His first two novels,
Abschiebung (1995) and
Zwischenstationen (1999) both deal with the partly autobiographical experience of
exile, telling the stories of families who are migrating from the Soviet Union to other countries. Similar to Vertlib`s trail of immigrations, in
Zwischenstationen the family moves from Israel to Italy, followed by moves to Austria, the Netherlands, and the US, before finally settling in Vienna. Told from the perspective of a child, the novel reflects Vertlib's personal experience with migration: at home in Austria, but not Austrian-born, he based the story on his own feelings as a migrant child. Vertlib`s novel
Schimons Schweigen (2012) was the final episode of the unofficial trilogy revolving around migrant identity and coming to terms with his own odyssey. The protagonist, an Austrian author, travels to Israel, intending to solve the mystery of why his father and his father`s friend Schimon ceased to communicate with each other for 30 years. The novel discusses the issue of displacement and the compromised identity experienced by the protagonist when outside of his homeland as a result of travels between Israel and the Soviet Union. Vertlib's
Das besondere Gedächtnis der Rosa Masur (2001) tells the life story of a 92-year-old Jewish woman who migrated from Leningrad to
Germany, and in doing so, covers Russia`s 20th century history:
anti-Semitism,
communism and war. Similarly, the anthology
Mein erster Mörder. Lebensgeschichten. (2006) contains life stories and depicts the course of the 20th century. In this instance, the characters featured through three life stories are displaced persons struggling to survive the catastrophes of the century. In
Am Morgen des zwölften Tages (2009), the love story of a German woman and a
Muslim man depicts the complicated relationship between
Orient and
Occident, and between
Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Vertlib`s most recent novel,
Lucia Binar und die russische Seele (2015), features an 83-year-old woman and a young student who embark on an exceptional journey through Vienna, attempting to locate a
call centre employee. Over the course of their journey, they meet several colorful people, experiencing bizarre phenomena of the Austrian society as well as learning about problematic social and political conditions in Russia. In 1995, he became a member of the editorial board of the Viennese literary journal
Mit der Ziehharmonika, which became the
Zwischenwelt – Zeitschrift für Literatur des Exils und des Widerstands in 2000. Vertlib has numerous publications spanning short stories, articles, essays, reports, and reviews in German and Austrian newspapers and magazines. These include
Die Presse (Spectrum),
Wiener Zeitung (Extra), Rheinischer Merkur, FAZ, and Jüdische Allgemeine, as well as periodicals like Wochen Zeitung Zürich, Literatur und Kritik, and SALZ. He participated in the Klagenfurter Literaturkurs 1998 (International Forum for young writers) and the Festival of German-Language Literature, 1999, in
Klagenfurt. He held the Dresdner Chamisso Poetics Lectureship in 2006, wrote the libretto for an oratory from Wolfgang R. Kubizek in 2007, and in 2012–13 worked as a lecturer at the Institute of Language Arts at the University of Applied Arts, Vienna. ==Major themes==