A century after his death, readers around the world continue to find Franz Kafka’s timeless and universal literary work as entrancing as ever. Kafka’s work is concerned with the human experience of alienation and with the dark questions of identity and self-perception felt by individuals dislocated from their society or even from their own families. Indeed, Kafka’s work is so peculiar and disorienting that it has given birth to the adjective Kafkaesque to describe situations that mirror the signature absurdities that run through his writing, although alongside the darkly threatening mood prevalent in this, one can also find recurring moments of comedy.

The Austrian illustrator Nicolas Mahler has picked up on these comic elements and has then used these to develop his witty and poignant ‘comic biography’ of Kafka, Completely Kafka. This is an approachable and amusing portrayal of this extraordinary author’s life. The Unfolding Kafka Festival, together with the Goethe-Institut Thailand and the Neilson Hays Library are delighted to be presenting excerpts from the book. The Completely Kafka exhibition will be on display between 1 – 21 November 2024 at the Neilson Hays Library. This exhibition has been made possible thanks to the generous support of Canon Thailand.