Miriam Davoudvandi - Das können wir uns nicht leisten

"This book is for everyone who wore Victory shoes instead of Nikes. For everyone who was too embarrassed to invite friends over. For everyone whose only leisure activities were soccer or watching TV because there wasn't any money for anything else. For everyone who’s heard more than once: ‘We can’t afford that.’»

For a long time, she steered clear of boys, because Miriam Davoudvandi knew that eventually every guy would have to see the inside of her apartment: the shabby public housing unit surrounded by single-family homes, the cluttered rooms, the worn-out bathroom. The shame of having nothing to offer and not belonging had shaped Miriam Davoudvandi since she started school at the latest—and it remains a part of her to this day.

She has since climbed the social ladder and earns more than her parents ever did. Her conclusion: Money actually makes you very happy. But at what cost? And what traces have her experiences left behind? Miriam Davoudvandi tells her story honestly and movingly, explaining what it means to be poor in Germany. In doing so, she looks not only at the obvious manifestations of poverty but also at aspects such as dating, friendships, starting a family, and mental health, as well as the significance of television and life as the first student in her family. And she shows why the poor are disadvantaged even when they die.

Poverty may be measurable. But numbers don’t help us understand what poverty feels like and what it does to people in the long run. This makes it all the more important to hear Miriam Davoudvandi’s story. She also speaks for all those who have not yet had a voice.

Miriam Davoudvandi wasborn in Bucharest in 1992 to a Romanian mother and an Iranian father and grew up in a small town in southern Germany. She is a freelance journalist, host, and author; she has received numerous awards and hosts the WDR podcast “Danke, gut,” in which she talks with public figures about mental health. She began her journalistic career writing about rap. Later, she served as editor-in-chief of a hip-hop magazine. Today, her articles on pop culture, politics, and mental health appear in publications such as *Der Spiegel* and *Die Zeit*. She has also written plays (“It’s Britney, Bitch!”, Berliner Ensemble). Her essay “Unlearn Mental Health” appeared in the bestselling anthology “Unlearn Patriarchy II.”

Moderator: Emily Grunert (Literaturbüro NRW)