From 3 to 12 September 2026, Berlin will be transformed for the 26th time into a center of international contemporary literature. Under the motto «You are born with your face turned everywhere», the International Literature Festival Berlin (ILB) brings together established and emerging voices from many parts of the world. The high-caliber festival program takes up social debates and, for the first time on a larger scale, celebrates the connection of literature with music, performance and dance.
Highlights of the program include readings and conversations with Nobel Literature laureate Han Kang, Christian Kracht, Cornelia Funke, Christopher Clark and Dave Eggers. Numerous actors will perform German texts on stage, among them Ulrich Matthes, Martina Gedeck and Charly Hübner.
The festival brings readers and writers together. The carefully curated selection of live experiences at the ILB brings stories to life and invites exchange. More than 25,000 visitors will meet over 100 writers from around 40 countries. 240 contributors from literature, music, science, and society will shape some 120 events – including readings, panels, performances and workshops.
The festival will be ceremoniously opened on 3 September with an opening address by this year’s Curator in Residence Jeet Thayil and a welcome speech by the festival’s patron Boualem Sansal.
FESTIVAL MOTTO «YOU ARE BORN WITH YOUR FACE TURNED EVERYWHERE»
The magic of literature lies in its ability to let us step into a completely different life. This year’s festival motto takes up this radical openness to new perspectives that connects readers and writers. The motto is reflected in the festival program, which crosses genre and discipline boundaries as never before: literature from prose to poetry, from graphic novel to picture book, meets jazz and chamber music, performance and dance at the 26th ILB.
«I am convinced that, in a highly connected yet bewildering world, the festival creates curated oases of attention. We want to offer our festival guests depth and invite them to turn their gaze in ever new directions.»
LAVINIA FREY, FESTIVAL DIRECTOR
THE FESTIVAL WITHIN THE FESTIVAL: CURATOR IN RESIDENCE JEET THAYIL
For its 26th edition, the ILB is expanding the Curator in Residence program introduced in 2024 into a festival within the festival. The Indian writer, poet and musician Jeet Thayil describes his program as a «jam session» in which different art forms and cultures meet to spontaneously create singular stage experiences. At the heart of his ten events are collaboration, improvisation, and the singularity of artistic performance. With his guests – among them Eileen Myles, Tishani Doshi and Mohammed Hanif – Thayil explores the connection between writing and performance and asks about the role of artistic collaboration in a globalized world. For the first time in the festival’s history, authors will also perform together with the ILB House Band, a jazz trio led by Diego Piñera, which will create a distinctive festival atmosphere within the Curator in Residence program and beyond.
Thayil, who gained international recognition with his debut novel «Narcopolis» (2012), shaped the festival motto together with the ILB team. «You are born with your face turned everywhere», a passage from the Shvetashvatara Upanishad whose English translation he reworked himself, opens his most recent novel «The Elsewhereans» (2025), in which Thayil writes about origin and belonging in a life lived between continents. This cosmopolitan outlook is the guiding idea of his programme and inspired the choice of this year’s motto:
«I love the inclusive nature of this idea. That everyone is everything. That divisions of gender and race and political/sexual identity are secondary to our greater human identity. It’s such a wise way of attending to the one life we’ve been granted, and instructive to note that it was written circa the 4th century BCE.»
JEET THAYIL, CURATOR IN RESIDENCE
LITERARY HEADLINERS
In 2026, the ILB once again brings major voices of world literature to Berlin, building on the strong response to last year’s anniversary program. «25 Years of World Literature» becomes «Literaturwelten». Under this title, the festival presents five events with authors from Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America and North America: Nobel Literature laureate Han Kang, Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor, Julia Fiedorczuk, Daniela Catrileo, Dave Eggers, Katie Kitamura and Christian Kracht.
Further highlights of the literary program include readings and conversations with international authors such as Douglas Stuart, Adania Shibli, Vigdis Hjorth and Amitav Ghosh.
