Program archive

Bilingual reading and book release with Andrea Scrima and Heike Geißler (english/german)

Join us for a bilingual reading event hosted by Lettrétage and the Berlin Writers' Workshop. We're celebrating the rerelease of Andrea Scrima's novel "A Lesser Day" and its new German edition, "Wie viele Tage". Scrima will be joined in reading by novelist Heike Geißler ("Rosa", "Nichts, was tragisch wäre", "Saisonarbeit") and appear in conversation with Berlin Writers' Workshop co-founder, Rebecca Rukeyser.

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Reading and Book Launch with Kate McNaughton

Join us for the Berlin launch of “How I Lose You”, a novel by Kate McNaughton, which has just been published in the UK by Doubleday and in France by Les Escales. There will be a reading and Q&A (moderated by fellow author Jessica Miller) before the evening turns to drinks and music. When Eva and Adam fall into bed one Friday night, tired and happy after drinks with friends, they have their whole lives ahead of them. But their story ends on page twelve.

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The Berlin Writers' Workshop and Lettrétage present a trilingual reading event with Gregor Guth (Austria), Alan Mills (Guatemala) and Rebecca Rukeyser (USA).

Gregor Guth, geboren 1979 in Wien. Studium der französischen Kulturwissenschaften in Wien und Paris. Studium am Deutschen Literaturinstitut Leipzig. Startstipendium für Literatur des österreichischen Bundeskanzleramtes 2014. Seine Kurzgeschichten und Gedichte wurden in zahlreichen Zeitschriften und Anthologien veröffentlicht (u. a. in LICHTUNGEN, kolik  sowie im Sammelband zum MDR-Literaturwettbewerb). Er lebt in Berlin.

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SAND 17 Launch Party. Featuring John Beer, Jennifer Kronovet, Nate McCarthy, James Shea, Dorothy Tse and Tse Hao Guang.

Five acclaimed poets and one prose writer will collectively circumnavigate the globe to present micro-readings and celebrate SAND’s worldly new 17th issue. Two share the name Tse, two make allusions to T.S.E., another speaks Yiddish, and the last one just braved the Australian outback. Stick around for DJ sets, drinks, and dancing into the wee hours, and don’t forget to pick up a freshly printed copy of SAND. Featuring John Beer, Jennifer Kronovet, Nate McCarthy, James Shea, Dorothy Tse and Tse Hao Guang.
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Ein Hörspaziergang mit Hör-Regenschirmen von  Stephanie Green (GB) und Sonja Heyer (D) im Viktoria-Park, Berlin Kreuzberg

Ort: Viktoria-Park Berlin Kreuzberg, entlang des Wasserlaufs,
Beginn: Café Golgatha. Zeit: 3./10./17. Juni 14:00-18:00 Uhr

click more for english version

Berlin UMBRELLA ist ein poetischer Soundwalk mit Hörregenschirmen durch den Viktoria-Park in Berlin Kreuzberg. In einem Gedicht der englischen Poetin Stephanie Green, vertont von der Berliner Klangkünstlerin Sonja Heyer, wird die Spree von ihren drei Quellen bis zu ihrer Mündung akustisch eingefangen und erzählt  vom eiszeitlichen Ursprung in der Oberlausitz über die Entwicklung des Radialsystems, vom Mord an Rosa Luxemburg an der Lichtensteinbrücke 1919 bis zum Fall der Mauer 1989, von der wechselvollen Geschichte und Gegenwart der Stadt. Berlin UMBRELLA umfasst sechs Verse, die – gleich einem Haiku – in selbstgewählter Reihenfolge gehört werden können. Besucher*innen können Hörregenschirme im Café Golgatha leihen und damit durch den Park spazieren, verweilen und Schirme mit anderen Besucher*innen tauschen.

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Reading with Barrett Watten and Daniel Tiffany

Barrett Watten plans to read “Plan B”, a poem written in the aftermath of our national catastrophe, as a kind of “knowledge base” for the symbolic rubble of the election and the state of political crisis it produced. The keyword 'Gleichschaltung', drawn from the German experience in March 1933, is used as a call not to “normalize” the result of the election—an imperative that continues for many. Both terms appear at regular intervals through the poem. Also evoked is the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald—a 1975 maritime disaster on the Great Lakes (and ballad by Gordon Lightfoot) that is iconic for residents of Michigan, for whom it represents the destruction of the state as well as the wreck itself. The poem is translated into German by Munich performance poet Franziska Ruprecht, and will be presented in multi-media format, along with other works.

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Reading hosted by Traci Kim – lineup TBA, submission deadline June 10

Literally Speaking is Berlin's fiction reading series that features local writers and the authors who inspire their stories. Each month, five writers share their original work, as well as an excerpt from an author of their choice that highlights the month’s theme. The purpose of the excerpts is to get everyone in Berlin’s literary community “on the same page.” It’s a way to see what’s catalyzing our local writers and bring us closer together through literature.

