That Warm, Fuzzy Feeling of Togetherness:
On Growing Up in the GDR
6:30 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2008
Webster Hall Auditorium
Admission: free

Jana Hensel will read excerpts from her book After the Wall addressing experiences unique to her East German childhood, including her perceptions of the West and of West Germans, her participation in school and social activities, and her transition into West German culture after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Jana Hensel was born in Leipzig, Germany, and studied literature in Berlin, Marseille and Paris. Her book, After the Wall: Confessions of an East German Childhood and the Life That Came Next, (originally published in German under the title Zonenkinder) was a major bestseller in Germany. The book recounts her childhood growing up in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and the changes that took place after the Berlin Wall fell when she was thirteen years old. Her latest book, written with Elisabeth Raether, is titled Neue deutsche Mädchen (New German Girls) and was released in April 2008. Hensel currently works as a freelance journalist and author and lives in Berlin.