Fiction Writing

For my academic monograph, check here.

I began writing fiction early in life, first through poetry and short stories, then by crafting theatre scenes and plays, later co-authoring children's books with my wonderful wife, Rachel Seelig, and, most recently, completing a fantasy novel and an autobiographically inspired book.

  • Children's Books: Together with Rachel Seelig, I have published three children's books: A Moustache for Carlo (2013), Lovely (2014), and The Chestnut’s Three Wishes (2021). Beautifully illustrated by Rachel's father, Michael Seelig, the books are available in both English and German. Please visit our Children’s Books Website to learn more. You may also enjoy the University of Toronto interview, ”Every word counts” say scholars turned children’s book authors (22 September 2021), about the project.

  • Theatre: My involvement with theatre began in the mid-1990s, when I started adapting plays and writing original scenes. This work gained new momentum after I founded Theater DU (German Theatre Toronto) in 2010. In 2012, I wrote Drakul(j)a, an adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula, and in 2016, Deutsch vom Fass – An Educational Journey in Nine Scenes, commissioned to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the University of Toronto's Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures.

  • Fantasy: My fantasy novel, Der Abgrund der Fantasie (working title), has accompanied me for much of my life as a writer. It began as a children's story in the late 1990s and evolved into a much larger project during a two-year stay in Thessaloniki (2004–2006). After I moved to Canada to take up an academic position, the manuscript lay dormant for several years before a sabbatical in Tel Aviv (2013–14) inspired me to return to it with renewed energy. I have now completed the manuscript and am currently seeking a publisher.

  • Between Memory and Fiction: My essay Mein Jüdisches Paradox was published in MERKUR in August of 2026. Blending personal experience with literary reflection, it explores questions of Jewish identity, memory, and belonging. I have also recently completed Der Unsichtbare Schnurrbart: Autofiktionen and am currently seeking a publisher. At its centre is a man who gradually realizes that his Turkish heritage is slipping away, asking what remains of one's origins when language, memory, and self-understanding slowly begin to diverge.

Check out reading samples here. (Note: I write predominantly in German.)