On Creative Processes and the Urge to Write.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"text_area","text_area":"
Anyone who meets JULIA MALIK will struggle to put her in a box. And that\u2019s a good thing. She\u2019s an actress, violinist and author, with her second novel, Ich will dich lebend, to be released in September. Malik works across disciplines, placing no limits on her creative output. She says it\u2019s her curiosity that drives her to keep exploring different disciplines. Malik \ufb01rst became known as an actress, appearing in theatre, \ufb01lms and TV series. For a long time, writing took a back seat professionally, even though she had always written \u2013 as a child, and even more so as a teenager. What held her back from pursuing it more seriously was her lack of a professional background in writing. A native of Berlin, Malik \ufb01rst studied acting and music in Hamburg before devoting herself to theatre and television productions. She lacked the courage to pursue a career as a writer. But the desire remained: after she returned to writing as a magazine contributor, she quickly realised that she wanted to tell stories.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"images","gallery":[{"ID":133286,"id":133286,"title":"602A1786","filename":"602A1786.jpg","filesize":231407,"url":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/602A1786.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/de\/article\/julia-malik\/602a1786\/","alt":"","author":"1","description":"","caption":"","name":"602a1786","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":133284,"date":"2026-09-22 07:53:30","modified":"2026-09-22 11:21:25","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1280,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/602A1786.jpg","thumbnail-width":64,"thumbnail-height":96,"medium":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/602A1786.jpg","medium-width":1280,"medium-height":1920,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/602A1786.jpg","medium_large-width":1280,"medium_large-height":1920,"large":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/602A1786.jpg","large-width":1280,"large-height":1920,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/602A1786-1024x1536.jpg","1536x1536-width":1024,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/602A1786.jpg","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":1920,"trp-custom-language-flag":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/602A1786-8x12.jpg","trp-custom-language-flag-width":8,"trp-custom-language-flag-height":12,"wpvr_mobile":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/602A1786.jpg","wpvr_mobile-width":1280,"wpvr_mobile-height":1920}}],"settings":{"fit_width":"4","caption":"Photo BELLA LIEBERBERG (2) at Onette, Berlin."}},{"acf_fc_layout":"text_area","text_area":"
Writing came easily; she immediately felt that she was in her element. \u201cI have to write this now \u2013 it needs to be written. I have the sentences in my head and want to write them down, but there wasn\u2019t always space. So sometimes I wrote at the the supermarket in the play area or by the edge of the pool. Mostly, of course, when the kids were asleep or at daycare.\u201d This is how Malik describes her daily life, caught between her role as a mother and her creative process as an author.<\/p>\n
Parallels can be drawn with the protagonist of her \ufb01rst novel, Brauch Blau: a single mother of two who works in show business. Does she identify with her character? Malik says that, for her, it\u2019s less about the character and more about the feeling she wants to convey. There is the constant balancing act between family obligations and the need for creative freedom \u2013 a con\ufb02ict that many women and mothers face and one that, according to Malik, must be addressed by society. \u201cThere\u2019s this absolute longing for freedom as an artist, and also the necessity of it when you do this professionally \u2013 and of course, you have to take care of the children. Sometimes the two clash so sharply, it hurts. And it\u2019s frightening.\u201d<\/p>\n
When asked how she manages this balancing act, Malik says she can never fully master it. Rather, it is a process, a constant swaying back and forth between the two, an ongoing attempt to \ufb01nd a balance through different phases. It isn\u2019t ideal. It isn\u2019t always easy, but time and again, it feels good.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"images","gallery":[{"ID":133292,"id":133292,"title":"602A1697","filename":"602A1697-1-e1790066738625.jpg","filesize":357317,"url":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/602A1697-1-e1790066738625.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/de\/602a1697-2\/","alt":"","author":"1","description":"","caption":"","name":"602a1697-2","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":0,"date":"2026-09-22 08:12:09","modified":"2026-09-22 08:45:12","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1270,"height":1642,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/602A1697-1-e1790066738625.jpg","thumbnail-width":74,"thumbnail-height":96,"medium":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/602A1697-1-e1790066738625.jpg","medium-width":1270,"medium-height":1642,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/602A1697-1-e1790066738625.jpg","medium_large-width":1270,"medium_large-height":1642,"large":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/602A1697-1-e1790066738625.jpg","large-width":1270,"large-height":1642,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/602A1697-1-e1790066738625-1188x1536.jpg","1536x1536-width":1188,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/602A1697-1-e1790066738625.jpg","2048x2048-width":1270,"2048x2048-height":1642,"trp-custom-language-flag":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/602A1697-1-e1790066738625-9x12.jpg","trp-custom-language-flag-width":9,"trp-custom-language-flag-height":12,"wpvr_mobile":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/602A1697-1-e1790066738625.jpg","wpvr_mobile-width":1270,"wpvr_mobile-height":1642}}],"settings":{"fit_width":"4","caption":"Photo BELLA LIEBERBERG (2) at Onette, Berlin."}},{"acf_fc_layout":"text_area","text_area":"
Her new book features strong female protagonists. Her characters emerge in different stages. First, she says, there\u2019s a sense of a character, who might then take shape by merging three or four people she knows into a single \ufb01gure; at other times, the characters take on gestures of Malik\u2019s own. She elaborates on her connection to them: \u201cThe two main characters in Ich will dich lebend are, on the surface, entirely new characters, but they both have something of me in them.\u201d What her books have in common is that they do not shy away from difficult subjects. These are issues that need their own space, their own stage: domestic violence, con\ufb02icts between different roles and the path towards female self-empowerment. She was still working on her second book when the verdict in the Pelicot trial was announced: \u201cThere was this brilliant line: \u2018Shame must change sides.\u2019 But the imbalance extends to many more areas.\u201d<\/p>\n
Julia Malik tackles these issues in her books without \ufb02inching, bringing them into the open. Writing and speaking about these topics, she says, is the \ufb01rst step, though she re\ufb02ects critically on the limits of her own approach: \u201cUnfortunately, it\u2019s less activist in nature. I want to understand these con\ufb02icts through the microcosm of a story, to draw attention to the fact that they exist. They\u2019re happening \u2013 so why aren\u2019t we looking at them?\u201d<\/p>\n"}]},"yoast_head":"\n