International Literature Festival in Berlin
Mutual Exchange of Ideas between Writers and Readers
August 03rd, 2015
The ‘Internationales Literaturfestival’ is celebrating its 14th year. The first time that the festival took place in Berlin was in 2001, and it has been held every September since then. The ten day long festival, from the 9th to 19th September, offers participants the opportunity to meet international writers and to take part in presentations of the writers’ works, which are usually read in their origin language. The aim of the Internationales Literatur Festival is to collect international writers, both emerging and well known, to discover how international prose and lyric poetry are developing.
The festival splits writers into five different categories: ‘Literature of the World’, ‘International Children's and Young Adult Literature’, ‘Specials’, ‘Reflections`, and ‘Speak and Memory’.
The ‘Literatures of the World’ section collects some of the most influential writers and most new discoveries coming from countries around the world. The aim of this section is to give a snapshot of contemporary prose and poetry all around the world. Literatures of the World also allows visitors to discover which themes and topics are more relevant or have more impact for readers in different parts of the world. Additionally, this is a good opportunity to discover how a topic can be analysed by different writers in coming from various regions and with different backgrounds.
Writers, authors and illustrators will come together for the festival, which will not only host public lectures of writers’ works but will also include workshops, school projects and talks.
The Berlin International Literature Festival is a big event that brings together writers and readers from all over the world and allows the exchange of opinions and ideas amongst many people. Another interesting project organized as part of the festival is ‘Guardian Angels’. This gives residents of Berlin the opportunity to become a mentor for writers who come to the festival. Everybody can apply to become a Guardian Angel, and their duty will be to drive the guest all around Berlin to help the writer discover the city. The Guardian Angel project allows people who take part to that to meet writers, but also to spend time with them and have cultural exchanges on many topics.
The Internationales Literaturfestival is an excellent example of cultural exchange in which many cities and countries are represented.
References and Links
Sara Conti, Berlin Global
