Kerstin Hensel, Director
Kerstin Hensel
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Literature Section
The Literature Section came into being in 1926 as the “Section for Poetry”. Today, its members are, in many cases, among the most important German-language writers living in Germany and abroad.
Reading night of the Literature Section at the Akademie der Künste
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About the Section
The Literature Section was established in 1926, at which point it was called the “Section for Poetry”. Among its founder members were Gerhart Hauptmann, Arno Holz, Heinrich and Thomas Mann, Ricarda Huch and Franz Werfel. The section now comprises some 70 members, including many of the most important German-language writers living in Germany and abroad.
Arno Schmidt. Eine Ausstellung in 100 Stationen, exhibition view, Akademie der Künste, 2015
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“An Academy”, as defined some years ago by long-term director of the Literature Section Hans Meyer, “should not be a bastion of order and standardisation but rather a site of constant ferment … It is a place where questions are asked and responses elicited.” The work carried out by the Literature Section today needs to be viewed in this light: it should be seen as a forum for the critical mediation of literature, in which the various facets of literary history are examined, along with current tendencies within contemporary literature looked at in their linguistic and sociopolitical context.
Directors
Cécile Wajsbrot, Deputy Director
Writer and translator
Member of the Section (since 2019), Deputy Director (since 2021)
Cécile Wajsbrot
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Ehemalige Direktor*innen
Former directors are Ulrich Peltzer (2015–2021), Ingo Schulze (2010–2015), Volker Braun (2006–2010) and Peter Härtling (1984–2006).
Former deputy directors are Kerstin Hensel (2015–2021), Ulrich Peltzer (2012–2015), Katja Lange-Müller (2010–2012), Ingo Schulze (2009–2010), Rolf Haufs (1997–2009), Jürgen Becker (1994–1997) and Harald Hartung (1988–1994).
Programme
Readings, Talks and Special Events
The Literature Section holds regular readings and round-table discussions examining developments in contemporary literature viewed in their linguistic and sociopolitical context. A special event is staged once a year for members of the section, often in dialogue with artists from other areas, at which various positions relating to a specific topic or set of questions are presented.
In June 2024, the focus was on the work of Franz Kafka. Members of the section presented a “Kafka kaleidoscope”, which made it clear that even 100 years after his death, the Prague writer’s work remains a source of fascination for us. In November 2023 an extensive programme titled What Drives Us: Energy and energeia between Politics and Poetics brought literature – as represented by members of the section – into a productive dialogue with science, politics and economics.
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Publications
Poetik der Mitte. Walter Kempowski im literatur- und ideengeschichtlichen Kontext
Poetik der Mitte. Walter Kempowski im literatur- und ideengeschichtlichen Kontext
Holocaust als Kultur Zur Poetik von Imre Kertész
Holocaust als Kultur Zur Poetik von Imre Kertész