About the Young Program

The Young Program of the international literature festival berlin (ilb) presents a wide-ranging program of readings and workshops. Its activities form a comprehensive initiative to interactively promote reading and strengthen intercultural skills. Through direct encounters with authors and illustrators from a variety of cultural backgrounds, children and young adults have the opportunity to experience and explore the world’s cultural diversity through shared reading, discussion, and creative engagement. Another central goal of the program is to introduce young readers to aesthetically, literarily, and thematically outstanding and courageous works of contemporary children’s and young adult literature.

Each year, around fifteen international authors and illustrators are featured in the Young Program, most of them presenting their books as premiere readings. For many, it marks their first public appearance in the German-speaking world. Over the years, the program has hosted some of the most influential writers and illustrators of literature for young readers, including Elizabeth Acevedo, David Almond, Laurie Halse Anderson, Katya Balen, Frank Cottrell Boyce, John Boyne, Chen Jianghong, Kate DiCamillo, Kitty Crowther, Julia Donaldson, Roddy Doyle, Wolf Erlbruch, Manuele Fior, Cornelia Funke, John Green, Judith Kerr, Jon Klassen, Suzy Lee, Scott McCloud, Patrick Ness, Frida Nilsson, R. J. Palacio, Maria Parr, Jason Reynolds, Christian Robinson, Axel Scheffler, Peter Sís, Shaun Tan, Janne Teller, and Angie Thomas.

The Young Program comprises around 55 readings and workshops, complemented by special events such as an opening address and the International Family Fesival at die gelbe Villa – a creative and educational center for children and teens. Since 2012, the Young Program has also presented the non-monetary literature award Das außergewöhnliche Buch (the extraordinary book). Regular partners include Freie Universität Berlin, LesArt – Berlin Center for Children’s and Young Adult Literature, the Berlin State Library, the Treffen junger Autor*innen, the THEO – Berlin-Brandenburg Prize for Young Literature, and lyrix – National Competition for Young Poetry. The Young Program is a member of the Arbeitskreis für Jugendliteratur.

Readings

The readings of the Young Program are primarily designed for school groups from grades 1 through 12, but are also open to all interested visitors. Each event features a moderated conversation with the international guest, readings from the featured book — with picture-book or comic projections for illustrated works — and a Q&A session with the audience. Experienced hosts, actors and interpreters guide the young audience through the event. Selected readings are preceded by performances by young authors from Berlin and Brandenburg — often of the same age as the student audience — who present excerpts from their award-winning texts.

Venues: Haus der Berliner Festspiele and Theater an der Parkaue

Event language: The readings are interpreted into German. Selected events for grade 9 and up are held entirely in English.

Event duration: 60–75 minutes or 75–90 minutes, depending on the audience’s age and attention span.

Workshops

How can we effectively foster a love of reading among children and teens? With this question in mind, we developed our workshop program for school classes, which focuses on each child’s creativity and individual reading skills.

• All workshops are free of charge.
• Every participant receives a complimentary book.
• The workshops last one to three days and take place at cultural institutions across Berlin.
• The workshops are open to school classes from grades 1 through 11 from all Berlin districts.
• Each workshop is based on a current book from that year’s festival program.
• Participants are not required to have read the book beforehand (or only short excerpts).
• During the workshop, students engage creatively with the book using an artistic methods.
• Each workshop concludes with a one-hour encounter with the book’s author or illustrator.

In 2024, the Young Program’s workshops underwent both a qualitative and a quantitative renewal under the motto »Wortzauber gegen Buchfrust« (Word Magic Against Reading Fatigue). You can find an evaluation of the 2024 project here.

Newsletter

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Contact

Head of Young Program

Lena Scheitz
lena.scheitz@literaturfestival.com
+49 30 27 87 86 71

Head of School Communication & Production

Henrike Schmidt
henrike.schmidt@literaturfestival.com
+49 30 27 87 86 72

Student Assistant Young Program

Helene Zinnecker
helene.zinnecker@literaturfestival.com
+49 30 27 87 86 51