Description
King Cobra (2026) by Muri Darida
Village Book Club (German) — hosted by Nils Philipp.
Published in 2026 and awarded the Robert Walser Prize, Muri Darida‘s debut novel King Cobra is a book about the body, origins, and family violence. The body is treated not merely as an imagined or socially ascribed identity but as something intensely physical: pain, sexuality, violence, shame, and desire make it directly tangible. Origins, too, appear not simply as a foundation of identity but as something one has to come to understand by confronting one’s own family history, only to discover, perhaps, that one needs to break free from it. From a transmasculine perspective, the protagonist Lazi struggles both to interpret his own body and to understand where he comes from.
Stylistically, Darida combines a fast, cinematic narrative style with laconic humor; the text flows between everyday life, memory, violence, and reflection without lingering long on any one tone. The novel becomes most compelling where it refuses to turn the much-discussed themes of body and origins into a mere identity narrative, telling instead a concrete story about violence, memory, and self-determination.
About the Village Book Club
Book lovers and bookworms have been meeting on a bimonthly basis to discuss works of fiction and non-fiction (novels, biographies, and essays) focused on or related to GBTQ themes and personalities. Anticipating insightful discussions, we choose the next book two months in advance. The discussion will be conducted in German.
Nils Philipp is an art and architecture educator as well as a poet, photographer and decorator. After gaining insightful experiences as a janitor, lifeguard and deli vendor, he now works, among other things, as a city tour guide. While he is waiting for his breakthrough as writer or art director, he reads plenty and with pleasure.
General Information
• While the evening discussions are conducted in German, participants are welcome to read the selected books in their preferred language.
• Free event with registration
** This event is part of the we are village program ‘Belonging versus Lonelines‘, with the support of LADS.
Learn more about the program here.
