Eva Bacon (28) is probably more known under her maiden name Eva Schlör. Eva was very active in AEGEE-München for several years – as vice-president, PR coordinator and SU organiser. After her marriage she left Europe and lives now in Brooklyn. There she works as Literary Scout at Bettina Schrewe Literary Scouting. The delegation of Les Anciens members in New York is growing – maybe a sign that we should make an event there?
Golden Oldie: When and where were you born?
Eva Bacon: In Offenbach am Main, back in 1983. Offenbach has been elected as the ugliest town in Germany. Seriously, don’t go there.
Golden Oldie: Where and what did you study?
Eva: I studied in München, a much nicer city – if you haven’t been, I strongly encourage you to go! I chose to study German and English Literature as well as Intercultural Communication, which required far more labour, despite only being a minor, but was also the subject I found the most interesting and got the most out of.
Golden Oldie: When did you join AEGEE and how?
Eva: When I was 16 I got into international work camps, and at one I met a lovely Swiss girl: Anna Zuber of AEGEE-Fribourg, whom some of you might know. She said “Hey, if you enjoy this, you’ll love AEGEE.” I joined in my first semester, dragging a friend to an information event.
Golden Oldie: Are you still member? If yes, of which antenna?
Eva: Sadly not, as I don’t live in Europe anymore.
Golden Oldie: You are best known for being board member AEGEE-München in several positions: VP and PR coordinator, plus being SU organiser. What were your favourite tasks?
Eva: I have always loved working with people, encouraging them to take on responsibility, help them grow. Which doesn’t mean that I simply delegated everything, but certainly delegating responsibility was a big learning process for me. I loved and still love working in a team. I still count the members of our 2005 board and the fellow-SU organizers that year among my closest friends. Working together, creating something great and meaningful together: this lets you get to know people in a much more intimate way than sitting in a university seminar together. You just know that you can rely on those people, because you have relied on them.
Golden Oldie: What were the biggest challenges and rewards of these tasks?
Eva: The challenges were linked to the events we organized. The SU budget is a very tight one, especially in an expensive city like München, so how do we get free accommodation? What to do if it rains for 75 percent of your summer university? Those two weeks were some of the hardest of my life, subsisting on little to no sleep, making last minute changes to the programme, discussing the benefits of washing dishes over using paper plates with participants… And I’m sure not everyone was happy with the result. This was also an important learning experience for me. But those were two of the damn best weeks of my life. And what can I say, two of our twenty participants got married…
Golden Oldie: Tell us a funny story of your AEGEE time.
Eva: So, I went to the Agora Izmir, which was fantastic, by the way, and one night, everyone was dancing in this ridiculously huge tent. Suddenly there was an earthquake! At least I thought that. To this day I’m not sure if it really was an earthquake. It might have been the beat, it might have been the effects of the European Night on me, but to this day I tell the story of my first earthquake. Partying and suddenly the ground just shook a little more.
Golden Oldie: What was your favourite AEGEE event?
Eva: The AEGEE-München Tramparties (R.I.P.).
Golden Oldie: What were your best and worst moments in AEGEE?
Eva: The best were during the Agoras, during the roll call. I always got goose bumps when people from one antenna by one got up and declared themselves “present”. Each time I couldn’t help but think that the European dream is reality, even if on a limited scale. The worst? Maybe the wakeup “call” at the Agora Enschede at 6 AM…
Golden Oldie: Which AEGEE member impressed you a lot?
Eva: Chris Eberl, the AEGEE-München president of 2004/2005. He dared to do things differently and showed me that being passionate about an issue and being professional don’t have to be mutually exclusive.
Golden Oldie: Any things you regret that you haven’t done them in AEGEE?
Eva: Organized an Agora.
Golden Oldie: What are you doing now as main occupation?
Eva: I’m a literary scout in New York. I email, read and drink for a living. Most of the day is spent in communication with clients or writing reports on books or newsletter updates. I read manuscripts on weekends and evenings. And in between, I get to know agents and editors. Finding out the latest inside scoop is a big part of the job – as is going to book release parties.
Golden Oldie: Did AEGEE influence your career decision?
Eva: Well, I work with books, but on an international level. I’m a consultant for international publishers on which translation rights they should acquire from the US market. So on a day to day basis I deal with Europeans of different nationalities. And it doesn’t hurt that I can say “hi”, “thank you” and “cheers” in a lot of their languages.
Golden Oldie: As a child, what did you dream to be your future job after growing up?
Eva: This will sound awfully boring: librarian. I always had a thing for books and librarians were the only profession I associated with books when I was 7 years old.
Golden Oldie: Are you single/married/married with 5 children?
Eva: Married, with 2 cats.
Golden Oldie: Which languages do you speak?
Eva: German, English, Catalan and high school French.
Golden Oldie: Where do you live now? What do you like/dislike about your city?
Eva: I live in Brooklyn, which I adore. It is really the young, creative center for which it has its reputation. And at the same time it’s very neighborhoody: no skyscrapers, I know my neighbors and the owner of the fish shop and ice cream place around the corner. And it’s just a subway ride from the beach and from Manhattan. My biggest complaint is that it’s not in Europe – I miss my European friends dearly! – and very damn far from everything. Over are the Munich days of a short train ride to the Mediterranean! Recently I took the train to Montreal. Doesn’t look that far from New York on the map, right? — It took 11 hours.
Golden Oldie: What are your best and least liked cities?
Eva: I adore Barcelona where I was fortunate enough to spend a semester. They really have the quality of life thing figured out there. And they speak the beautiful Catalan. Munich – I miss you, Munich! Brooklyn – and please don’t think of Brooklyn as a Manhattan suburb. Brooklyn has four million inhabitants! Istanbul, where I went to the fall Agora pre-event in 2005! Least: Offenbach, Brugge, Salzburg – the two latter ones touristically greatly overrated.
Golden Oldie: What is the furthest place you ever went to?
Eva: Kuromatsunai, Japan.
Golden Oldie: Which country would you like to visit in the near future?
Eva: Mexico, Chile, Brazil — while I’m on this side of the Atlantic…
Golden Oldie: What are your hobbies?
Eva: Travelling – as far as the limited number of American vacation days allow for it. Gardening/Balconying. Walking. Yoga.
Golden Oldie: What are you most afraid of?
Eva: Alzheimers.
Golden Oldie: What’s never missing in your fridge?
Eva: Soy sauce and beer.
Golden Oldie: How would you describe yourself in five keywords?
Eva: Enthusiastic. Ants-in-the-pants. Short. Bookish. Bavarian-at-heart.
