Arnon Grunberg
Words Without Borders

The Boren Foundation for Cultural Activities

Boren is a tiny village in the northern part of Germany. Don't try to Google it, though. You'll find representative Dan Boren and Senator David Boren, but no tiny German village. For some reason, the Boren Foundation for Cultural Activities invited me last Saturday to give a reading.
The biggest city nearby is Kiel, where I was staying at an altogether pleasant hotel. Even people in Kiel had never heard of Boren.
I was told to take a train to Flensburg, and get off at the station in Süderbrarup, where the chairman of the Boren Foundation for Cultural Activities would pick me up.
The slow train to Flensburg was filled with teenage girls, tourists with beards and bicycles, and the occasional drunk.
The station in Süderbrarup definitely has a picturesque quality. The Baltic Sea is only a few miles away. And if I ever reach the tender age of 95 and I’m still mentally stable, I might spend my summer holiday in Süderbrarup.
The chairman of the Boren Foundation for Cultural Activities was not yet 95, but he was well in his seventies and besides his age, he seemed to be extremely shy.
Actually, he was acting so nervous and timid, that when he asked me to accompany him to his car, I thought for one second that he planned to take advantage of me in his country house.
Nothing like that happened. In the short drive to Boren, he explained that many supporters of the Boren Foundation for Cultural Activities were passing away, but that once a year, they invited a puppeteer to perform for the children of Boren.
I was very afraid that the Foundation has made some mistake--mistakes happen--so I said as politely as possible, “I’m not a puppeteer.” “No, no,” the gentleman said, “I know.” The reading took place at a house that, once upon a time, used to be a bed & breakfast. Apparently the tourists were also passing away. The twenty elderly folks who attended the event were not completely pleased with my reading from The Asylum Seeker, but out of this combination of shame and politeness, a few ladies bought my books afterward and asked me for my signature.
After the event, the chairman of the Boren Foundation for Cultural Activities and his wife had prepared a supper at their home.
There were cheese sandwiches, meat sandwiches, and sandwiches with a vegetarian spread.
In between the food, there was a lot of silence.
After the supper the chairman said, “Do you want to catch the next train or do you want to wait for the last one?” At that moment, there was no doubt anymore. I knew why I had become an author: To be in Boren and eat sandwiches with vegetarian spread.


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