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Kafka Letter, in Which he Says he Can No Longer Write, Goes to Auction

FILE PHOTO: Tourists look at a statue of famous German-language writer Franz Kafka in central Prague July 3, 2013, on the day marking the 130th anniversary of his birth in Prague./File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Tourists look at a statue of famous German-language writer Franz Kafka in central Prague July 3, 2013, on the day marking the 130th anniversary of his birth in Prague./File Photo
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Kafka Letter, in Which he Says he Can No Longer Write, Goes to Auction

FILE PHOTO: Tourists look at a statue of famous German-language writer Franz Kafka in central Prague July 3, 2013, on the day marking the 130th anniversary of his birth in Prague./File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Tourists look at a statue of famous German-language writer Franz Kafka in central Prague July 3, 2013, on the day marking the 130th anniversary of his birth in Prague./File Photo

A letter from Franz Kafka in which he tells a friend he can no longer write is being offered at auction 100 years after his death, with an estimate of up to $114,000, Reuters reported.
Kafka, one of the 20th century's greatest writers, known for works such as "The Trial" and "The Metamorphosis", wrote the letter to Austrian poet and publisher Albert Ehrenstein, in what is believed to be a response for a request to contribute to literary journal "Die Gefährten".
In the one-page letter in German and signed just "Kafka", the Prague-born novelist says he has not written anything in three years.
It is believed to have been written around April-June 1920 from a sanatorium in Merano in northern Italy, according to auction house Sotheby's. Kafka was diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1917, which he does not discuss in the letter, Reuters said.
"When worries have penetrated to a certain layer of inner existence, writing and complaining obviously cease, indeed my resistance was not too strong," Kafta wrote, according to a translation.
Sotheby's is offering the letter in its "Books, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to Modern" sale, running June 26 - July 11, with a price estimate of 70,000 pounds - 90,000 pounds ($88,445 - $113,715).
"It is a very poignant letter written towards the end of his life, where he expresses his despair at writing again and his feelings of... of writer's block," Gabriel Heaton, specialist in books and manuscripts at Sotheby's, told Reuters.
"He's physically very, very weak and he's beginning, however, this very intense correspondence with Milena (Pollakova-Jesenska), this great love of his last years, which would spark renewed creativity. So although he's here in despair, he's actually on the verge of one final bout of wonderful, wonderful writing."
Kafka went on to write "The Castle" and "A Hunger Artist". He died on June 3, 1924, aged 40.
Ehrenstein eventually sent the letter to artist Dolly Perutz. It is being sold with the envelope Ehrenstein used.

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Greek Firefighters Battle New Wildfire Near Athens amid Strong Winds

A firefighting helicopter makes a water drop as a wildfire burns in Keratea, near Athens, Greece, June 30, 2024. REUTERS/Giorgos Moutafis
A firefighting helicopter makes a water drop as a wildfire burns in Keratea, near Athens, Greece, June 30, 2024. REUTERS/Giorgos Moutafis
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Greek Firefighters Battle New Wildfire Near Athens amid Strong Winds

A firefighting helicopter makes a water drop as a wildfire burns in Keratea, near Athens, Greece, June 30, 2024. REUTERS/Giorgos Moutafis
A firefighting helicopter makes a water drop as a wildfire burns in Keratea, near Athens, Greece, June 30, 2024. REUTERS/Giorgos Moutafis

Greek firefighters were battling a wildfire south of Athens on Sunday amid strong winds, just hours after managing to contain blazes in a mountainous area also near the capital as well as on an island in the Aegean Sea.

Dozens of firefighters, backed up by 17 water-carrying aircraft, fought to tame the new fire in a sparsely-populated area near the town of Keratea, some 35 kilometres (22 miles) south of Athens, Reuters reported.

Greek television showed at least one house in flames as smoke from burning pine and olive trees billowed into the sky.

With hot, windy conditions across much of Greece, dozens of wildfires broke out over the weekend and authorities advised people to stay away from forested areas.

Firefighters were still engaged on the island of Serifos where a fire had broken out amid low vegetation on Saturday and spread quickly, fanned by strong winds, damaging houses and prompting the evacuation of several hamlets.

The wildfire, which at one point had raged across 15 kilometres (9.3 miles), damaged holiday homes and storehouses, the island's mayor, Kostas Revinthis, told Greek television.

Another fire in the mountainous forest of Parnitha near a nature reserve just outside Athens had eased by Sunday morning, officials said.

The strong winds are not expected to abate until later on Sunday, meteorologists said.

Wildfires are common in the Mediterranean country but have become more devastating in recent years as summers have become hotter, drier and windier, which scientists link to the effects of climate change.

After last summer's deadly forest fires and following its warmest winter on record, Greece developed a new doctrine, which includes deploying an extra fire engine to each new blaze, speeding up air support and clearing forests.