Emcke, Carolin 1967–

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Emcke, Carolin 1967–

PERSONAL:

Born 1967. Education: Attended Harvard University and the London School of Economics; J.W. Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany, M.A., Ph.D.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Berlin, Germany.

CAREER:

Writer, editor, and philosopher. Has worked as a freelance writer for German television; Der Spiegel, Berlin, Germany, editor and foreign correspondent, 1998—; Yale University, New Haven, CT, visiting lecturer, 2003-04.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Political book award, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, and Lettre Ulysses Award short list, both for Von Den Kriegen: Briefe an Freunde, both 2005; Ernst Blöch Förderpreis, for scholars and philosophers showing great promise, 2006.

WRITINGS:

Kollektive Identitäten, Sozialphilosophische Grundlagen (Leer, Germany), 2000.

Von Den Kriegen: Briefe an Freunde, S. Fischer (Frankfurt am Main), 2004, translation published as Echoes of Violence: Letters from a War Reporter, Princeton University Press (Princeton, NJ), 2007.

SIDELIGHTS:

Carolin Emcke is a writer, philosopher, and educator, who studied both in the United States, at Harvard University, and in Europe, at the J.W. Goethe University in Frankfurt and the London School of Economics. She began working at Der Spiegel, a German news magazine, in 1998, first as a staff writer and then as an editor and foreign correspondent reporting from combat areas. She is the author of Kollektive Identitäten and Von Den Kriegen: Briefe an Freunde, the latter of which was released in English translation as Echoes of Violence: Letters from a War Reporter. Echoes of Violence compiles a series of letters that Emcke wrote to friends over the course of her work as a correspondent, and chronicles her experiences and thoughts about the political and social situations in places such as Kosovo, Romania, Nicaragua, Iraq, Pakistan, and Lebanon, as well as on the events of 9/11, during which she was in New York City. The book was critically well received both in Europe and the United States. Chris Nash, in a contribution for the Australian Review of Public Affairs Online, faulted Emcke for her sense of detachment from the events she witnessed, but acknowledged that this was partly a result of her role as journalist. Nash remarked: "Emcke is to be applauded for the power of her writing, her commitment to the importance of ordinary people's suffering, and her honesty in laying out her thoughts and reactions for all to see." Kathy English, writing in Biography, opined that Emcke's effort "combines gripping narrative with philosophic reflection."