Wed. 06.09.23
18:00
Festival Opening
Navid Kermani, Francesca Melandri, Manjeet Mann
1933–2023
Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin (Potsdamer Straße)
“Our program aims to disrupt, broadens horizons and connects across borders.”
– Purpose of the ilb team 2023
in alphabetical order
Literatures of the World: Taqi Akhlaqi, PEN Berlin, Ulrich Schreiber, Dr. Simone Schröder
Reflections: Lavinia Frey, Dr. Nora Mengel, PEN Berlin, Ulrich Schreiber,
International Children’s and Youth Literature: Christoph Rieger, Henrike Schmidt
Literature behind bars: Anouk Krämer
Lana Bastašić: Bosnian writer. Her debut novel “Uhvati zeca” (“Catch the Rabbit”) tells of a European road trip and the friendship of two girls. Her most recent book is the short story collection “Man in the Moon”, which she will present at ilb.
→ 14.9. 7:30 pm Lana Bastašić: Man in the Moon | HAUS DER BERLINER FESTSPIELE
Paolo Giordano: Italian author whose new novel “Tasmania” is a light-hearted tale of love and friendship and the search for meaning in times of climate change.
→ 11.9. 7:30 pm Paolo Giordano: Tasmania | HAUS DER BERLINER FESTSPIELE
Dinçer Güçyeter: Writer, poet and publisher. Awarded the prize of the Leipzig Book Fair in 2023. He often uses autobiographical sources in his writing, including photographs that appear to be taken from family albums. Major topic: the history of Turkish guest workers in Germany.
→ 15.9. 9:00 pm Dincer Güçyeter: Our Germany Fairy Tale | HAUS DER BERLINER FESTSPIELE
Werner Herzog: World-famous director and author of novels and essays. There are numerous references to literature in his work – whether off-screen narrative voices or literary references in the stories.
Luisa Neubauer: Climate protection activist and publicist. Best-known German face of Fridays for Future.
Adam Thirlwell: One of the important contemporary British authors. Postmodern, playful, at the same time a great, powerful storyteller.
→ 15.09. 15.09. 7:30 pm Adam Thirlwell: The Future Future | HAUS DER BERLINER FESTSPIELE
Ayanna Lloyd Banwo: author from Trinidad who has recently moved to London. Her euphorically received debut novel “When We Were Birds” is set in a Port Angeles cemetery, where a young Rastafarian works, around whom a love story unfolds. Published in German by Diogenes in 2023.
→ 11.9. 11.9. 9:00 pm Beyond Western Mythologies | HAUS DER BERLINER FESTSPIELE
Bora Chung: Korean author who is best known for her short stories. These play with fantastic elements and horror motifs. “Cursed Bunny” was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2022 and will be published in German by Culturbooks in 2023.
Moshtari Hilal: Artist and author. Together with Sinthujan Varatharajah she published “English in Berlin” – an examination of linguistic inclusion and exclusion. In her volume “Hässlichkeit” (Hanser, 2023), she combines personal experiences with reflections on ideas of beauty in a very open, partly lyrical form. Her reading will be a mixture of performance with image projections and conversation.
→ 13.9. 7:30 pm Moshtari Hilal: Ugliness | HAUS DER BERLINER FESTSPIELE
Doireann Ní Ghríofa: multi-award winning Irish poet and essayist. Her texts revolve around motherhood and desire, death and family. Powerfully narrated. “A Ghost in the Throat” (btb, 2023) is an example of the trend towards multilingualism in contemporary literature: she mixes Gaelic and English vocabulary in her texts.
→ 15.9. 6:00 pm Doireann Ní Ghríofa: A Ghost in the Throat | HAUS DER BERLINER FESTSPIELE
Sam Zamrik: born 1996 in Damascus, is a poet, musician and translator. He worked as a band manager and songwriter as part of the underground music movement New Wave of Syrian Metal and had to flee to Berlin. In 2022, Hanser Berlin published a volume of his poems, which deal, among other things, with life in exile, but also with physicality and desire.
→ 16.9. 7:30 pm Triad: Body, Protest, Lust | HAUS DER BERLINER FESTSPIELE
