This is the first in our ongoing series of essays written by German writers about America.

Thomas Pletzinger was born in 1975 and grew up in Germany’s industrial area Ruhrgebiet. He holds an M.A from Hamburg University and an MFA from the German Literature Institute Leipzig. He worked for publishers and a literary scouting agency in New York and also participated in the University of Iowa’s International Writing Program. Pletzinger now lives in Berlin where he works as a translator and editor. His stories and poems were awarded several awards and grants. The translation of his critically acclaimed novel Bestattung eines Hundes (Funeral for a Dog) will be published in the U.S. in spring of 2010.

For more, please visit the author’s website.

Photo courtesy of destination360.com