Gestalten proudly invites you to an evening with Reif Larsen, author of the critically acclaimed novel The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet (Die Karte meiner Träume). the book is widely admired for its beautifully imaginative storyline and unique visual narrative that features illustrated maps, diagrams, and sketches, which mirror the protagonist’s obsession with cartography.

Larsen will explore the ways that visuals can tell stories, and in particular the sometimes fraught relationship between text and image. drawing upon diverse sources including the marginalia from his own book, airline safety cards, hand drawn maps, illuminated manuscripts, and the current cultural obsession with information graphics, Larsen will unpack the opportunities (and dangers) of visual storytelling, a field of increasing prominence in today's visual-heavy world.

the talk will be followed by a conversation with Gestalten’s Sven Ehmann, our in-house data visualization and infographics enthusiast. Ehmann is co-editor of Visual Storytelling: Inspiring a New Visual Language and Data Flow book series.

Reif Larsen's debut novel, The Selected Works Of T.S. Spivet, was a New York Times bestseller and is currently being adapted for the screen by French filmmaker Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Amélie). Larsen's essays and fiction have appeared in Tin House, one story, The Millions, and The Believer. he is currently the writer-in-residence at the Dutch Institute for Advanced Study and working on another novel about puppets and the uncertainty principle.

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this talk will take place in English.

as with all of Gestalten's events, this one is also free.