European Writers' Conference – WritingAwayBorders

30 writers from all over Europe will discuss Europe and its future from a literary perspective. With Mely Kiyak, Nicol Ljubić, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Antje Rávic Strubel, Tilman Spengler et al.

What is Europe, and where does it end? What are European values, and to whom do they apply? How much of an influx can culture handle, and how much of an influx does it need? What happens when language is left behind in flight? And can Europe use words and histories to find a way out of the crisis?

The authors Najet Adouani (Tunisia), Kefah Ali Deeb (Syria), Nir Baram (Israel), Lukas Bärfuss (Switzerland), Joanna Bator (Poland), Josef Haslinger (Austria), Doris Kareva (Estonia), Lawen Mohtadi (Sweden), Jordi Puntí (Spain), Shumona Sinha (France), Zmicier Vishniou (Belarus) and Mehmet Yashin (Cyprus) will tackle these questions on the first day of the conference (9 May).

This day will be rounded off with the Long Night of European Literature at the Deutsches Theater from 8pm. Authors from Greece, Iceland, Italy, Kosovo, Macedonia, Serbia, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and the Ukraine will read from their texts, with the actors Barbara Schnitzler and Thorsten Hierse presenting the German translations. Invitees include Jana Beňová, Lidija Dimkovska, Paolo Giordano, Jazra Khaleed, Dragana Mladenović, Jeton Neziraj, Jaroslav Rudiš, Sjón and Serhiy Zhadan.

On the second day of the conference (10 May), the morning session will delve into issues prompted by the motto “WritingAwayBorders,” with the afternoon session posing the titular question: “Which Language Shapes the Public Sphere?” Eugenijus Ališanka (Lithuania), Priya Basil (UK), Yavuz Ekinci (Turkey), György Dragomán (Hungary), Sergey Lebedev (Russia), Rosa Liksom (Finland), Ivana Sajko (Croatia) and Peter Terrin (Belgium) will take part in these debates.