Popular Luxembourg author brings work to English audience

For the first time the works of one of Luxembourg’s most popular writers, Guy Rewenig, is available in English following the publication of “Your Heart of Ice is Hot as Vice”.

This book of “miniatures” is from four works, which were first published between 2000 and 2002 by Editions Phi.

The new English compilation, translated by Sandra Schmit and published by Éditions Guy Binfeld, offers an eclectic mix of short stories, poems, aphorisms and ironic definitions.

Wort.lu/en spoke to the writer and translator to find out more.

Who is Guy Rewenig? A wild rascal or a tame kitten? (to quote one of your miniatures)

Guy: Without doubt, I am both. I can be tender like a lamb and ferocious like a wolf. It all depends on the situation and circumstances.

The genre of “miniatures” is not so well-known in the English-speaking world. When and how did you begin writing “miniatures”?

Guy: When I began publishing my work, half a century ago, the trend for miniatures coming from Germany and the east was very fashionable. My first collection of aphorisms “Hausbesetzung” (in German) dates from 1975.

This book includes four individual works. How do they compare and complement one another in your opinion?

Guy: Basically, it is a sequel, or series of short texts on many subjects. The four volumes differ in form: sometimes the emphasis is on poetic elements, sometimes miniatures in prose dominate. And then the series also includes a kind of dictionary, so an alphabetical list of satirical definitions.