The new China, the failure of the Arab Spring, Russia’s conquestof Crimea, the war in eastern Ukraine, Trump, Bolsonaro, and Erdogan ― these few buzzwords alone outline that a new era of world politics has begun, one that is accompanied by a sharp reversal of the democratic, libertarian impulses of
Marko Martin ― nominated for the Leipzig Book Fair Prize in 2019 for »Das Haus in Habana« [tr: The House in Havana] ― spent the turn of the year 2019/ 2020 in Hong Kong. He took part in the democracy protest movement without suspecting that it would be the last
In a »tableau of poetic reduction« [Tagesspiegel], Russian-born Yulia Marfutova [participates via live stream] tells of a Russian village at the time of the fall of tsarist rule and of the effects big politics has on little people. Nominated for the Aspekte Prize 2020, Cihan Acar´s »Hawaii« is about Kemal
Sayaka Murata, author of the bestseller »Convenience Store Woman«, tells in her new novel about young Natsuki and her cousin Yu, neither of whom feels they belong to this world. With a protagonist »on an escalating odyssey between lostness and escaping the world, powerlessness and resistance, naivety and insanity«, Sayaka
With her science fiction satire about corporate language, nominated for the 2021 International Booker Prize, the Danish author takes aim at the workplace in late capitalist society and explores the question of what it means to be human. »She muses on transhumanism, illuminates the dreamlike logic of inner lives, contrasts artistic
The 2002 debut novel by Tayari Jones, author of the New York Times bestsellers »An American Marriage« and »Silver Sparrow«, is now available in German. Told from the perspective of three fifth-graders ― Tasha, Rodney, and Octavia ― Jones tells of child murders in Atlanta, a series of murders that predominantly
In “The Foreigner’s Home”, Toni Morrison talks about cultural and social marginalization. Following the film screening, her son Ford Morrison will offer a glimpse behind the scenes and recount how he realized the film project in 2018. He will talk to journalist and film critic Verena Lueken about Morrison’s work
Television writer, journalist, and novelist Jackie Thomae has produced two critically acclaimed, very different novels: »Momente der Klarheit« [2017; tr: Moments of Clarity] and »Brüder [2019; Brothers]. In this event, the author, whose second book has sparked discussions about literary representations of issues of identity and origin, shares how her
Television writer, journalist, and novelist Jackie Thomae has produced two critically acclaimed, very different novels: »Momente der Klarheit« [2017; tr: Moments of Clarity] and »Brüder [2019; Brothers]. In this event, the author, whose second book has sparked discussions about literary representations of issues of identity and origin, shares how her
Since the beginning of the Corona pandemic, the news worldwide has been dominated by the pandemic. As early as May 2020, virologist Melanie Brinkmann joined many physicians and scientists in calling for politicians to take effective action against misinformation about the COVID19 pandemic and to defend virologists from uninformed criticism.
Why are »Aspekte«, »ttt« and «Druckfrisch« only made for people who get up at noon? Don’t they belong on prime time? Why are literary programs and reviews being scaled back or cancelled altogether throughout the country? Why do the decision-makers take it upon themselves to offer almost nothing but an array of
How did it come to be, that gigantic army of terracotta warriors in the ancient imperial city of Xi’an, masterand showpiece of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in the People’s Republic of China? In his new novel, Tilman Spengler paints a picture of the »engineers of history«, who see the
