Meike Ziervogel

Last updated

Meike Ziervogel
Born Germany
OccupationAuthor and publisher
NationalityGerman, British[ citation needed ]
Notable worksMagda, Clara's Daughter, Kauthar, The Photographer

Meike Ziervogel (born 1967, Germany) is a German novelist, publisher, journalist and humanitarian based in Beirut, Lebanon. She set up the British independent publishing house, Peirene Press in 2008, which received multiple award nominations and accolades from notable European news agencies. Ziervogel continues to write whilst working as the CEO of award-winning Alsama Project, a Middle East-based education NGO she co-founded in 2020. [1] [2]

Contents

Life

Ziervogel was born in 1967 in Kiel in Germany and grew up in Schleswig-Holstein and Hessen. She came to London in 1986 to study Arabic language and literature. She received Bachelor and Master of Arts degrees from The School of Oriental and African Studies. She speaks German, English, Arabic and French. Meike is married and has two children, a daughter and a son. Ziervogel's family, notably her parents and grandparents, were displaced from their home in modern-day Poland, due to the political climate at the end World War II. [3] [4]

Work

After graduation, Ziervogel worked as a journalist for Reuters in London and Agence France-Presse in Paris. In 2008 she founded Peirene Press, an award-winning independent UK publishing house specialising in contemporary European fiction in English translation. [5] In 2012 Meike was voted as one of Britain's 100 most innovative and influential people in the creative and media industries for the hClub 100 list devised by Time Out London and the Hospital Club. Following then, Ziervogel has authored 5 novels. Her work often explores family dynamics, perceptions of reality, and plot lines.

In 2020, Ziervogel co-founded Alsama Project, where she is currently CEO. [6] Under her leadership, Alsama Project runs education centres for out-of-school refugee and displaced youth in the Middle East. [7] Most of its students join Alsama Project illiterate, and within 5 months 95% of them are literate. [8]

As of March, 2022, she stepped down as director of Peirene Press, following seven International Booker Prize nominations under her leadership, to focus more on her non-profit work with Alsama. [9]

Novels

Ziervogel published her debut novel, Magda, in 2013. She wrote this novel as a fictionalized biography of Magda Goebbels, wife of Nazi Propaganda Minister, Joseph. Magda was shortlisted for the Guardian's Not the Booker prize and nominated as a book of the year 2013 by the Irish Times, Observer and Guardian readers. The book was released in Polish translation in January 2015 and reached Number 6 in the Polish national bestseller list on the same month. [10] Magda has also appeared in German, Catalan and Italian translation. The German version of Magda was translated by Martin Thomas Pesl and published by Atilier Éditions in Vienna.

Ziervogel's second novel Clara's Daughter was published to critical acclaim in September 2014. [11] Her third novel, Kauthar, was released in August 2015, followed by her fourth novel, The Photographer in 2017 and her fifth love, Flotsam in April 2019. During this time, from 2009 to 2018, she hosted the Peirene literary Salon. Meike Ziervogel's books are published in the UK by Salt Publishing and have been translated into German, Italian, Polish and Catalan.

In 2025, Ziervogel published her sixth novel, Shams, which explores life in a refugee camp – focussing on female resilience in the face of exploitation, war, poverty and tragedy. The novel draws on Ziervogel’s own experience of working with displaced women and girls in Shatila through Alsama Project. [12]

Awards and honours

Selected works

References

  1. ↑ Saad, Layal (4 November 2022). "Cricket: The unlikely sport helping Syrian refugees in Lebanon". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 7 July 2025.
  2. ↑ "Alsama Project Wins International Prize". Library of Congress. 7 May 2024. Retrieved 8 July 2025.
  3. ↑ Ash, Lucy (10 July 2017). "The Photographer by Meike Ziervogel review – poignant novel of guilt and renewal". The Observer. ISSN   0029-7712 . Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  4. ↑ Ziervogel, Meike (19 September 2013). "Meike Ziervogel: 'I could only write about Magda Goebbels in English'". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  5. ↑ "Peirene Press". 9 February 2015. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  6. ↑ "A Conversation with Meike Ziervogel and Aamna Mohdin". Stanfords. Retrieved 7 July 2025.
  7. ↑ "Palestinian refugees in Lebanon keep hope alive after the Nakba". The New Arab. Retrieved 2 July 2025.
  8. ↑ "Palestinian refugees in Lebanon keep hope alive after the Nakba". The New Arab. Retrieved 2 July 2025.
  9. ↑ "Peirene Press announces new direction". Peirene Press. 28 March 2022. Retrieved 9 July 2025.
  10. ↑ "International Bestsellers, January 2015 - Publishing Trends". publishingtrends.com. Retrieved 26 September 2016.
  11. ↑ Vine, Richard (13 September 2014). "Clara's Daughter by Meike Ziervogel review – birdsong and betrayals in 1950s France". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 July 2025.
  12. ↑ "A Conversation with Meike Ziervogel and Aamna Mohdin". Stanfords Bookshop. Retrieved 8 July 2025.
  13. ↑ "The Culture 100 - Winners - Time Out in association with The Hospital Club". timeout.com . Retrieved 26 September 2016.
  14. ↑ Sittenfield, Curtis (24 November 2013). "The Observer's books of the year". The Observer. ISSN   0029-7712 . Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  15. ↑ "Readers' books of the year 2013: part 1". The Guardian. 27 December 2013. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  16. ↑ Jordison, Sam (30 September 2013). "Not the Booker prize 2013: Magda by Meike Ziervogel". theguardian.com . Retrieved 26 September 2016.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.