Upcoming Events

1 October 2026 • 20:00
Frostblooms
Press Presentation and Reading, closed event, Fischer Verlag, Rosenstraße 19, Berlin-Mitte
Berlin
11 October 2026 • 15:00
Frostblooms
Book Fair Frankfurt, Imagination Stage, Halle 4.0, Reading and Book Signing; Ticket to the book fair is necessary.
Frankfurt am Main
28 November 2026 • 16:00
Frostblooms
Schwartzschen Villa, Grunewaldstr. 55, Steglitz, 24. Steglitzer Literaturfest, Reading
Berlin
1 December 2026 • 19:00
Frostblooms
Exilmuseum, Fasanenstraße 24, Reading and Discussion
Berlin

Stella Menzel Speaks Mandarin

Stella Menzel and the Golden Thread (English working title) was published in China this summer. So thrilled that young readers in China will get to know Stella’s Russian-German-American family and their lives in St. Petersburg, New York and Berlin. More about the book here.

Berlinale, Here We Come!

So excited that my Rowohlt Verlag novel Das Rätsel von Ainsley Castle was chosen as one of ten novels to be presented in March with “Books at Berlinale,” an event sponsored by the Berlinale – Berlin International Film Festival with the Frankfurt Book Fair. It offers publishers and agents the chance to pitch their books to internationally established film producers. The working title for the film adaptation of my book is “Double Puzzle.” More about the novel here.

Grand Prize for Radio Drama!

I’m thrilled to be this year’s recipient of the German Children’s Radio Drama Award for “Stella Menzel and the Golden Thread” (rbb/NDR) with many thanks to the award’s sponsors, Film- und Medienstiftung NRW and the ARD Radio network.

The photo shows us in the rbb-studio in July 2019 during a break. We see Theresa Zertani (left), who played Stella, Leslie Malton (right) Stella’s mother, Isabel Zwickel-Menzel, and yours truly (middle) who was cast as Stella’s Oma from America, Josephine. (Me? A grandmother? Yikes!) The photo is a little out of focus. And do you know why? Director Leonhard Koppelmann’s hands were shaky because he just couldn’t wait to get a bite of the cake, a surprise from the folks over at Ohrenbär (rbbKultur). Many thanks to the baker, Birgit Patzelt, and producer, Sonja Kessen. They were all a part of this wonderful production and I am deeply grateful to them!

More about the radio drama here.