“Book of Faces:” An Evening with Marko Dinić and Tess Lewis
Reading by the author and current BMWKMS writer-in-residence at Deutsches Haus at NYU, Marko Dinić, from his novel “Book of Faces” (2025)
Marko Dinić: © Apollonia Theresa Bitzan; Tess Lewis by © Sarah Shatz
Deutsches Haus at NYU presents a reading by the author and current BMWKMS writer-in-residence at Deutsches Haus at NYU, Marko Dinić, from his recent novel Book of Faces (Buch der Gesichter, Zolnay, 2025), followed by a conversation with the acclaimed translator and writer Tess Lewis.
About “Book of Faces”
Belgrade 1942: On the day that occupied Serbia is declared “free of Jews”, Isak Ras ventures through the city one last time to clear up the mystery of his past. What happened to his mother, who disappeared without a trace 21 years ago? Were the anarchists Rosa and Milan involved? Or the mysterious doppelgangers roaming the city? In eight chapters told from eight different perspectives in this epic novel, the solution to Isak’s complex mystery is gradually revealed. Marko Dinić has delivered an impressive book that spans the history of Serbia and Europe in the twentieth century. His Book of Faces is a modern addition to the literary tradition of “literature of remembrance” and Holocaust writing.
About the participants:
Tess Lewis is a writer and translator from French and German. Her translations include works by Walter Benjamin, Ingeborg Bachmann, Peter Handke, and Montaigne. She has been awarded grants from PEN and the NEA, the Austrian Cultural Forum NY Translation Prize, and the PEN Translation Prize. A Guggenheim and Berlin Prize Fellow, she was awarded the 2023 Friedrich Ulfers Prize, which recognizes those who ‘champion the advancement of German-language literature in the US.’ She is an advisory editor of The Hudson Review.
Marko Dinić was born in Vienna in 1988 and spent his childhood and youth in Belgrade. He studied German Philology and Jewish Cultural History in Salzburg. His first novel, Die guten Tage [The Good Days] (2019), and his second novel Buch der Gesichter [Book of Faces] (2025) were published by Zsolnay.
Attendance:
While NYU has ended COVID-19-related restrictions and policies, we continue to remind and recommend to members of the NYU community that they stay up-to-date on their boosters and stay home if they feel sick. Masks are always welcome.
“Book of Faces:” An Evening with Marko Dinić and Tess Lewis is presented with the generous support of BMWKMS.
Accessibility:
The first floor of Deutsches Haus at NYU, where our auditorium is located and where a majority of our events take place, can be made wheelchair accessible through the use of our ramp. If you would like a Deutsches Haus staff member to set up this ramp for you, please call our Front Desk at
Time: 6:00 pm EDT
Free!
