The novelist and short story writer Franz Kafka was born on this day in 1883. I remember discovering his work as an adolescent, and his work has continued to exert a hold on me ever since. While he is perhaps better known for his short stories, it’s his incomplete novels that fascinate me most: The Man Who Disappeared, The Trial, and The Castle are a trio without equal in Western literature. To mark Kafka’s birthday, I have assembled a selection of articles, interviews, and reviews concerning the writer’s life, work, and legacy. Enjoy!

Articles, Interviews & Reviews

Primo Levi on Franz Kafka’s “astounding clairvoyance” • Kafka on Holiday • Victor Brombert on Kafka • Creating Kafka •  Has ‘Kafkaesque’ lost its meaning? • Is that Kafka? 99 Finds • Did Kafka invent the answering machine? • Translating Kafka: Willa & Edwin Muir • Michael Haneke on adapting Jelinek and Kafka •  Lars Iyer on Kafka and Brod • Kafka: “Words are clumsy mountaineers” • Daily routines of writers and philosophers • Kafka and Asceticism