Exclusives, FEB 06

FUNKE – Into the Heart of Imagination
Author Cornelia Funke takes her audience into the heart of imagination.
by SIMONE KUSSATZ, senior global correspondent

Funke’s audience, mostly children, were in awe as she, along with actor Rainer Strecker, read from the world of “Meggie” and her father “Mo.”

The international success of Funke’s books -- over one million copies of all of her books have been sold, has turned her into the German version of Joanne K. Rowling, who is the English author of the “Harry Potter” books.

According to TIME MAGAZINE, Funke is among one of the 100 most influential people in the world.



MERKEL – Female Leaders and a Meeting of Minds
German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s visit to the White House.
by SIMONE KUSSATZ, senior global correspondent

Merkel also addressed the challenges that she perceived had been brought about by the end of the Cold War. The threats of terrorism and the process of globalization, she said, could lead to more negative, rather than positive, competition among nations.

“Machen wir das jetzt miteinander? Machen wir das jetzt gegeneinander?” Are we going to work together? Are we working against each other? she asked, according to a press release by the German Embassy in Washington D.C.



UTOPIA – A Perfect Little Theater in the Heart of France
by ROXY VARZA, assistant editor

Functioning as an artistic and political venue, "Utopia" hosts a number of different debate soirées affiliated with the regional Forum Social de la Gironde. Other local, liberally-oriented political organizations often use the venue to publicize or hold events as well.

Concerts, along with local arts and dance classes and productions, leave their flyers on the shelves situated just inside the entryway. The monthly Gazette, which the theater releases for free, is thus more than just a compilation of movie times and summaries: it is the diary of the local community.



VARBERG – To Be or Not To Be
My visit to Varberg, Sweden
by SIMONE KUSSATZ, senior global correspondent

According to the knowledge of a Varberg public librarian, and author Kalle Svensson, Shakespeare had been among the guests who were in attendance at the funeral of Anders Bing, the Danish lord of the castle, and of the fortress of Varberg.

The book, “Denmark, Hamlet and Shakespeare,” written by Cay Dollerup, and published in 1975 by the “Institut für Englische Sprache und Literatur Universität Salzburg, Austria,” tries to trace the geographical locations that Shakespeare must have traversed during his visit to Northern Europe.