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ABOUT AUTHOR Laura Vogt (Teufen, 1989) studied creative writing at the Swiss Literature Institute in Biel and Cultural Studies at the University of Luzern. Her first novel So einfach war es zu gehen came out in 2016. She is also the author of numerous short stories and articles as well as lyrical and dramatic texts. She started writing her second novel Was uns betrifft (What Concerns Us) just two months after having her first child. In her work, Laura is particularly interested in exploring the complexity of relationships, maternity, as well as inquiring into the many forms that womanhood can take. She is currently working on her third novel. Laura lives in the canton of St. Gallen.

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DESCRIPTION. Rahel and Fenna are in their late twenties and early thirties. They are sisters. Their mother Vera brought them up by herself. Vera started a series of romantic relationships with other women, and now suffers from breast cancer. Rahel, a jazz singer, is pregnant and single but in love with writer Boris with whom she eventually moves. While she seems to embrace maternity and family life, she falls pregnant from Boris, and her body turns into a complete alienated part of herself. When the baby is born, she rejects maternity; at the same time, she cannot stop breastfeeding the baby. In the meanwhile, Fenna expects a child from Luc, a man who can turn from charming hippy to aggressor in a heartbeat, raping her on a woodland walk well into their relationship. We follow Fenna throughout her complex response, from rage, to acceptance, to feelings of responsibility and guilt. WHAT CONCERNS US is a blunt depiction of pregnancy, sex, maternity and relationships through the lives of two women.

PREVIEW (PAGES 1-4)

PREVIEW (PAGES 1-4)

BREAKING MILK

BREAKING MILK

Shortlisted for the Sunday Times South Africa/CNA Literary Awards '21
 
"In one of the most original novels I’ve read in a long time, Garisch beautifully weaves ideas of human connection, separation, and the destruction of both personal relationships and our relationship with the earth we all inhabit." Madeleine Knowles, nb.Magazine
 
"Despite its small scale, the story explores themes with universal resonance, in particular that of separation and connection between humans, and with humans and nature, the land and animals, between the mind and the body." Kate Sidley, The Sunday Times South Africa.
 
"Breaking Milk is a brave, engrossing and troubling dive into psychology, motherhood, and the injustices that bind and separate us. At once deftly detailed and universally resonant, this haunting story will bring readers face to face with their own fears and desires – and the compromises we all make as we move through the world. Riveting and powerful." Ann Morgan, author of Reading the World
 
"A tenderly told and unforgettable novel weaving together the lives of two South African women, Kate and Nosisi, as they confront grief and loss, yet find reasons to look forward to tomorrow. Unfolding across a single day, Breaking Milk is a deeply involving, unstoppable read." Elleke Boehmer
 
Set on a farm in the Eastern Cape, and taking place over one day, the novel is a wrought meditation on motherhood and our destructive relationship to the Earth. A former geneticist, Kate is now an award-winning maker of organic cheese. She relies on the farm's routine to hold steady as her day teeters on a knife's edge: her estranged daughter is in London, waiting for her conjoined twins to survive surgery. Meanwhile, Kate's employee Nosisi's son is undergoing a rite of passage. Forbidden to have contact with him during this traditional passage into the world of manhood she anxiously awaits his return.
 
Breaking Milk is an evocative exploration of motherhood at the crossroads of the South African landscape, environment and science.
 
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY: Dawn Garisch is an author and medical doctor. She is founding member of the Life Righting Collective. She has published seven novels, two collections of poetry, short stories, a non-fiction work and a memoir. She has produced five plays and a short film, and has written for television. Her poem 'Blood Delta' won the DALRO prize (2007); 'Trespass' was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Prize in Africa (2010); 'Miracle' won the EU Sol Plaatje Poetry Award (2011); and 'What to Do About Ricky' won the
Short.Sharp.Stories competition (2013). Her novel Accident was longlisted for the Barry Ronge Sunday Times Fiction Award (2018). In 2023 she published her first collection of short stories What Remains.
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