For submission guidelines and inquiries, check out Literally Speaking’s Facebook page or email LiterallySpeakingBerlin@gmail.com.

Tickets kaufen

Performance and workshop/lecture with Tomomi Adachi, Andreas Dzialocha and Marcello Lussana

“AI in Experimental Improvisation” is a project by Tomomi Adachi, Andreas Dzialocha and Marcello Lussana. Based on artificial neuronal networks they developed a performance AI (artificial intelligence) named "Tomomibot" which "learns" from musical improvisations to interact live with a human voice improviser. The event consists of a performance by Tomomi Adachi and the AI performer plus a workshop/lecture in English by Andreas Dzialocha and Marcello Lussana.

Funded through the Initiative Neue Musik Berlin e.V.

Tickets kaufen

Trilingual (English, French, German) poetry, performance, récital concert and road movie with Sabine Venaruzzo and Benoît Berrou. Staging: Frédéric de Goldfiem. 

It all starts with a question: What is it worth? To be? To be here? What follows is a vast project of leaving "On the roads" across Europe, and more ambitiously, to make the world poetic. A reconquest of the territories with a red suitcase, boxing gloves and the word as a weapon. The audience is invited to become a witness, even an accomplice.

Tickets kaufen

Deutsch-englische Lesung: Premiere von "The Hour Between Dog and Wolf" mit Autorin Silke Scheuermann und Übersetzerin Lucy Jones.

A young woman who has been living abroad returns to her hometown of Frankfurt am Main in Germany. Her sister Ines—a beautiful, impetuous painter—who still lives there, soon appears and promptly asks for financial help. But the returning sister knew this was coming—it is how their relationship has always worked. And this time, she’s determined that things will be different.
But our plans don’t always hold up to life’s surprises —and when the sister finds herself about to drift into an affair with Ines’s lover, the two women grow unexpectedly closer. "The Hour Between Dog and Wolf" is a tale of disorientation in a modern, rootless society that has become increasingly erratic and self-absorbed and powerful exploration of the difficulties of intimacy and addiction.

[read more…]

Lesung in englischer Sprache, Moderation: Traci Kim

Literally Speaking is Berlin's fiction reading series that features local writers and the authors who inspire their stories. Each month, five writers share their original work, as well as an excerpt from an author of their choice that highlights the month’s theme. The excerpts aim to get everyone in Berlin’s literary community “on the same page.” It’s a way to see what’s catalyzing our local writers and bring us closer together through literature.

lineup TBA, submission deadline October 15

Tickets kaufen

Lesung in englischer Sprache mit Sarnath Banerjee und Dave Besseling

Berlin Writers' Workshop presents a reading event celebrating the work of Sarnath Banerjee and Dave Besseling, both dealing with experiences of the Indian society. Through his graphic fiction, Banerjee explores themes like masculinity, bureaucracy, rumour, class-system, religion and the uncanny. Whereas Dave Besseling has published the non-fiction books, Liquid Refuses to Ignite, a memoir, and Laid In India, a sociological reportage.

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Mati Shemoelof, Abdulkadir Musa und Dr. Hila Amit Abas im Gespräch mit Rainer Zimmer-Winkel. Musikalische Impulse durch Improvisation: Gidi Farhi und Dury de Bagh.

Please see english version below.

„Jahre über Jahre habe ich in Israel gebraucht, um zu verstehen, wie meine Familie aus den Geschichtsbüchern gelöscht und in der Gesellschaft marginalisiert worden ist.“ Der israelische Autor, Journalist und Aktivist Mati Shemoelof stellt seine Neuerscheinung …reißt die Mauern ein zwischen ‚uns‘ und ‚ihnen‘ vor, in der er biographische Reflexionen mit Lyrik kombiniert. Außerdem gibt es einen kleinen Vorgeschmack auf Shemoelofs ersten deutschen Gedichtband, der zur nächsten Leipziger Buchmesse im März beim AphorismA Verlag erscheinen wird. Rainer Zimmer-Winkel, Herausgeber und Geschäftsführer von AphorismA, wird den Abend einleiten. Musikalische Improvisationen von Gidi Farhi und Dury de Bagh begleiten die Lesung. Die Veranstaltung findet auf Deutsch und auf Englisch statt.

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Lesung in englischer Sprache mit Kathleen Heil und Abdulkadir Musa

Berlin Writers' Workshop presents a reading celebrating the work of Kathleen Heil and Abdulkadir Musa. Musa is known for his lyrics, which were published in the Kurdish language, and have been translated into German, Spanish, French, English, Polish and Arabic. As a dancer, Heil takes part in crossdisciplinary projects and she wants to investigate the invisible barriers between institutions of power and people in exile.

