Johanna Sebauer
Nincshof
Austria
BOOK
Nincshof, a small village on the Austrian-Hungarian border, is meant to be forgotten. That’s the plan of three men who want to escape the frenzy of modern life. If no one knows they exist, they can live their own way, in peace. They seek help from Erna Rohdiebl, an old woman with freedom in her blood. Though skeptical at first, curiosity wins her over. Night after night, over bacon sandwiches and fig schnapps, the men and Erna hatch their plan: they remove street signs, cancel local events, and scare away pesky cycle tourists. Everything seems to be going well—until some unexpected visitors from the city show up…
Published by Prostor, 2025
AUTHOR
© Birte Filmer
Johanna Sebauer (*1988) grew up in Austria’s border region of Burgenland. She studied political science at the University of Vienna and later pursued journalism in Denmark, Chile, and Hamburg, where she moved in 2013. Ten years later, she published her debut novel Nincshof (Czech title We’re Disappearing) about a fictional village in Burgenland named after the Hungarian word “nincs,” meaning “nothing.”
TRANSLATION
Michaela Škultéty
