It is the morning after they have been awarded the International Booker prize, and Hofmann has used the expression to describe the decision to award this year's prize to Erpenbeck's latest novel, Kairos, which he translated.
But it wasn't such a no-brainer back home where, despite Erpenbeck being one of Germany's most celebrated novelists, Kairos didn't appear on the shortlists of either of the country's most prestigious literary prizes. Now Erpenbeck has become the first German author to win the International Booker since it was established nearly a decade ago, putting the German publishing world into a bit of a spin. "They are kind of panicking," she laughs.
The 57-year-old has written only four novels, beginning with her acclaimed debut Visitation in 2010 (all have been translated into English). Yet her name routinely comes up around the time of the Nobel, and the New York Times recently described her as "among the most sophisticated and powerful novelists we have".
Hofmann is similarly one of Germany's most influential literary figures: a poet and critic (known for his elegant hatchet jobs), as well as a translator. On first reading Kairos he found it "a completely amazing book, irresistible. Irresistible, and also unpredictable".
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