Dear Audience,
Beginnings have a proverbial magic to them. For authors, the moment when they first read from a new book and speak about it in public is a very special one. The journey with the new book begins – and you can be part of it.
At the ilb 2025, you will have several opportunities to experience premieres of literary new releases from this fall. We will present more than 20 new books.
Numerous book premieres at our festival are also premieres of German translations: outstanding actors lend their voices to these texts.
On the opening night, Martina Gedeck will read at the book premiere of Booker Prize winner Alan Hollinghurst. »Our Evenings« tells the story of a gay actor’s life in England, spanning half a century and leading into our politically divided present.
Frank Arnold will accompany the German premiere of Zhang Yueran’s »Women, Seated«. The novel explores a corruption case in China’s urban upper class, in which a child’s kidnapper unexpectedly finds herself in the role of a surrogate mother.
Katja Riemann will read at the premiere of the new novel by Isabel Allende. »My Name is Emilia del Valle« recounts the life story of a woman who, in the second half of the 19th century, seeks her own path between the USA and Chile. Isabel Allende will participate remotely.
Marie Bloching, known from the German hit series »Die Discounter«, will read from Mieko Kawakami’s »Sisters in Yellow«. In this dark coming-of-age novel, seventeen-year-old Hana and her friends from their bar called Lemon are drawn ever deeper into Japan’s criminal underworld, risking more than just the money they all lack.
Benito Bause will lend his voice to Javier Zamora’s moving, autobiographical novel »Solito« about the dangerous journey of a nine-year-old boy from El Salvador who sets out on foot to join his parents in the United States.
After the readings, you will have the opportunity to meet the authors and have your personal copy signed – for yourself or as a gift.
Warm regards,
Dr. Simone Schröder [Head of Program]
and the ilb Team