Juli Zeh (, Julia Barbara Finck, née Zeh; born 30 June 1974) is a German writer and judge. She is known for novels such as The Method (2009), Unterleuten (2016) and About People (2021).
Life Juli Zeh is the daughter of the lawyer . She studied law in Passau and Leipzig, passing the Zweites Juristisches Staatsexamen – comparable equivalent to the U.S. bar exam – in 2003, and holds a doctorate in international law from Saarland University. She also has a degree from the German Institute for Literature Leipzig. She is a member of Pen Centre Germany and the Freie Akademie der Künste in Hamburg.
Since January 2019, Zeh is an honorary judge at the Constitutional Court of Brandenburg. She was one of the first signers of the Open letter on the German position regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine in April 2022, who demanded not to support Ukraine with arms in order to "prevent a third world war".
Besides her literary work, she also publishes articles and essays for Die Zeit, Der Spiegel and FAZ. Alongside Gabor Steingart, she presents a literary podcast for the Pioneer AG.
Literary Work Zeh's first published novel was Eagles and Angels, which received the 2002 Deutscher Bücherpreis for best debut novel. It was translated into 35 languages and is settled in the world of the drug mafia internationally active lawyers. The novel has a legal focus, addressing international law.
She travelled through Bosnia-Herzegovina with her dog in 2001, which became the basis for the travel diary Die Stille ist ein Geräusch (2002). Among her other books are Das Land der Menschen, Dark Matter, Kleines Konversationslexikon für Haushunde, Gaming Instinct, Ein Hund läuft durch die Republik (2004), Decompression and The Method. In 2009 she published Corpus Delicti: ein Prozess, following the play from 2007 of the same name.
The social novel Unterleuten, published in 2016, is settled in a fictional village in Brandenburg 20 years after the reunification of Germany. The self-help book Dein Erfolg by the ficitonal consultant Manfred Gortz, mentioned in the novel, was published by Juli Zeh under the pseudonym in 2015, which sparked allegations of plagiarism. In 2020, the three-part film adaptation Unterleuten – Das zerrissene Dorf (Unterleuten – The Torn Village) was broadcast on ZDF.
The reoccurring motif of the duality between the village and thecity can be found in her works Über Menschen (2021) and Zwischen Welten (2023), the latter was published with Simon Urban.
In an interview with Erik Schilling she stated that her literary works are not explicitly political, but morally and socially relevant. A novel should not be one-sided and remain open to all possible interpretations.
Personal life Zeh is married and has two children. Since 2017, she has been a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany.
Selected bibliography Novels Year English title Original title ISBN Notes 2001 Eagles and Angels Adler und Engel 2004 Gaming Instinct Spieltrieb 2007 Dark Matter Schilf US title: In Free Fall 2009 The Method Corpus Delicti 2012 Decompression Nullzeit First English translation in 2014 by Harvill Secker. Translated by John Cullen 2016 (not yet translated) Unterleuten. Roman (a fictional place name) 2017 Empty Hearts Leere Herzen. Roman Translated by John Cullen 2018 New Year Neujahr. Roman Translated by Alta L. Price 2021 About People Über Menschen Translated by Alta L. Price 2023 (not yet translated) Zwischen Welten With Simon Urban; 2026 (not yet translated) Pony Show
Other Year English title Original title ISBN Notes 2002 (not yet translated) Die Stille ist ein Geräusch. Eine Fahrt durch Bosnien 2004 (not yet translated) Ein Hund läuft durch die Republik Editor; 2005 (not yet translated) Kleines Konversationslexikon für Haushunde 2006 (not yet translated) Alles auf dem Rasen ; roughly 'The Full Monty' 2008 (not yet translated) Das Land der Menschen 2009 (not yet translated) Angriff auf die Freiheit. Sicherheitswahn, Überwachungsstaat und der Abbau bürgerlicher Rechte With Ilija Trojanow; ; excerpt in English in German Studies Review, 38, no. 2, (2015): 271–284 2012 (not yet translated) Die Diktatur der Demokraten. Warum ohne Recht kein Staat zu machen ist 2013 (not yet translated) Good Morning, Boys and Girls. Theaterstücke 2013 (not yet translated) Treideln. Frankfurter Poetikvorlesungen 2014 (not yet translated) Nachts sind das Tiere. Essays 2015 (not yet translated) Dein Erfolg . Written under the pseudonym Manfred Gortz, a fictitious business consultant. The fictitious author and the book were mentioned later in Zeh's novel Unterleuten"Echt gelogen. Juli Zeh hat einen Bestseller geschrieben, dessen erfundene Figuren plötzlich im echten Leben auftauchen. Was steckt hinter dem Verwirrspiel? Eine Begegnung." Die Welt (in German), 1 May 2016. 2018 (not yet translated) Das Turbo-Ich. Der Mensch im Kommunikationszeitalter 2019 (not yet translated) Gebrauchsanweisung für Pferde
References
Further reading
External links
An interview about her social commitment, recent translated books and her recent play, Corpus Delicti, Trouw, September 2008 Interview about Corpus Delicti, the role of state observation and civil disobedience, April 2011 Article about the translation of Corpus Delicti as The Method, April 2012 Juli Zeh in: NRW Literatur im Netz