Sarah Wedl-Wilson, Senator for Kultur und Gesellschaftlichen Zusammenhalt
25 years of the international literature festival berlin – congratulations! The ilb brings voices to the stage that open up new worlds, challenge our own perspectives, and immerse us in different ways of thinking. Especially in times of social division, this festival is an indispensable forum, showcasing the richness of world literature and strengthening our open, solidaristic society.
My thanks go to Lavinia Frey, the wonderful team, all the authors, translators, organizers, and supporters – you make literature come alive and share it with passion. I wish the ilb another 25 years of inspiration, curious audiences, and a bright future. As Senator for Culture, I am committed to ensuring that we can continue to celebrate such milestones – here at this place of language, exchange, and joy.
Gesche Joost, President, Goethe-Institut
Happy 25th, dear literature festival! Born in 2000, you’re Gen Z – digitally savvy, committed to individuality and freedom, to climate action and social justice – and your life demands a sense of purpose. With this year’s program, you’ve once again proven just that. Keep it up – and have a fantastic celebration!
Olaf Zimmermann, Executive Director, Deutscher Kulturrat, Berlin
In its 25 years, the international literature festival berlin has become a cornerstone of Berlin’s cultural life. It’s impossible to imagine the city without it, and each year it brings exciting new discoveries. I look forward to at least another 25 years.
Iris Laufenberg, Artistic Director, Deutsches Theater Berlin
Dear Lavinia Frey, dear colleagues of the international literature festival berlin,
You’re celebrating a birthday – and we’re celebrating with you! Because the ilb and the Deutsches Theater Berlin share a common passion: a love of language and literature. A night at the theater may be many things – body, light, sound, music, space, a social act – but for me, and for us at the DT, it is always also a celebration of the written and spoken word. The DT is an authors’ theater. Literature is in our DNA. Nothing moves us more, nothing opens a window to the world more vividly, than a well-told story.
It is enriching that the ilb gathers the very best storytellers in Berlin year after year. The range is unique: no rising star, no continent has been missing from your stages. Together with you, we’ve welcomed Salman Rushdie and Anne Applebaum to the DT, and we’re looking forward to collaborating with Arundhati Roy. Berlin’s literary world would be poorer without you. You are both treasure trove and summit. Congratulations on a quarter century of world literature.
Tom Kraushaar, Publishing Director, Klett-Cotta Verlag
The ILB is exactly what you hope to be at 25: already grown up, but still cool!
Congratulations on 25 years of ILB – the smartest, most cosmopolitan, and most innovative festival we have.
Literaturhaus Berlin
Dr. Annette Wostrak
LesArt, Berlin Center for Children’s and Young Adult Literature
Co-Speaker of the Berlin Literature Conference
Warmest congratulations on the 25th international literature festival berlin in 2025!
For many years, LesArt, the Berlin Center for Children’s and Young Adult Literature, has partnered with the festival’s young program. Artists such as Peter van den Ende, Simon van der Geest, Rose Lagercrantz, Marcin Szczygielski, Shaun Tan, Thé Tjong-Khing, Kathleen Vereecken, and Li Xiaoguang have been our guests, enriching our interactive events with conversations and workshops. This year, we look forward to welcoming illustrator and author Dayeon Auh for an event around her book A Mountain, a Fall, a Long Life.
It is especially rewarding when ilb projects become part of LesArt’s program over the long term, such as those based on That Summer by Wei Jie and Li Xiaoguang, Letting Go by Peter van den Ende, or Rose Lagercrantz’s Dunne books.
The cultural exchange offered by the ilb, with its wealth of new ideas, is unique – an indispensable contribution to democracy and artistic freedom.
I wish the ilb all the best for the future, above all a stable financial foundation through appropriate and honest recognition and support – both from the federal government and the State of Berlin.
To directors Lavinia Frey and Lena Scheitz and your team, I wish every success in carrying out the program – in 2025 and for many years to come!
Katharina Schultens, Director, Haus für Poesie Berlin
Dear Lavinia, this year our festivals get to celebrate a quarter century together – Berlin truly knows how to do literature, in all languages and formats. We are especially grateful for the wonderful collaboration of the past three years and wish the ilb continued curiosity, international inspiration, and many poetic moments. Here’s to always-inspiring exchange!
With heartfelt congratulations from all of us at Haus für Poesie and the poesiefestival berlin,
Katharina
Literaturforum im Brecht-Haus
JFG and Loop extend their thanks and congratulations for 25 years of commitment to international literature!
Moritz Malsch, Head of the schreiben&leben advice center at Lettrétage
Prof. Dr. Patricia Rahemipour, Director, Institute for Museum Research, Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz
The international literature festival shows us: literature is more than reading – it means dialogue, understanding, and new perspectives.
For 25 years, you have succeeded in giving words a stage, creating encounters, and honoring those devoted to language. What an achievement! Every year you manage to turn Berlin into a city of stories, which is simply wonderful. Keep going – and thank you for this annual state of exception!
