christine lehnen
novelist, researcher, journalist
Writing on, thinking about, and telling stories of how
the past shapes our present and the future
»What we remember matters. We turn to the past to conceive of who we are – and, more importantly, who we think we should be.«
Imagine Scythia’s fierce warrior women
public
writing
In her research, fiction and public writing, Christine spotlights how the past shapes what we think of as normal in the present and what we can envision for our future.
Christine is a regular contributor on history, archaeology, literature, feminism and culture on DW.com. She has written for Aeon, Antigone, The Wire India, The New Federalist and Cultural Practice Magazine and is the proud founder of the public research magazine 42 .
Heroic Women
Would you like to hear about heroic women from history and how they can inspire us to be braver and bolder today? Then sign up to my monthly newsletter Heroic Women!
research
Christine is researching Western memory cultures and the contemporary historical novel at the University of Manchester.
Her research has been published in Alluvium, Antigone and the Journal of Literary Theory. She lectures on literature and creative writing.
Board member of the Historical Fictions Research Network and member of the Memory Studies Association
novels
Christine’s novels are published by Penguin Random House, Harper Collins and Heroic Books.
Her fantasy fiction has been awarded the Lovelybooks Reader Award (Das Lied der Nacht) and nominated for the RPG Fantasy Award (Palace of Glass).
She is director and founder of the Novel Writing Workshop at the University of Bonn which has seen numerous students go on to receive agency representation and close book deals with both major and independent publishers.
Christine Lehnen is represented by Thérèse Coen at the Hardman & Swainson Literary Agency in London.
Palace of Glass – Die Wächterin von C E Bernard 
Palace of Silk- Die Verräterin von C E Bernard 
Palace of Fire – Die Kriegerin von C E Bernard 
Cover of Palace of Blood by C E Bernard 
The Woman at No 13 by C K Williams 
Flowers for the Dead by C K Williams 
Das Lied der Nacht by C E Bernard 
Das Flüstern des Zwielichts by C E Bernard 
Der Klang des Feuers by C E Bernard
As C K Williams, she writes suspense fiction under a pen name honouring her grandfathers, Wilhelm Lehnen and Ferdinand Surmann.
events
Christine Lehnen will be reading from Penthesilea at the Historical Fictions Research Network Conference 2022 on 19/02/2022 at 19h30 GMT.
She will be touring Germany as C E Bernard as part of the “Masters of Fantasy” book tour throughout June 2022.
Christine will be presenting a paper on feminist mnemonic aesthetics and retellings of the Trojan war at the MSA Nordic Conference 2022.
fun
In her spare time, Christine will most likely be out hiking, inside reading, or laughing her head off at any and all episodes of Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics.
She is a loyal superhero at Cinema Therapy, lover of arthouse films, and seasoned traveller. Her current literary obsessions is Ursula K Le Guin.
Born in Recklinghausen in Western Germany, she has since lived in the United States, Australia, Canada and Paris and is now based in Bonn and Manchester, splitting her time between the UK and Germany.
Get in touch
Impressum | Data + Privacy | author photo © Eva-Lotte Hill |
© Christine Lehnen 2022