Hyphen

When a worldwide power outage lasts for weeks for the first time in 2025, contrary to expectations, there is no panic. And even when power grids and supply chains, money flows and the internet finally collapse, it does not mean the end of civilization. Instead, in Luise Meier's multifaceted novel "Hyphen," a search born out of necessity begins for the people, seeking alternative, non-human ways of relating that enable mutual survival and care for one another. There is Anne, who tries to keep the hospital running, her fifteen-year-old son Tomasz, who suddenly learns to see the power of nature, and Maja, who keeps a record of it all for the constantly growing, globe-spanning encyclopedia. Like mycelium, Luise Meier lays out biographies, experiences, dreams, and desires, weaving them with unrealized futures and revealing: The world does not end – it is rather being reborn in radical, all-encompassing connection.