DIALOGUES & DISCUSSIONS
In the Dialogues & Discussions format, the ILB invites visitors to take part in central debates of the present while looking both to the past and the future. Seven panels and two themed evenings bring a wide spectrum of views to the stage for shared discussion, doubt, dissent, and persuasion. Central themes this year include the culture of public debate in Germany and the fragility of democratic structures worldwide. The panel «Der Streit um das Recht» takes up the case of the jurist Frauke Brosius-Gersdorf and asks just how «broken» the debate surrounding her candidacy for the Federal Constitutional Court actually was. Under the title «Steht am Ende die Freiheit», writers and activists discuss in one evening the experiences of Iranians in times of war and crisis. The renowned historian Christopher Clark speaks with Andreas Kossert about Kossert’s family history of flight and expulsion in the Polish city of Lodz. Together with author Karolina Kuszyk, they celebrate the premiere of Kossert’s most personal book, «Elsas Welt». Further events look at digital violence against women; the lived realities of East Germans whose families partly have African roots; the growing power of the tech bros; the electoral successes of right-wing populists in Germany; and the experiences of democratic activists in exile.
YOUNG PROGRAM
The Young Program (6 to 16 September) brings young readers together with international authors and their stories. Opening speaker Özge Samancı, Cornelia Funke, Sydney Smith, Mareike Krügel and many other guests present picture books, children’s and young adult novels as well as graphic novels at various venues across Berlin, including – alongside the Haus der Berliner Festspiele – the Theater an der Parkaue and die gelbe Villa. Well-attended readings and individual workshops form the heart of the Young Program.
For the first time, as part of the project «Jugend kuratiert», young people themselves have helped decide which books will be presented at the festival. Also new this year is the Lesesause on 6 September at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele – a celebration for children with their families, offering, alongside readings and hands-on activities, a big concert party.
COMMON THREADS
The common threads running through this year’s festival programme are environment and ecology; power, technology and dystopias; war and crisis; and the importance of open debate as a cornerstone of democratic societies. Another connecting motif is the question of origin and belonging in the age of globalization, and the experience of the «Elsewhereans» who have found their home in the densely interconnected global village. The festival’s contributors engage with these themes in widely varying ways and open up unique points of access for the audience in the form of fiction, discussion, performance and music.
The program brochures for the general and Young Program are available for download at www.literaturfestival.com. Tickets for all events are available now.
PATRON
The patron of the 26th edition of the International Literature Festival Berlin is Boualem Sansal.
VENUES
Program:
Haus der Berliner Festspiele (Festival Center) | Dokumentationszentrum Flucht, Vertreibung, Versöhnung | Humboldt Forum | JVA des offenen Vollzugs, Teilanstalt Robert-von-Ostertag-Str. | Berliner Philharmonie | Leibniz-Zentrum für Literatur- und Kulturforschung | Bookinista
Young Program:
Haus der Berliner Festspiele | die gelbe Villa | Theater an der Parkaue | Workshops at numerous Berlin cultural institutions
DATES & FURTHER INFORMATION 26th ILB
3 – 12 September 2026 Program
6 – 16 September 2026 Young Program
Further information: literaturfestival.com
Download MediaKit and press images
TICKETS & PRICES
Tickets are available here: https://www.berlinerfestspiele.de/programm/2026/internationales-literaturfestival-berlin
The box office opens at all venues one hour before the start of the event. Tickets for the ILB are also available at the box office in the Gropius Bau.
Service line of the Berliner Festspiele on+49 (0) 30 25489 – 100
or via email to ticketinfo@berlinerfestspiele.de
Regular: 12 € | reduced: 8 €
Special price regular: 18 € | reduced: 12 €
Special prices apply to selected events.
Further details are available on our website.
Festival Pass 150 € | 75 €
Graphic Novel Day Pass 5 €
TICKETS & ADVICE YOUNG PROGRAM
tickets@literaturfestival.com
Service line: +49 (0) 30 – 278786 – 70 / – 72
Mon – Fri, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
PRICES YOUNG PROGRAM
School classes: €5 per pupil (accompanying adults free of charge) | reduced: €3 per pupil
Individuals: €12 full price | reduced: €8
Further information: literaturfestival.com/junges-programm-besuch/
MAIN FUNDER
Hauptstadtkulturfonds
MAIN FUNDER Curator in Residence Program
LOTTO-Stiftung Berlin
MAIN SPONSOR YOUNG PROGRAM
Thalia
AS A GUEST OF
Berliner Festspiele
PRESENTED BY
radio3
PRESS CONTACT
Dr. Dennis Kölling
Leitung Kommunikation
Internationales Literaturfestival Berlin
dennis.koelling@literaturfestival.com | +49 30 27 87 86 42