Nils Mohl Explained

Nils Mohl (born July 31, 1971, in Hamburg) is a German writer.

Life and work

Mohl grew up the oldest of two siblings on the outskirts of Hamburg.^[1] He studied New German Literary Studies, Linguistics, Ethnology and Cultural Management in Kiel, Tübingen, Berlin and Weimar. He published several books, including short stories, which were particularly successful; his story Tanzen gehen, which won a prize in the MDR Literature Contest in 2016, is now read in schools.^[2] In 2012, Mohl conducted the first Berlin Masterclass, a cooperation between the International Literature Festival Berlin and the Treffen Junger Autoren (Meeting of Young Authors). Within this context he was juror for the Das außergewöhnliche Buch (The Extraordinary Book) award.

His novel Es war einmal Indianerland (Once upon a time: Indigenous Country), which was staged by the Young German Theater in Berlin 2013, furthered his reputation. In 2011 he was awarded the Oldenburger Kinder- und Jugendbuchpreis (Oldenburg Children's and Youth Literature Prize), the Kranichsteiner Literaturpreis (German Literature Fund Grand Prize), along with the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis (German Youth Literature Prize) in the category Jugendbuch (youth literature) for this novel.^[3] His novel Henny & Ponger, which was published in 2022, was nominated for the German Youth Literature Prize 2023 in the category youth literature. Mohl himself says of this book that he wanted to write a young adult novel that trusted the target audience with a complexity that was often lacking in this field, both in terms of structure and language. He developed many facets of the story during the writing process without much preliminary planning.^[4]

The film adaptation of Es war einmal Indianerland was released in 2017.

Mohl took part in many festivals, such as the 2nd White Ravens Festival in Munich 2012, the children and young adults programme at the 12th International Literature Festival in Berlin, as well as the 10th Steglitzer literature festival. The German school in New York invited him for the book week in 2013.^[5]

Mohl is member of the Forum of Hamburger Authors and lives with his family in Hamburg.

Reviews

• Ich wäre tendenziell für ein Happy End (I tend to prefer a happy ending) (2009)

• Es war einmal Indianerland (Once upon a time: Indigenous Country) (2011)

• Henny & Ponger (2022)

Publications (selection)

• Kasse 53. (Checkout counter 53) Achilla Presse, Butjadingen 2008, ISBN 978-3-940350-03-9.
• Ich wäre tendenziell für ein Happy End. (I tend to prefer a happy ending.) 12 short stories Plöttner Verlag, Leipzig 2009, ISBN 978-3-938442-65-4.
• Ballade von dünnen Männern. (Ballad of thin men.) Hosentaschenverlag, Hannover 2010, ISBN 978-3-941938-12-0.
• "Suburbs Trilogy":
  • Es war einmal Indianerland. (Once upon a time: Indigenous Country.) Rowohlt Verlag, Hamburg 2011, ISBN 978-3-499215-52-0.
  • Stadtrandritter. (Suburban knights.) Rowohlt, Hamburg 2013, ISBN 978-3-499216-14-5.
  • Zeit für Astronauten. (Time for astronauts.) Rowohlt, Hamburg 2016, ISBN 978-3-499216-78-7.
• Mogel. (Cheat.) Rowohlt, Hamburg 2014, ISBN 978-3-499215-37-7.
• König der Kinder (King of the children). Illustration von Katharina Greve. Mixtvision, München 2020, ISBN 978-3-95854-155-9.
• Tänze der Untertanen (Dances of the subjects). Mixtvision, München 2020, ISBN 978-3-95854-156-6.
• Henny & Ponger. Mixtvision, München 2022, ISBN 978-3-95854-182-5.
• Wilde Radtour mit Velociraptorin (Wild bike ride with velociraptor). Illustrated by Halina Kirschner mairisch Verlag, Hamburg 2023, ISBN 978-3-948722-27-2.
• Tierische Außenseiter. Reime über unknuddelige Große wie Kleine mit und ohne Beine. (Animal outsiders. Rimes about uncuddly big and small ones with and without legs.) Illustrated by Katharina Greve. Tryolia, Innsbruck/Wien ISBN 978-3-7022-4149-0.

Stage plays

• 2003: Revolution. Text: Nils Mohl and Max Reinhold. Premiere 2003 Raum 33 in Basel
• 2013: Es war einmal Indianerland. (Once upon a time: Indigenous Country.) Stage play adapted from the novel by Nils Mohl, production and edition: Kristina Stang. Luisa Wolf. Premiere 2013 at the Deutschen Theater Berlin

Awards

• 2000: Limburg-Preis
• 2001: Scholarship of the Literary Colloquium Berlin
• 2001: Participation in the 9th open mike of the Literaturwerkstatt Berlin
• 2002: Hamburger Literaturförderpreis
• 2003: Participation in the 11th open mike of the Literaturwerkstatt Berlin as Enno Zweyner (together with Oliver Kemmann)
• 2003: 3rd place at the MDR Literature Contest
• 2004: Scholarship for the 8th Klagenfurter Literaturkurs
• 2006: 3rd place at the MDR Literature Contest
• 2008: Hamburg Literaturförderpreis
• 2011: Oldenburg Children's and Youth Literature Prize for Es war einmal Indianerland
• 2012: German Literature Fund Grand Prize for Es war einmal Indianerland ^[6]
• 2012: Award as one of the most beautiful German books by Stiftung Buchkunst for Es war einmal Indianerland ^[7]
• 2012: German Youth Literature Prize in the category Jugendbuch (youth literature) for Es war einmal Indianerland
• 2016: Luchs des Monats August for Zeit für Astronauten
• 2022: Austrian Children's and Youth Literature Prize for An die, die wir nicht werden wollen (To those we don't want to become) (together with Regina Kehn)
• 2024: James Krüss Preis for international children's and youth literature

Notes and References

1. Web site: 2017-01-08 . 2015-03-09 . Widmung im Roman "Es war einmal Indianerland" Nils Mohl . sueddeutsche.de.
2. Sie befindet sich in EinFach Deutsch – Unterrichtsmodelle: Die Kurzgeschichte auf dem Weg ins 21. Jahrhundert.
3. Web site: 2023-03-23 . Arbeitskreis für Jugendliteratur e. V. . Deutscher Jugendliteratur Preis 2023 Nominierungen .
4. Web site: 2023-03-30 . Interview mit Nils Mohl - Die Blaue Seite .
5. https://web.archive.org/web/20160806101650/http://www.gisny.org/Customized/uploads/SchoolLife/Apr2013komplett.pdf Buchwoche mit Nils Mohl, 06. – 09. Mai 2013
6. deutscher-literaturfonds.de: Kranichsteiner Jugendliteratur-Stipendien
7. Web site: 2017-01-08 . 2012-09-16 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120916111552/http://www.stiftung-buchkunst.de/de/die-schoensten-deutschen-buecher/2012/wettbewerb/book/9736 . Nils Mohl – Es war einmal Indianerland . stiftung-buchkunst.de.