What does an anchor-institution do?

(c) Natalia Reich

The Lettrétage is an anchor-institution of the independent literature scene in Berlin. This means that we:

  • provide free spaces for evening events, such as readings, performances, or panel discussions.
  • offer free spaces for daytime use, such as writing groups, editorial meetings, or workshops
  • take care of the technical aspects and beverages for evening events and assist in promoting the events.
  • organize free professional consultations for those involved in writing, translating, editing, or organizing literature.
  • host the “Industry Meetup: Literature” once a year. Those professionally engaged in literature can find like-minded individuals for exchange and networking.
  • initiate projects that explore ways to innovate and redefine literature.

Paul Brody on LOVE&DEMOCRACY

This July sees the launch of Paul Brody’s LOVE&DEMOCRACY, a sound installation in four parts that will accompany Lettrétage until the end of the year.

Paul Brody has lived in Seattle, Boston, California and Berlin, to name just a few. As a sound artist, composer and trumpeter, he works regularly on projects at the Théâtre de Vidy in Lausanne, the Münchner Kammerspiele, the Berliner Schaubühne, the MC93 Paris, the New York Harlem Opera and the Wiener Burgtheater, among others – and now also at Lettrétage.

“The theme of Love&Democracy stems from the necessity of our times. They are a silent duo. Without a love of place and our neighbors, we cannot truly have a democracy, and without treating each other fairly – democratically – there can be no real love”, Paul Brody explains about his project.

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April at Lettrétage

(c) Redfern Jon Barrett; Victor Breidenbach and Siena Miller;
Soul and the City; Oliver Toth

April at Lettrétage is all about numbers. In Redfern Jon Barret’s novel PROUD PINK SKY, which will be presented on April 1, Berlin has grown to 24 million inhabitants. It’s the first gay nation of the world, divided into neighborhoods for each sexual orientation. Cissie loves Berlin’s towering high rises and chaotic multiculturalism, yet she’s never left her heterosexual district — not until she discovers a walled-off slum of perpetual twilight, home to the city’s forbidden trans residents.

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“She manages to explore complex political issues through compelling scenes and dialogues” – Interview with Lucy Jones on her translation of Brigitte Reimann’s DIE GESCHWISTER

(c) Oliver Toth

Almost exactly 50 years ago, Brigitte Reimann, considered one of the most important female writers in the GDR, died of cancer, aged 39. It’s hard to think of a better way to mark the anniversary of her death than the one Lucy Jones has chosen: translating Reimann’s novel DIE GESCHWISTER into English for the first time. SIBLINGS, as it is titled in English, has been recently published by Penguin Classics and Transit Books, and received wide media coverage, ranging from the Guardian to the New Yorker. The novel is about how the division of Germany affected Reimann’s family personally. We are beyond proud that Lucy Jones is going to present and discuss her translation at Lettrétage on 16 April together with the journalist and writer, Alexander Wells. Here is an interview she gave us on translating Reimann’s work.

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March at Lettrétage

Copyright: Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi (c) Joerg Kandziora; Heather Parry (c) Dave Parry; Joseph Roth (c) Lotte Altmann

What our English-language events have in common this month is love: a strange love that lasts beyond the grave, a love-hate relationship with a city, and the first love of a girl who becomes a woman. When love and the grave are mentioned in the same breath, the gothic novel is not far away. Heather Parry’s ORPHEUS BUIDLS A GIRL draws on this genre to unfold a tale of deranged obsession. Joseph Roth did not like Berlin. At the same time, it can be said that the years he spent in the German capital were one of the most successful periods of his career. WHAT WE SEE: JOSEPH ROTH AND OUR BERLIN features a discussion of Roth, his life and his feuilletons, as well as readings of texts inspired by him. THE FIRST WOMAN by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi tells a cross-generational story about growing up, first love, being and becoming a woman, and the search for one’s own roots. A story between traditional and modern feminisms against the backdrop of Idi Amin’s violent regime in Uganda in the 1970s.

February at Lettrétage

(c) Gurmeet Singh; Soul and the City

February at Lettrétage lets our English-speaking audience forget the cold and bitterness of the Berlin winter: You cannot only enjoy a Mediterranean flare and lots of magic but also an atmosphere of amazing vibrations, good times, inherent hope and love manifestations. But before anyone becomes overstimulated, the program brings you down to earth with an evening dedicated to the meaning of ‘humble’. Sounds like over the top? See for yourself by attending either 8¾# Poetic Hafla, Babylon – The Event of Many Tongues and Cultures – A Valentine’s Special Edition or Humble.

Interview with “Soul and the City”

On December 2 and 12, the Berlin artist collective Soul And The City will organize two events at Lettrétage!

Soul And The City brings together various representatives from the fields of literature, performance, performing arts and visual arts on one stage in order to fuse different art forms in practice as well as to open up space for a theoretical examination of transdisciplinary artistic work. The aim is to point out the social interdependencies of our society through the fusion of different artistic approaches and to illustrate what art can mean in socio-political terms. By focusing on artistic collaboration in practice, the collective promotes not only entertaining, but above all educational aspects of interpersonal exchange and thus establishes art as a factor of social engagement.

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2G now applies in the Lettrétage!

Many of you have already noticed: The Berlin Senate has passed another amendment to the Infection Protection Measures Ordinance. This means: For all events in the Lettrétage, 2G applies as of today. Visitors to Lettrétage must be vaccinated and/or recovered. This applies to all events regardless of size: public evening events as well as room use and day use. We also ask all our visitors to wear a mask in the rooms of Lettrétage.

Please take care of each other and let us get through the next weeks together! We are looking forward to seeing you.

schreiben&leben: Multilingual Advisement Day: Research stipend for literature in non-German language

People meeting online via video conference flat vector illustration. Cartoon group of colleagues on virtual collective chat during lockdown. Videoconference and digital technology concept

On Friday, June 4th, schreiben & leben is offering a free Multilingual Advisement Day, covering all questions concerning your application for the Research stipend for literature in non-German language granted by the Berlin Senate.

For the first time, the Berlin Senate will award research stipends in the field of literature in non-German language. The application deadline is 6:00 p.m. on 15.06.2021. The research stipends are intended to promote the diversity and quality of literary works produced in Berlin by supporting new ideas and approaches. The target group are authors of literature (fiction, prose, poetry and books for children and young adults, no plays) who write in a language other than German, and translators who translate literature (fiction, prose, poetry and books for children and young adults, no plays) from German into another language. The authors and translators should have already proven themselves through publications. The research stipends are endowed with 8.000 € each and will be paid in two instalments in November and December 2021. The application must be submitted online. More information regarding the eligibility and criteria to be found here: INFO.

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