Ramona Raabe
In her literary work, Ramona is interested in psychological and philosophical questions of the human condition, often incorporating slightly surreal elements into otherwise ordinary settings.
Next to a number of short stories published across anthologies and magazines throughout the years, she debuted with “Das pathologische Leiden der Bella Jolie” in Dittrich Verlag in 2018, a novella. With this book, she was nominated for the "Text und Sprache" literature prize by the Kulturkreis der Deutschen Wirtschaft in the BDI e.V in 2020.
Further accolades include the Pegasus Literaturpreis Bonn (2008) and the Martha-Saalfeld-Förderpreis (2013) from the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Courtesy of GEDOK Schleswig-Holstein, she had the opportunity to live and work as a Writer in Residence in Lübeck in 2020. Additionally, she was a fellowship recipient at the Künstlerhaus Edenkoben in Rhineland-Palatinate in 2022.
Ramona was fortunate to attend the Berliner Autorenkolleg of the FU Berlin twice, to participate in collaborative creative writing colloquiums, led by distinguished guest professors Marion Poschmann (2018) and Clemens J. Setz (2019).
Novella / German-Language
Published: 15.03.2018
With Illustrations from Ailish Trimble
160 Pages
ISBN 978-3-947373-01-7
Link to book
Link to video reading
Link to book premiere video
She calls herself ‘Bella Jolie’. Her face is digitally recorded with utmost precision. She photographs it every day, a hundred times a day, eventually a thousand times. Until she no longer lives. The case becomes a sensation. Who was this woman who seemingly loved her appearance so much that it became fatal? Companions paint a deeply contradictory psychogram of an energetic and melancholic daughter, friend, and lover…
In “The Pathological Suffering of Bella Jolie,” Ramona Raabe tells of a fictional addiction that dramatically intensifies the highly relevant phenomenon of the “selfie” culture through the lens of a sensitive observer.
An evocative novella about the longing for a Self that could be preserved.
The book was nominated for the Literature Prize “Text und Sprache” of the Kulturkreis der Deutschen Wirtschaft in the BDI e.V in 2020.