October 23: Harald Voetmann- Visions and Temptations

Presented by 192 Books, Harald Voetmann discusses his book Visions and Temptations (New Directions, 2025) with Rivka Galchen

This event will take place in person at 192 Books at 192 10th Ave on Thursday, October 23rd at 7:00 PM ET. Seating is limited and will be first come, first served.

Books will be available for sale after the conversation.

Harald Voetmann- Visions and Temptations (transl. Johanne Sorgenfri Ottosen, New Directions 2025)

Spurning carnal desire and earthly temptations all his life, the mystic Othlo is now in the care of his brother monks, including the odious Wolkbart. Despite the spare walls which surround his sickbed, Othlo frolics with Holy Dionysius in the Garden of Head-bearers (each carries his own head for eternity), descends from the island of Heaven, visits a brothel patronized by fallen angels who spawn nightmarish offspring eternally, and witnesses the souls of the once gluttonous wealthy fighting over scraps of rotting crabmeat in a ditch in Hell. Accompanied by a sinister guide and a three-hoofed lamb, our hero sees things that make Hieronymsous Bosch’s hellscape look like a rose garden.

The third and final book in a series about mankind’s desire to conquer nature, Visions and Temptations follows Awake and Sublunar. In each novel, a great if imperfect mind faces the inevitable demise of the body.

Nominated for the Nordic Council Prize, the Danish author Harald Voetmann (b. 1978) has written novels, short stories, poetry and a monograph on the Roman poet Sulpicia. He also translates classical Latin literature, notably Petronius and Juvenal. Visions & Temptations, following Awake and Sublunar, concludes his trilogy about "humanity's drive to conquer nature" (John Self, The Guardian). 

Photo Credit: Nina Subin

Rivka Galchen is an award-winning fiction writer and journalist. Her work appears often in The New Yorker, Harper’s, The London Review of Books and The New York Times. New Directions publishes her essay collection Little Labors. Her most recent novel is Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch (FSG). Galchen also holds an MD from Mount Sinai School of Medicine.