Aylin Efe, Istanbul International Literature Festival Coordinator
The international literature festival berlin is one of the largest literature festivals in the world, one I look forward to each year with excitement and amazement. ILB’s greatness lies not only in its ability to unite authors and readers but also in its role as an inspiration and pioneer for fellow festivals worldwide. Building a community this vast and sustaining it for 25 years is no small feat. Cheers to many more 25ths!
Christine Regus, Designated Secretary General, Kulturstiftung der Länder
I remember how, in the early years, many doubted whether Berlin really needed another festival – and for literature, no less. How radiant the ilb now stands in its 25th year! It’s become an unshakable part of the cultural and literary calendar. My congratulations to all those who have shaped the ilb over the years into what it is today: truly international, demanding in the best sense, and at the same time entertaining. It beautifully conveys just how exciting literature can be. Long live the ilb!
Dr. Cornelie Kunkat – Consultant, KULTUREXPERTEN
25 years of the ilb. What an incredible gift this has been for the citizens of this city. Year after year, we’ve been able to experience a remarkable program. But especially in this anniversary year, it’s clear to me that such a festival is anything but a given. Economically and politically, we are confronted with many uncertainties. That’s why we should recognize anew the artistic and political value of this wonderful festival – and use it: for exchange, for inspiration, and to challenge supposed certainties.
Karin von Hülsen, Chair, pädquis Foundation
As the head of an educational foundation focused on early childhood, I am particularly fascinated by the festival’s young program.
Through encounters with international authors and hands-on workshops, young people catch the spark of enthusiasm for stories and the book as a medium. In light of the deeply concerning language skills of so many children in preschools and elementary schools, the festival takes on an added relevance. Thank you!
Mónica Ojeda, Ecuadorian novelist and poet
En el ilb tuve una experiencia maravillosa: no solo pude conversar con lectores, sino conocer a Bora Chung, con quien tuve un conversatorio y una lectura. Le agradezco mucho a la organización que hayan hecho posible que autoras de geografías tan lejanas puedan encontrarse en un mismo espacio para hablar de literatura. ¡Feliz 25 aniversario!
(At the ilb, I had a wonderful experience: not only was I able to connect with readers, but I also met Bora Chung, with whom I held a conversation and a reading session. I am deeply grateful to the organization for making it possible for authors from such distant geographies to come together in one space to talk about literature. Happy 25th anniversary!)
Claudia Piñeiro, argentinische Schriftstellerin
Siempre recuerdo con mucho cariño mi paso por el festival de Berlín. Fue una oportunidad no sólo para compartir impresiones con lectores de esa ciudad, sino también para escuchar a admirados colegas. Pero más allá de los momentos literarios, recuerdo especialmente a Kathie, la voluntaria que me acompañó en esos días y a Patricia, el “ángel” que me llevó a conocer la ciudad, dos personas amables y profesionales que hicieron mi estancia aún mejor.
(I always remember my time at the Berlin festival with great fondness. It was an opportunity not only to share impressions with readers from that city but also to listen to admired colleagues. But beyond the literary moments, I especially remember Kathie, the volunteer who accompanied me during those days, and Patricia, the ‚angel‘ who took me to see the city—two kind and professional people who made my stay even better.)
Selva Almada, argentinische Schriftstellerin
En tiempos difíciles como los que transitamos, celebro con alegría los 25 años de ILB. Un espacio diverso, estimulante y abierto al diálogo: eso que tanto necesitamos frente al avance de las derechas en el mundo. Recuerdo con mucho cariño el festival que fue la oportunidad para encontrarme con las lectoras y los lectores de la ciudad.
(In difficult times like the ones we are living through, I joyfully celebrate the 25 years of the ilb. A diverse, stimulating space open to dialogue: something we so desperately need in the face of the advance of right-wing movements in the world. I remember the festival with great affection; it was an opportunity to meet with the readers of the city.)
Pilar Quintana, kolumbianische Schriftstellerin
Felicito al ilb en su aniversario veinticinco. No es un pequeño logro mantenerse como emblema de diversidad, resistencia y celebración de las letras y la cultura en esta época y por tanto tiempo. ¡Que sigan las buenas obras!
(I congratulate the ilb on its twenty-fifth anniversary. It is no small feat to remain an emblem of diversity, resistance, and the celebration of literature and culture in this day and age and for so long. May the good work continue!)
Yuri Herrera, mexikanischer Schriftsteller
Me uno a la celebración por los 25 años del Festival Internacional de Literatura de Berlín, en el que he tenido la oportunidad de participar en anteriores ocasiones. Es fundamental que estos espacios de libertad sigan existiendo, en especial en una época como la nuestra, cuando hay un genocidio sucediendo frente a nuestros ojos y la maquinaria de la censura se encarga de tratar de que lo ignoremos.
(I join in the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Berlin International Literature Festival, which I have had the opportunity to participate in on previous occasions. It is essential that these spaces of freedom continue to exist, especially in a time like ours, when a genocide is happening before our eyes and the machinery of censorship is busy trying to make us ignore it.)