25 sold-out events, occupancy rises to 85 per cent, the Young Program reaches almost 3,000 more readers than last year, sold-out launch of the new series «Satzwechsel» with the Berliner Philharmoniker and Nobel laureate Han Kang
After fourteen days, the 26th International Literature Festival Berlin (ILB) ends on 16 September 2026. 100 writers from around 40 countries and a total of 240 participants from literature, music, academia, and society shaped some 120 events, including readings, panels, performances, and workshops. More than 25,000 visitors came to the Haus der Berliner Festspiele and the festival’s other venues, more than 11,000 of them to the Young Program. Occupancy rose from 80 to 85 per cent compared with the previous year.
FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS
Among the best-attended events was the sold-out launch of the new series «Satzwechsel» in cooperation with the Berliner Philharmoniker: on 7 September, Nobel laureate in literature Han Kang presented her essay collection «Light and Thread» in dialogue with chamber music. At «The Art of Writing» on 10 September, Christian Kracht and Katie Kitamura discussed the influences on and common ground between their works. Booker Prize winner Douglas Stuart presented his new novel «John of John» on 4 September, and on 5 September Dave Eggers appeared live in Berlin for the first time with «Contrapposto».
A total of 25 events were sold out, 11 of them in the Young Program. Full houses included «Lust auf Liebe» with Dana Vowinckel and Ruth-Maria Thomas, the evening «Politik im Exil» at the Documentation Centre for Displacement, Expulsion, Reconciliation, and the premiere of Cornelia Funke’s picture book «Wo Feen Nester bauen und Kobolde aus Büchern schlüpfen» as part of the first-ever Lesesause. In the Young Program, readings by Özge Samancı, Sydney Smith, Delphine Minoui and Don Pablo Mulemba were among those that attracted the largest audiences.
Events featuring new voices, some of them appearing in Berlin for the first time, were also in particularly high demand: they were frequently sold out and clearly exceeded expected audience numbers – among them Maria Reva’s presentation of her debut novel «Endling», Tatiana Țîbuleac and Ena Katarina Haler’s dialogue on post-socialist storytelling at «Auf den Ruinen der Väter», and Daniela Catrileo’s reading of her novels «Piñen» and «Chilco».
Interest was also strong online: 12 events were streamed and have so far been viewed more than 13,500 times. The most-viewed was the discussion «Der Streit um das Recht: Zur Lage der Debattenkultur in Deutschland» with Frauke Brosius-Gersdorf and Julia Reuschenbach, which has already been watched 4,173 times.
THEMATIC FOCUS
Under this year’s motto «You are born with your face turned everywhere», the 26th International Literature Festival Berlin celebrated reading as an act of radical openness that can open new perspectives in times of polarization and populism. At the same time, the festival’s debates returned again and again to the value of literature as a medium of conscious attention and as an antidote to the digital overload caused by social media and AI:
«What’s really changed is the degradation of our collective attention with the rise of the phone and the screen and the algorithm (…) to read for an hour without bathing myself in blue light feels like an achievement (…) I really do think everything in the culture is antithetical to the kind of attention that literature solicits and depends upon, and I also think that makes it all the more precious.»
BEN LERNER AT THE 26TH ILB
Ben Lerner’s observation, made while presenting his novel «Transcription», summed up the guiding questions shared by many events: What role does reading play in today’s economy of distraction? What does human writing mean in the age of artificial intelligence? And what political futures are emerging? In its «Dialogue & Discussions» series, the festival also took up the debates of the present, for instance in «Der Streit um das Recht» with Frauke Brosius-Gersdorf, Julia Reuschenbach, Jürgen Kaube and Sandra Kegel, in «Zukunft Deutschland: AfD an der Macht?» with Justus Bender and Heike Klüver, and in «Think Big! Tech Bros und KI-Revolution» with Aya Jaff, Marie Kilg and Wolfgang Ullrich.
NEW FORMATS
The ILB expanded its Curator in Residence program into a «festival within the festival»: across ten events, Jeet Thayil brought together art forms and cultures in a «jam session». For the first time in the festival’s history, a specially assembled jazz trio – the ILB House Band led by Diego Piñera – accompanied authors on stage. The Poetry Night returned in a two-part format that first carried poetry to changing venues in the neighborhood of the Haus der Berliner Festspiele and then brought it to the stage.
The Haus der Berliner Festspiele was once again the festival center. From the foyer, radio3’s festival radio broadcasted live and captured the voices of authors and visitors. As in previous years, the Festival Kitchen was a popular meeting place for exchange and conversation. The Dussmann book table was again well frequented by visitors, matching the level of the highly successful previous year.
Download press images 2026 | Livestream recordings 2026 | Broadcasts on radio3
YOUNG PROGRAM
This year, the Young Program of the 26th International Literature Festival Berlin reached more than 11,000 visitors – almost 3,000 more children and young people than in 2025, an increase of 32 per cent on the previous year. 100 participants, including 18 authors, shaped 33 events and 26 workshops. Thousands of children from all school years attended the readings and workshops. Özge Samancı opened the festival for the next generation of readers with her speech «The slow superpower». Among the highlights was the first-ever Lesesause on 6 September, a celebration for children and their families with readings by Cornelia Funke, Dave Eggers and other guests, hands-on activities, and a concert party with the band Muckemacher.
To the Young Program
OUTLOOK 2027
The 27th International Literature Festival Berlin will take place next year:
16 to 26 September 2027 Program & Young Program
silent green and other venues
Further information: literaturfestival.com | Download media kit and press images
MAIN FUNDER
Hauptstadtkulturfonds
MAIN FUNDER Curator in Residence Program
LOTTO-Stiftung Berlin
MAIN SPONSOR YOUNG PROGRAM & PARTNER LESESAUSE
Thalia
AS A GUEST OF
Berliner Festspiele
PRESENTED BY
radio3
Press contact
Dr. Dennis Kölling
Head of Communications
International Literature Festival Berlin
dennis.koelling@literaturfestival.com | +49 (0) 30 27 87 86 42