Whether in terms of genre, country and language of origin or subject matter, April at the Lettrétage is all about the great diversity that characterizes the Berlin literary scene. From science fiction to experimental poetry, from Sudan to Croatia, you can look forward to numerous exciting readings, panel discussions, performances and lectures over the next few weeks!
On Tuesday, April 1 at 8pm, author Katharina Volckmer and her publishers Richard Stoiber (MÄRZ Verlag) and Susie Nicklin (The Indigo Press) invite you to the eagerly awaited launch of the English edition of “Calls May Be Recorded For Training And Monitoring Purposes“. Set in a London call center, the novel explores themes of identity, work culture and the unexpected interpersonal connections that can form in the most unlikely of places. As well as reading from the German and English versions of her text, the author will be in conversation with her two publishers about the joys and challenges of writing, translating and publishing across national and linguistic borders.
On Thursday, April 10 at 7 pm, Croatian author Ivana Saijko and the BKS Book Club invite you to a presentation of the texts written during the first BKS Creative Writing Workshop. The reading and discussion will be held in Bosnian, Croatian, Montenegrin and Serbian.
On Friday, April 11 at 8 pm, the artist collective Kross Collective will, with “CONVERGENCE VII“, present for the seventh time an evening full of immersive performances in which sound, text and image enter into an interdisciplinary dialog.
On Monday, April 14 at 7 pm, the reading “Writing Through the Cracks” will take place with Sudanese writer Najlaa Eltom, moderated by filmmaker Ibrahim Izzeldeen. Exactly two years after the outbreak of war in Sudan – a conflict that has been largely ignored by the international media – Najlaa Eltom invites us to pause and critically examine the current situation. Eltom’s words are intended to open up space for questions, question narratives and trace the intertwining of war, power structures and language.
On Wednesday, April 16 at 7:30 pm, the monthly discussion series kilmé talks will continue, offering Palestinian artists, intellectuals and academics a platform to present their work and talk about topics that are important to them. This time, political scientist Bashir Bashir will be the guest.
On Wednesday, April 23 at 8 pm, author Mati Shemoelof invites you to the Berlin book premiere of his novel “Der Preis” (translated from the Hebrew by Helene Seidler). Of course, the author will not be celebrating the publication of the German translation alone, but together with guests Dr. Omri “Hana” Ben Yehouda, Michal Zamir (founder of the Hebrew Library Berlin), poet Abdulkadir Musa and writer Ralph Tharayil. The evening’s musical accompaniment will be provided by the great Volkan Aydin on the saz. The event will be held in English, Hebrew, Kurdish and German.
If you’ve been wondering when another Poetic Hafla will finally take place at our venue, you won’t have to wait much longer: on April 26 at 8:30 pm, the spring edition of this long-standing and, above all, popular series will take place at our venue. Poetic Hafla (Arabic for party) focuses on presenting Berlin-based artists from the Middle East and the Mediterranean and creating a space for experimentation and the exchange of ideas. Readings, music, stand-up comedy and performances – it’s all there.
Berlin is an important place of refuge for many immigrant FLINTA* artists – the new reading and performance series “Girl, Show Me That Body (of Work)” offers a stage for their perspectives. The crowning finale of the month will be the opening event of the series with Ioana Cristina Casapu and guests on April 27 at 8 pm. What happens when our ability to act is taken away? How do communities, including families, respond to the loss of our sexual identity? How do we reconnect with our bodies after sexual violence, and how is our sexuality challenged or healed? The authors Fionnuala Kavanagh, Noemi Veberič Levovnik, Shlomit Lasky and Cemre Öztürk address these and other questions in their texts.