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Albert DeGenova
Editors
Albert DeGenova
P. Hertel
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Andrew Byrne
© After Hours Press 2026, Elmwood Park, IL
A Summer In Silesia
by P. Hertel
The Kafka Trilogy – Three stories based on the life of Franz Kafka
A Summer in Silesia
Every biography of Franz Kafka mentions that his first love affair occurred in the
summer of 1905 at a health resort called Zuckmantel in Silesia. Nothing is known of the woman involved, except that she was older than Kafka, who had just turned 22. The love affair ended when they each left Zuckmantel at the end of the summer. Even though the relationship lasted barely a month, it had a profound effect on the future writer. More than ten years and a few relationships later, in his letters and diary Kafka still recalled this woman, more than once, as his ideal.
A T o y m a k e r 's A c c i d e n t
The life of a Government Insurance Company lawyer can be less than inspirational. It is 1912 and Kafka struggles with the boredom of his day job, which leaves him very little time to follow his true vocation as a writer. On the other hand, one never knows where the next inspiration may come from. First appeared in After Hours #48.
A t K a f k a 's G r a v e
An artist from Chicago travels to Prague in order to leave a photograph of a painting she made of Franz Kafka at his grave – a site that is visited and revered by his readers from all over the world. Only when she starts to bury the photograph does she remember that this is not the first time she has left a picture of Kafka in someone's grave. Life imitates life, with a little art on the side. First appeared in After Hours #47.
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a matter of life or death, by Siegfried Mortkowitz
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