Young people don’t just attend the ILB, they also help shape it through a variety of formats. Here you’ll find projects in which young people have taken part creatively around the festival – or can get actively involved right now.
For the 26th ILB, we once again invite all students grades 3 through 12 to take part in the poetry competition inspired by the festival motto. The 2026 motto is: You are born with your face turned everywhere The motto, chosen by ILB guest curator Jeet Thayil, an Indian author, reminds us that we come […]
For the 26th ILB, young people had a say in choosing which books would be featured at the festival. The project began when the reading club «Die LesArtigen» attended an event with young adult author Candy Gourlay at the 25th ILB. For the 26th ILB, the group worked with two literature educators to explore international […]
Summertime is reading time! Want to spend the summer break browsing this year’s festival books at your own pace? Welcome to the ILB Summer Reading Program! Starting June 29, you’ll find books from this year’s Young Program available to borrow or read on-site at three participating libraries: Mark-Twain-Bibliothek Marzahner Promenade 54/55Foyeropening hoursMon, Tue, Thu & […]
Partnerships with the writing competitions lyrix, THEO, and TjA, as well as the Vorlesewettbewerb (Reading Competition), ensure that young people at the International Literature Festival Berlin don’t just sit in the audience — they take the stage, too. The winners of these competitions appear in the Young ILB’s supporting program for selected readings, showcasing their […]
Four young people interviewed guests from the ilb’s Young Program. Salomee, Karolina, Lou, and Anton spoke with Sid Sharp, Javier Zamora, Dayeon Auh, and Henriette Reisner. A project by the LiteraturInitiative Berlin in cooperation with the Young Program of the international literature festival berlin. Asked & Answered!Salomee in Conversation with Sid Sharp Salomee interviews Canadian […]
To mark the festival’s 2025 anniversary year, the motto GLOW let young voices shine — through a poetry competition for children and young adults. The submissions were truly impressive: poems in German, English, Arabic, and Hindi, some even illustrated. In three age categories, the three most outstanding poems were honored. The first-place winners each receive […]
