it's a kind of fanfold that will be published by Meandr. I often get ideas for children's books while jogging: This book was written almost entirely in Clara Zetkin Park.
What's it like when you're jogging and something occurs to you - how do you remember the new thoughts?
I think more about the plot when I'm jogging. That's when I have the most ideas. And if it's a word connection or something that I know I'll forget, then I type it into my phone.
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What makes Leipzig wonderful for Markéta Pilátová
In your story "Leipzig is (like) a gondola" you mention that you listen to Bach. Did you spend more time with him in Leipzig? Was he more present than usual?
Bach's music has always helped me to concentrate, for example when I had to learn something by heart or write newspaper articles. The repetitive fugue always puts me in a state where I can concentrate better. I like the structure. I found that this also has an effect on my writing. When I write novels, there is a similar structure to the fugues. But I only realized this in Leipzig: the more I read about Bach, the more often I found that I could also relate the structure of his fugues to my texts. Bach belongs to this city not only because of the Bachtaler and the souvenirs. You imagine him there, you see him at the end of his life, when the city didn't quite appreciate him yet. It's incredible how many famous people lived here, how many were inspired by the city.I think it's a beautiful and exciting city to live in.
Did you have a favorite café in Leipzig?
My favorite cafés were the aforementioned Café Tunichtgut and the caravan by the river - ZierlichManierlich. I often drank my coffee there. I also liked the beer garden where the allotment garden museum is, the Schrebers. Gardening is my great passion and when I discovered the place by chance, I fell in love with it immediately.
Name a cultural location that you found exciting in Leipzig!
From an architectural point of view, I like the Museum of Fine Arts. I liked the art collections of Leipzig's "crème de la crème". I think it gave me a much better understanding of Leipzig. You can see how rich the city was and how cosmopolitan its tastes were from the art people collected and at what times. The museum is a great combination of the traditional, the genuine, perhaps even somewhat conservative from an art collector's point of view, and the beautiful, modern building. I also liked the Spinnerei. There I found a large-format poster by the Brazilian artist Xadalu. I lived in Porto Alegre in Brazil for a while and always had to wait for the bus under a similar art object. Xadalu is an artist who works with the art of the Indians. And now I met him again - at the Spinnerei in the form of a poster with a tiger.
And what do you think of Leipzig's architecture?
I found the Leipziger Passagen the most exciting - I really liked walking through it and always being surprised by where I came out. I'm also obsessed with stationery stores, so I really liked the EISENHAUER. I spent a lot of time there.
Are you currently reading something by a German author?
At the moment, I'm reading Heike Geißler's book "Saisonarbeit". The book is about the author - or her alter ego - working as a seasonal worker at Amazon. It is very exciting and very well written. Heike is a great person.
Can you imagine living in Leipzig or at least coming back for a while?
I wouldn't hesitate for a second if I had the chance. I felt very comfortable here, and I liked the particular generosity of the city, its attitude to life. It was great here, and I hope I can come back in the spring for the book fair.
Hopefully we will be able to hear some of Markéta Pilátová's stories written during her time in Leipzig at the 2021 book fair. We are very much looking forward to it, thank her for the interview and wish her good health!