Bernhard’s Counterword

Interview with Lars Iyer This is a full-length version of a written interview conducted by Lisa Akhila Plakolm and Juliane Werner of the GlobalBernhard project team, based in the Department of Comparative Literature at the University of Vienna. A shortened version of the interview was published in a book to accompany the exhibition ‘Thomas Bernhard Today’ at the Literature Museum of the Austrian National Library (April 29, 2026 – February 21, 2027) 1 Who is Thomas Bernhard to you, on a personal level?Henry Rollins, speaking of the late Mark E. Smith, lead singer of the group, The Fall: He really is that guy you hoped you could be, but weren’t. If you’re in band, you really don’t want to care what anyone thinks, but you do. And you really want to be able to crank out a new record every nine months, but you can’t. And you’d love to keep surprising people and baffling your critics by every three albums or so turning out your best album, but you don’t. Thomas Bernhard really was that…