Futurity

Trove of Kafka’s drawings reveals his ‘cheerful side’

A new book features 100 previously unknown drawings by Franz Kafka. They "show us a much more cheerful side" to the famous novelist and short story writer.
stark figure lunging forward

More than 100 unpublished drawings by the German writer Franz Kafka are now available in a new book.

Most people know Franz Kafka for his written works such as The Metamorphosis, The Trial, and The Castle, yet he also drew vigorously. Until recently, only 40 of Kafka’s drawings had come to light.

When in 2019 a safe deposit box from a vault on Zurich’s Bahnhofstrasse was opened after years of legal wrangling, it revealed a huge surprise: in addition to manuscripts known to have been deposited there decades ago, were over a hundred previously unseen drawings.

Andreas Kilcher, professor of literature and cultural studies at ETH Zurich, is editor of the new book, Franz Kafka: The Drawings (Yale University Press, 2021).

Here, Kilcher answers questions about Kafka’s drawings:

The post Trove of Kafka’s drawings reveals his ‘cheerful side’ appeared first on Futurity.

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