Interview with Elman Schenkel – Recipient of the ‘Cața Writers Award 2012

For a whole year, Mr. Elman Schenkel has lived on and off in Caţa Village on the grounds of Mr. Schuler. Last year, he received Mr. Schuler’s Caţa Award, which included a very special task. For a year, he has been learning about and observing Romanian and Transylvanian culture and nature in and around the Village of Caţa. Now, he is ready to finish his year in Romania, and forward this task and price, to the next writer. - Where are you from originally? Germany. I teach at the university. And you have lived here in Caţa for an entire year? Well not all the time, no. On and off. I have been teaching at the university, back in Germany and been in Caţa for longer and shorter periods at a time. - And everything has been paid for? Yes. I often ate with Mr. Schuler and his family and was actually also given a horse! - Wow! Do you ride then? I do not really like to. A Rroma from the village went with me and walked alongside the horse, making sure I would not fall off, which was tricky, so I gave up that experience. - And after this year, living here on and off, did you have to write a book? Well everyone expected some kind of result. I started doing some articles while I was here and now I am trying to put everything together to a final result - one book. Maybe it will be documentary, maybe it will be fictional, I do not know yet. This place has such a fantastic atmosphere. - So what has been the biggest challenge during this entire year? The biggest challenge has been the extreme weather changes; it was very cold in the winter, so I had to move into the main house. Above that, I had to move back to Germany from December to February, because of the extreme cold weather. However, the days of solitude were definitely a challenge and something different then what I am used to. Also, getting in touch with the community and the Rroma people was a bit challenging. - Did you manage to learn a bit of Romanian? Just a few things, but basically I spoke Italian with them, as it is very close to Romanian. Nevertheless, I am still trying to learn more words. I would like to read some Romanian authors, like Eliade (Mircea Eliade, Romanian writer, 1907–1986). He was a philosopher and historian, but also a novelist. - So are you satisfied with your work here, the overall process? Yes. I mean, of course it is imperfect. I could not do everything I wanted and play out all my expectations. - How did you get along with the Romanians and the Rroma community? Well, it was okay, and of course, very different. Sometimes they were nice and sometimes they wanted something from me in return. All in all, I did not have any bad experiences. The first time I went out of the gate I tumbled and fell into a water hole and a Rroma came to help me. She even brushed of my clothes for me, which would never happen in Germany. It is quite an experience for us Westerners, who are used to having that sense of personal space that doesn’t always exist out here in the Transylvanian countryside. - Did you ever have problems with the locals? Well, as a foreigner you always have to be careful. Once, I was playing around with the local kids and they followed us to a cemetery we had to visit, and we gave them sweets; Afterwards,I realized that we could not keep doing that. Therefore, we gave them a task instead; we gave them something to do. I send them a quiz on mathematical questions, but sometimes they did not agree on the answers and they stared to argue and then followed us around. So, I had to get used to that and I had to handle it somehow. - And did you get used to it? Yes in the end you don’t take it too seriously. - What about your family at home, what do they think about this whole experience? My wife is here and likes the scenery very much. - Are you working on anything else right now? Yes. I am working on a book about science and literature, about an episode in the history of science where science meets literature; and I am also working on a book of essays. - When do you think the book you have been preparing for this last year will be ready to be published? Maybe next year, there is a lot of texts in prose that need to be dealt with the editors and publishers. - Will Mr. Schuler be the one to publish this book? Well, he is in touch with editors, but I am not sure that will work out. I have my own publisher though that I might try to talk with. - So when you are finished here you are going back to Germany for good? Yes, but I would like to come back and visit. Text: Johanna Engebjerg Englev Photo: Kazuki Shimada