Dear Audience,
For 25 years, the international literature festival berlin (ilb) has been a vibrant forum for cultural exchange and political discourse. This year, we are thrilled to celebrate a quarter-century of world literature with you. Time and again, festival visitors tell me they have been attending for years, how much the festival means to them, how many outstanding authors they’ve discovered here – long before they became superstars – and how much they value the open debates we foster.
We aim to preserve and expand this legacy. It is therefore especially gratifying to share that the Capital Cultural Fund has indicated its intention to provide regular funding for the ilb until 2027. We are deeply grateful for this support – it means the world to us, particularly in light of the budget cuts that many of my colleagues are currently grappling with, which have kept us all on edge since December. However, I believe that at 25 years old, the festival is no longer a teenager. It deserves a long-term solution, such as institutional funding – this would be my birthday wish for the festival.
Berlin’s allure for authors from around the globe, and why the city remains a hotspot for contemporary literature – especially during the festival but also year-round – will be explored at the upcoming event of the Berliner Literaturkonferenz, of which we are an associated member.
Participants: Joe Chialo, Silvia Fehrmann, Jayrôme C. Robinet, and Katharina Schultens
Moderation: Anne-Dore Krohn and Natascha Freundel
Literary Intervention: Nadiia Telenchuk
We look forward to a moving, thought-provoking, and extraordinary anniversary program – and to welcoming you, our audience!
Warm regards,
Lavinia Frey and the ilb team