Dear audience,
«To read for an hour without bathing myself in blue light feels like an achievement,» Ben Lerner confessed in his conversation with Thomas Demand yesterday on the Große Bühne at Haus der Berliner Festspiele. Over the past few days, you have taken the time to immerse yourselves in the written word and to devote yourselves entirely to literature, poetry, music and performance. Today, at the halfway point of the 26th International Literature Festival Berlin, we look back on five days in which we turned our gaze in all directions.
Looking back: What has happened so far
A personal highlight for me was the opening address by this year’s Curator in Residence, Jeet Thayil, which showed us what art can mean in times of crisis. Accompanied by the ILB House Band, Thayil gave us hope in words that will resonate for a long time to come:
«Art changes the world by changing your mind. It makes the foreign familiar. It tells us we are not alone in our sense of isolation and floating grief, in our unresolved anxiety and fear of galloping apocalypse.»
You can read the full address, in the German translation by Hannes Becker, in Der Tagesspiegel of 4 September.
I was equally struck by the moments beyond the reading venues, which for me embody that particular festival feeling: I think, for example, of Dave Eggers, who tirelessly drew animals at the Lesesause of the Junges Programm and, at the presentation of his novel «Contrapposto», spontaneously sketched a portrait of Ulrich Matthes. Or of Vigdis Hjorth, who adorned countless books with short poems during her signing session.
Today also marks the start of the Junges Programm, which will present a wide range of events until 16 September. Thousands of children of all school years attended the readings and work-shops, and Özge Samancı opened the festival for the next generation of readers with her address «The slow superpower».
For the evening program, the halfway point comes after excursions to the Philharmonie and to the Dokumentationszentrum Flucht, Vertreibung, Versöhnung: yesterday, the new series «Satzwechsel», in cooperation with the Berliner Philharmoniker, opened in a sold-out Kammermusiksaal. Nobel laureate in literature Han Kang spoke about her work, framed by pieces by Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel. At the Dokumentationszentrum, authors who had to leave their homelands for political reasons spoke about writing and commitment in exile at «Politik im Exil: Demokratie aus der Ferne».
Looking ahead to the second half of the festival
As of today, 8 September, the ILB is back at Haus der Berliner Festspiele. Until 12 September, many new and established voices still await you there — among them Amitav Ghosh, who will present his novel «Ghost-Eye» on 8 September, weaving questions of the climate crisis and globalization into an epic story.
I am also looking forward to the exchange between Tatiana Țîbuleac and Ena Katarina Haler, who will discuss post-socialist storytelling on 9 September at «Auf den Ruinen der Väter». And finally, my personal insider tip: Maria Reva’s reading on 11 September, whose novel «Endling» moved me again and again in unexpected ways — and just as unexpectedly made me laugh.
You can find the full program on our website and in our digital program brochure.
Changes to the program:
Please note the following changes to the program:
Wednesday, 9 September:
Daniela Catrileo: «Piñen & Chilco. Mapuche-Literature in the Cities » is moved back by half an hour and now begins at 6.30 p.m.
Thursday, 10 September
For «The Art of Writing: Christian Kracht & Katie Kitamura», new ticket allocations are available in the Berliner Festspiele ticket shop.
Saturday, 12 September:
Dana Vowinckel & Ruth-Maria Thomas: «Lust auf Liebe» now takes place on the Große Bühne and begins at 8.30 p.m.
Max Czollek: «Zweifelssohn» now takes place on the Seitenbühne and begins at 8.15 p.m.
We look forward to the second half with you — our gaze turned in all directions!
Warm regards,
Dennis Kölling
Head of Communications