Berlin Launch: Elegy, Southwest

In November 2018, a young married couple named Eloise and Lewis set off to drive across the American southwest. As they go, they trace the course of the Colorado River, the aquatic artery on which the Southwest depends for survival. Lewis, an artist working for a prominent land art foundation, is grieving the recent death of his mother; Eloise is an academic researching the past and future of the southwest’s failing waterways. Over the course of their trip, Eloise, beginning to suspect she might be pregnant, helplessly witnesses Lewis’s descent as he struggles to find a place for himself in the desert where he never quite felt at home.

"Elegy, Southwest" skilfully interweaves a story of relationship breakdown with deeply-researched essayistic investigations into water management, colonial history, climate change, and the landscapes of the American West. It is a moving tale of loss—an elegy for humans and the world.

Madeleine Watts is the author of the novels „Elegy, Southwest“ (2025), and „The Inland Sea" (2021), which was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award and the UTS Glenda Adams Award for New Writing. Her other work has appeared in The Baffler, Harper's, and The Believer. Born in Sydney, and after a decade in New York, she now lives in Berlin.

Alexander Wells is a critic and essayist from Australia. His work has been published by The Guardian, The Drift, Paris Review, and History Today among others. Since 2020, he has been Books Editor for the local print monthly The Berliner.


(IN ENGLISH)