I'd like to begin now by introducing Bettina Brandt, who
is one of the key members of this performance team,
and then she will go on to explain and then of course
introduce Yoko Tawada.
Dr. Bettina Brandt is presently an Assistant Professor
of German at Montclair State University.
She arrived there from MIT and Columbia University on her way,
and at Columbia was the fundraising director
of the on campus German culture center, the Deutsches Haus.
She obtained her PhD from Harvard University
in comparative literature and holds two MA degrees,
one in German and one in French, from the University
of Utrecht in the Netherlands.
Dr. Brandt's research focuses on innovative moments
in 20th century literature and art from the historical avant
garde to contemporary francophone and German
writings.
She is currently on leave with an NEH grant
to finish her book, which is entitled
along the lines of transnational German writers and the surreal.
And she is focusing in that book on Yoko Tawada, Herta Müller,
and Emine Ozdamar, among others, perhaps.
So, I would like you to please join me
in welcoming and greeting Dr. Bettina Brandt
as we proceed with the performance.
[APPLAUSE]