Markus Thielemann Presents His Novel on the Lüneburg Heath at the Prima Vista Festival

On May 7 at 4 PM, German writer Markus Thielemann will present the freshly published Estonian edition of his novel “Põhjakaares kõmab kõu” (Thunder Rolls in the Northern Sky) at the Prima Vista festival. The book, translated by Piret Pääsuke, is published by Eesti Raamat. The event will take place in Tartu Public Library, where Thielemann will be in conversation with Hella Liira, a lecturer at the University of Tartu.

Markus Thielemann (b. 1992), who lives in Hanover, grew up in a village in Lower Saxony. He studied geography, philosophy, and creative writing and published his debut novel in 2021. His second novel, Thunder Rolls in the Northern Sky (Von Norden rollt ein Donner, 2024), garnered critical attention and was shortlisted for the German Book Prize, recognizing it as one of the six most remarkable German-language novels of the year.

With Thunder Rolls in the Northern Sky, Thielemann puts the Lüneburg Heath of northern Germany on the map of literary places. Today, Germany’s first nature park is a popular tourist destination, evoking an idyllic image of a heather-covered heath with grazing sheep. In contrast, Thielemann’s novel deconstructs this idealized image, uncovering the complex and often contradictory layers of local identity, where idyll and violence coexist. The heath is home to a Rheinmetall arms factory, NATO training grounds, and during World War II, served as the site of an outlying Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.

The novel’s protagonist is Jannes, a 19-year-old shepherd whose family has been raising sheep for generations, though nowadays, their livelihood is barely sustained through tourism. A central tension in the book is the return of wolves to the heath—a highly relevant issue in Estonia as well. The wolf is not merely a predator threatening a traditional way of life, but also a metaphor for the foreign and unfamiliar. The anxiety this causes spreads to the young shepherd and becomes entwined with mythical and dreamlike visions rooted in a long-suppressed family history.

The novel, composed in rich poetic language, also touches on the rise of nationalism, mental health issues, intergenerational understanding, and the balance between personal responsibility and freedom of choice for young people.

With Thunder Rolls in the Northern Sky is a compelling example of the Anti-Heimatroman (anti-homeland novel), a genre that emerged in post-WWII German literature in contrast to the traditional Heimatroman, which celebrated rural life or mountain landscapes in opposition to urban existence.

The event will be held in German with simultaneous interpretation into Estonian. Books will be available for purchase at a discounted price. On May 8 at 5:30 PM, the author will also appear at the National Library of Estonia in Tallinn, in conversation with translator Piret Pääsuke.

The event is supported by the Goethe-Institut Estonia and the publishing house Eesti Raamat.

Additional information:
Linda Jahilo
Coordinator of the German-language programme, Prima Vista
linda.jahilo@luts.ee
Tel: +372 53 402168