Author Nikola Huppertz writes children’s books without taboos
When Nikola Huppertz (45) writes for her young readers, it can probably be fun. But the successful author from Hanover mainly deals with topics that many people prefer to leave out when dealing with children.
The book Where I got my freckles tells about a girl who doesn’t know her father because he died in an accident. “Mr. Hepperlin and the Forgotten Shoes” is about old age and decay. And in “Schön wie die 8”, Huppertz’ current novel, we read about a boy for whom logic is everything and who suddenly has to deal with his emotions.
You will not spare children
“My guiding principle is: You don’t have to protect children,” says the mother of two. “They know all the topics, from separation and loss to sadness and death.” Nevertheless, the authoress reconciliation is important in her books. “You can’t leave young people devastated. In the end, I always have hope – or at least a glimmer of hope.”
Huppertz would have liked to have had that when she was a child. Her mother suffered from depression. “When I was about eleven or twelve years old, it got really emotional for me,” she recalls. At some point, the word depression appeared, but it was not explained to Huppertz and her sisters. “The topic was taboo, it was a time of speechlessness.”
Nikola Huppertz
*7. May 1976 in Mönchengladbach as the youngest of three sisters. After graduating from high school, Huppertz went to Duisburg, studied four semesters at the Folkwang University, followed by three years of psychology in Berlin. Love led her to Hanover in 2001, with her current ex-husband she had a son (28) and a daughter (24). Her debut novel, Karla, Sengül and the Window to the World, was published in 2009. Its manuscript won first prize in the literature competition “My Neighbors” at the Bonn Book Fair Migration. More than 30 titles follow. Nikola Huppertz lives in Linden, enjoys playing the violin, running and lifting weights. nikola-huppertz.de
Giving things a language, making them visible in her books, is also important to her. The picture book “My Mother, the Fairy”, which she dedicated to her deceased mother, is about little Fridi, whose mother spends hours staring into space and who sometimes doesn’t even get out of bed.
The feedback from her little followers, which Nikola Huppertz receives at readings, for example, reinforces her choice of topics. “They often come to me afterwards and tell their own story. It’s about absent parents, separation or flight.” The author often expressed the children’s impartiality: “They talk about topics like death much more casually than their parents.”
This selection was not an easy decision
The 45-year-old would like to make something else visible: how large and diverse Hanover’s literary scene is. “A surprising number of people from Hanover write, but the attention is low.” Among other things, the literature showcase at Hugendubel am Kröpcke, which Huppertz curated, should change this: “I chose 14 titles from 50, 60 applications – they were not easy Decisions.”
Short stories, detective stories, youth books, novels, poetry, a non-fiction book: the range of titles on display is wide. Among the authors are, for example Wolfram Hänel (65), Franziska Stünkel (49), Peter Piontek or Barbara Schlueter (73). Huppertz encourages other writers to apply by email, because the literature showcase should normally be ([email protected]).
Of course, the exhibition of the books with portrait photos of their authors is intended to boost sales. But Huppertz and her colleagues see more in the project. “We want to strengthen the sense of togetherness and our network,” emphasizes the author. “Writing is a lonely job, it’s good if you exchange ideas regularly.”
She is glad that movement has come into the scene. “Last year we founded our authors’ centre, we want to offer workshops and readings.” The network is still purely virtual, and a location with space for events and co-working spaces is being sought. “In the cultural scene, literature is often the poor child,” criticizes Nikola Huppertz, “everything that is loud or visible often has it easier.”
Her career required perseverance
The 45-year-old, who was passionate about writing stories as a child, is now able to make a living from writing. It wasn’t easy getting this far. “You have to be patient,” she advises newcomers, “you need perseverance, some stubbornness. Being shy doesn’t get you very far with publishers.”
She also needs a little patience when she moved from Berlin to Hanover in 2001. Her husband at the time had gotten a job as a violinist in the opera. Huppertz, who also plays the violin, had initial difficulties in the much smaller city: “I was very strange.” That has settled. “Especially when we moved to Linden, I really started to love Hanover,” she says today. “There’s a lot of subculture and interesting people here too, but they’re not as vain as in Berlin.”
Her new work will be published in April. “Our Summer by the Lake” will be about a father who is on holiday in the Bavarian Forest with his three children. “He’s on probation a bit, has something to make up for in the family,” outlines Nikola Huppertz the conflict. The next book is already being written in her old apartment in Linden-Mitte. What is it about? “From a girl who is very, very tall,” she reveals. Your little fans will surely find it great.
By Julia Brown
