For the last few weeks of the Spring 2013 semester, Dickinson College is hosting a guest author from Germany.

Zafer Senocak, a well-known German author of Turkish origin, is the Max Kade writer-in-residence for the spring semester 2013 and will live in Carlisle for the next two months. During his stay, he will not only continue his writing, but also participate in German classes to discuss his works with students. He will also give a public lecture on Friday, April 12 at 6 p.m. in the Stern Center Great Room.

Senocak, who writes essays, poetry and novels, has been a writer-in-residence seven other times in the United States, spending time on college campuses and working with students.

“Spending time abroad is always a change of atmosphere and I really like that,” he explained. “I like writing at home in Berlin, but I also enjoy leaving for a certain time to experience something different.”

Senocak hopes he can bring a little bit of Germany and German culture to the Dickinson campus with his visit.

“It is always nice to have someone bringing in a fresh perspective,” he said. “A visitor from Germany who stays for a certain time is someone concrete, someone real. He is someone who comes from that country and who brings with him all that culture.”

In his novels, Senocak writes about topics such as rootlessness, the idea of home, cultural belonging and diversity.

“These topics are very American,” he said. “In fact, they were American before they became German. The US is a country of immigration and emigration, a country of transformations and transfers. There is a history of dealing with questions of cultural diversity that determines the thinking here. In my writing I try to find new forms of expression for these topics and not…repeat the existing stereotypes.”

Some of Senocak’s novels, essays and poems are available in the library, including some in English translation. He can be reached at [email protected].