The cult woman
As the new editor-in-chief, Sibylle Berg wants to transform the lifestyle magazine *Kult* into a literary journal.
As the new editor-in-chief, Sibylle Berg wants to turn the lifestyle magazine Kult into a literary magazine.she is "a very lazy dog", says Sibylle Berg. She likes to lie on the floor of her Zurich apartment, look up at the ceiling and think. What the lazy dog thinks, however, seems quite industrious. Six novels and six plays are already part of the young author's oeuvre. Her latest book "Ende gut" - about cynicism, cruelty and melancholy in today's world - is soon to be supplemented with a musical CD as a kind of "opera to the book". In addition, the seventh play is almost finished. It will be staged this summer in Bochum - in the house of Alexander Hartmann, who will succeed Christoph Marthaler in Zurich in the coming season. As is usually the case with her plays, Berg wants to be present at the rehearsals in Bochum. Her schedule also includes a commission for a modern opera libretto.With all these activities, it came as a surprise to many that Sibylle Berg has also taken over as editor-in-chief of the zeitgeist magazine Kult in recent weeks.
"Quietly in the background", she has been involved in Rainer Kuhn's successful scene magazine for more than a year. She selected texts and looked for authors. This consultancy has now developed into a real editorial office.
"Working for Kult is one of many things that make up my income," explains the author, who "hasn't been able to live off her books for long". And is pleased: "Kult is also a great way to feed friends, to support and promote writers a little."
With such objectives, it is clear that cult will change a little. The socially critical author has "no connection" to the party and love style scene. She does find it admirable how Rainer Kuhn's initial fun idea has developed into a successful self-runner in this environment. Kult became thicker, better and more widely read. "Kult has become a real magazine that I would read myself," says Berg, promoting her new mouthpiece.
Instead of partygoers, this is now increasingly finding resonance in intellectual circles. "We've noticed that people who read books are now also reading Kult. I think that's great," says Berg happily. With its new direction, Kult also wants to cooperate with Orell Füssli. The magazine will be distributed free of charge in bookshops. A new addition is a collaboration with the theater in Zurich, "where the main readership is now located".
Kult wants to engage as many well-known German-speaking authors as possible as new writers. She has always wanted a magazine in which all her favorite authors write. Because that didn't exist, Sibylle Berg is now making such a magazine herself. She has already been able to win over colleagues such as Elfride Jelinek, Wim Wenders and Henrik Broder for Kult.
With Berg's editor-in-chief, publisher Rainer Kuhn wants to withdraw more into the publishing functions. For the design of the magazine, the editor-in-chief sees "four people with equal rights in the creative core". Shamir Yanay is responsible for image direction. The advertiser Frank Bodin - also co-editor of Kult - "probably makes the big intellectual connection". Rainer Kuhn "networks and swirls around".
And the editorial concept? It was once said: "Photographers and authors describe the world." However, this concept, which is still valid today, is not intended to comment on current world politics. But through the stories, a world view does come together - with the interplay of photos and texts as well as "a bit of art that we want to bring into the magazine". The only bracket is always the big topics. Everyone does what they think is important in their own area. "In the end, we're surprised ourselves at what comes out," Berg reveals.
The author, who grew up in East Germany and lives in Zurich in a shared house with the singer Sina, reveals that she used to work as a copywriter. However, she wouldn't have been able to cope nervously for long. "They all took it far too seriously. It didn't work for me."
Today, of course, she feels more reconciled about the industry. "For a long time, advertisers were a bit of a bogeyman or the black sheep of left-wing, intellectual circles. Fortunately, that has stopped. Today, it's the journalists who get up to a lot more nonsense than the advertisers."
But that doesn't have to be printed in the cult.
Sibylle Berg, the new head of Kult, sees her job as "a way of feeding friends and promoting writers".
Andreas Panzeri
"Quietly in the background", she has been involved in Rainer Kuhn's successful scene magazine for more than a year. She selected texts and looked for authors. This consultancy has now developed into a real editorial office.
"Working for Kult is one of many things that make up my income," explains the author, who "hasn't been able to live off her books for long". And is pleased: "Kult is also a great way to feed friends, to support and promote writers a little."
With such objectives, it is clear that cult will change a little. The socially critical author has "no connection" to the party and love style scene. She does find it admirable how Rainer Kuhn's initial fun idea has developed into a successful self-runner in this environment. Kult became thicker, better and more widely read. "Kult has become a real magazine that I would read myself," says Berg, promoting her new mouthpiece.
Instead of partygoers, this is now increasingly finding resonance in intellectual circles. "We've noticed that people who read books are now also reading Kult. I think that's great," says Berg happily. With its new direction, Kult also wants to cooperate with Orell Füssli. The magazine will be distributed free of charge in bookshops. A new addition is a collaboration with the theater in Zurich, "where the main readership is now located".
Kult wants to engage as many well-known German-speaking authors as possible as new writers. She has always wanted a magazine in which all her favorite authors write. Because that didn't exist, Sibylle Berg is now making such a magazine herself. She has already been able to win over colleagues such as Elfride Jelinek, Wim Wenders and Henrik Broder for Kult.
With Berg's editor-in-chief, publisher Rainer Kuhn wants to withdraw more into the publishing functions. For the design of the magazine, the editor-in-chief sees "four people with equal rights in the creative core". Shamir Yanay is responsible for image direction. The advertiser Frank Bodin - also co-editor of Kult - "probably makes the big intellectual connection". Rainer Kuhn "networks and swirls around".
And the editorial concept? It was once said: "Photographers and authors describe the world." However, this concept, which is still valid today, is not intended to comment on current world politics. But through the stories, a world view does come together - with the interplay of photos and texts as well as "a bit of art that we want to bring into the magazine". The only bracket is always the big topics. Everyone does what they think is important in their own area. "In the end, we're surprised ourselves at what comes out," Berg reveals.
The author, who grew up in East Germany and lives in Zurich in a shared house with the singer Sina, reveals that she used to work as a copywriter. However, she wouldn't have been able to cope nervously for long. "They all took it far too seriously. It didn't work for me."
Today, of course, she feels more reconciled about the industry. "For a long time, advertisers were a bit of a bogeyman or the black sheep of left-wing, intellectual circles. Fortunately, that has stopped. Today, it's the journalists who get up to a lot more nonsense than the advertisers."
But that doesn't have to be printed in the cult.
Sibylle Berg, the new head of Kult, sees her job as "a way of feeding friends and promoting writers".
Andreas Panzeri
