The Goethe-Institut Croatia, in cooperation with the Library of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Osijek and the City and University Library Osijek, is organising a book presentation and conversation entitled Father’s Sea by German writer Deniz Utlu. The presentation will take place on Thursday, 20 November 2025, starting at 6:00 p.m., in Room 39 at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Osijek.
In this compelling work, Utlu tells the story of a son who, following his father’s death, embarks on a journey into the past—a journey through memories, silence, and the quiet strength of family ties. The novel is both a poetic and political portrait of migration, loss, and the search for belonging. The author will discuss the creation of the novel, his literary motifs, and the social issues that permeate Father’s Sea. The reading will be followed by an informal gathering and conversation with the author.
Deniz Utlu is a German writer, essayist, and playwright, born in Hanover in 1983. He studied economics with a focus on philosophy in Berlin and Paris and published his first literary texts while still a teenager. In 2003, he founded the cultural and social magazine freitext, which he edited until 2014. In addition to his literary work, Utlu has worked as a curator of literary events and as a research associate at the German Institute for Human Rights. He made his literary debut with the novel Die Ungehaltenen (2014), followed by Gegen Morgen (2019) and Father’s Sea (2024), for which he received several awards, including the Bavarian Book Prize and the European Union Prize for Literature Special Mention. Utlu teaches creative writing at prestigious institutions such as the German Institute for Literature in Leipzig and the Berlin University of the Arts. His works explore identity, migration, memory, and social inclusion with poetic depth and political relevance.
