Mia Raben – Journalist and author

Mia Raben made friends with an American woman with Polish roots. They lived together, explored the city, went to museums, clubs and theatres or went to a party hosted by Sławomir Sierakowski, the founder and editor-in-chief of the “Krytyka Polityczna”, who Mia Raben had interviewed for the “taz” not long before. The party was held in an empty villa in the suburb of Praga on the east bank of the Vistula. The host had placed much of the furniture, lamps and carpets in the garden as if there was a salon there. This picture left a lasting impression on Mia Raben. For her it symbolised “the Poles’ unbelievable creativity and their longing for freedom.” Mia Raben had the impression that, in contrast to Germany, freedom is truly loved in Poland. She called this love “libidinously charged“ and saw in it a love for people who she found very attractive. In her eyes, people in Germany should try to compensate a bit more for their tendency to be strict and to conform, which sometimes gives Mia Raben the creeps.

In 2007, Mia Raben moved back to Hamburg, had two sons and was employed by a PR agency before she turned her back on the “writing trade” and switched to the “Nido” and “Neon” magazines. “Neon was the coolest magazine in Germany”, said Mia Raben smiling. “And Nido was the magazine for cool parents.” She fondly remembers this “super time” and the many experiments with her children: Carving in the woods, cooking the meatballs from Lilly Brett’s novel “Chuzpe”, making donuts based on a Polish recipe. Mia Raben very much regrets that the two magazines no longer exist and that Gruner & Jahr has been “eviscerated like a shot deer.”

Mia Raben continues to write literature “almost secretly on the side”. Only a few ever get read by others. This changed when she was invited to attend a novel writing workshop at the Bavarian Academy of Writing. Now, for the first time, she is actually seeing herself as a literary author. The author Ulrike Draesener told her about a Masters in Creative Writing in Leipzig, for which Mia Raben successfully applied. She submitted her master’s thesis a year ago. This work forms the basis for her novel “Fallende Steine, die sich der Schwerkraft widersetzen“ on which Mia Raben is currently working. In December 2022, she was awarded a research grant by the cultural authority in Hamburg and by the Hamburg Literature House for the material. She wants to use the money to travel to Łódź, her mother’s home town, and to research the Polish textile industry.

Anselm Neft, February 2023

Instagram-Account by Mia Raben:

https://www.instagram.com/miakolumna