[read more…]

Lesung in englischer Sprache, Moderation: Traci Kim

Literally Speaking is Berlin's fiction reading series that features local writers and the authors who inspire their stories. Each month, five writers share their original work, as well as an excerpt from an author of their choice that highlights the month’s theme. The excerpts aim to get everyone in Berlin’s literary community “on the same page.” It’s a way to see what’s catalyzing our local writers and bring us closer together through literature.

[read more…]

An evening of physical poetry / Poesie-Konzert in englischer Sprache mit Shannon Sullivan, André Matov und Bernd Oezsevim

Language that hits like a fist, cuts like a razor blade, or exhibits the gentle tenderness of a slow caress. We press our nose up to the glass for a good look at a society balancing on the brink of (self-)destruction. The ancient myth of Icarus warns against excess. Our global culture has long since cracked the walls of moderation and melted them like wax. Overpopulation and isolation walk side by side, not speaking to each other.[read more…]

Englischsprachige Lesung mit Mark Mayer und May-Lan Tan

The Berlin Writers' Workshop and Lettrétage present a reading with Mark Mayer and May-Lan Tan to celebrate the release of "Aerialists", Mayer’s debut short-story collection.

[read more…]

Lesung in englischer Sprache, Moderation: Traci Kim

Literally Speaking is Berlin's fiction reading series that features local writers and the authors who inspire their stories. Each month, five writers share their original work, as well as an excerpt from an author of their choice that highlights the month’s theme. The excerpts aim to get everyone in Berlin’s literary community “on the same page.” It’s a way to see what’s catalyzing our local writers and bring us closer together through literature.

Doors open at 7pm
Reading starts at 7:30pm

Lesung in englischer Sprache, Moderation: Traci Kim

Literally Speaking is Berlin's fiction reading series that features local writers and the authors who inspire their stories. Each month, five writers share their original work, as well as an excerpt from an author of their choice that highlights the month’s theme. The excerpts aim to get everyone in Berlin’s literary community “on the same page.” It’s a way to see what’s catalyzing our local writers and bring us closer together through literature.

Doors open at 7:30 pm
Reading starts at 8:00 pm

Englischsprachige Diskussionsrunde mit Clementine Burnley, Dirk Laucke und Daniela Seel, Moderation: Iulia Dondorici

The spaces we use for the act of reading and writing are mostly private ones: in our own rooms, at our desks, at a table in a library, almost always in isolation from others, as if in a silent dialog with authors, poets and philosophers. However, is it not the case that these acts performed in solitude can lead to a political awakening? Have reading and writing not fed, given rise to, and sustained collective political changes, movements and risings?

[read more…]

Konzert mit Reison Kuroda und Tomomi Adachi

Shakuhachi (Japanese traditional bamboo flute) music is not only for meditation or Zen. One of the most active Shakuhachi players from the new generation, Reison Kuroda, will present a program which mixes traditional and contemporary music, developing new techniques and aesthetics, focusing on vivid and fresh aspects of Shakuhachi music.
This concert in Berlin invites Tomomi Adachi who is well-known in the field of experimental music as a guest performer/composer.

[read more…]

Lesung in englischer Sprache, Moderation: Traci Kim

Literally Speaking is Berlin's fiction reading series that features local writers and the authors who inspire their stories. Each month, five writers share their original work, as well as an excerpt from an author of their choice that highlights the month’s theme. This month's theme is "Flux".

[read more…]

Lesung in englischer Sprache mit Fatin Abbas und Jennifer Kronovet, Moderation: Rebecca Rukeyser

The Berlin Writers' Workshop present a reading celebrating the work of Fatin Abbas and Jennifer Kronovet.

Free entry. Limited seating.

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Lesung in englischer Sprache, Moderation: Rebecca Rukeyser

The Berlin Writers' Workshop is proud to present the second workshop reading, featuring fiction, poetry, and nonfiction produced in the classes by members of the Berlin Writers' Workshop community.

Free entry. Limited seating.

Lesung in englischer Sprache, Moderation: Traci Kim

Literally Speaking is Berlin's fiction reading series that features local writers and the authors who inspire their stories. Each month, five writers share their original work, as well as an excerpt from an author of their choice that highlights the month’s theme. This month's theme is "Monsters".

[read more…]

Lesung in englischer Sprache mit Eugene Ostashevsky and Donna Stonecipher.

The Berlin Writers' Workshop and Lettrétage present a reading celebrating the work of Eugene Ostashevsky and Donna Stonecipher.

[read more…]

Lesung in englischer Sprache, Moderation: Traci Kim

Literally Speaking is Berlin's fiction reading series that features local writers and the authors who inspire their stories. Each month, five writers share their original work, as well as an excerpt from an author of their choice that highlights the month’s theme. This month's theme is "Dysfunctional Thanksgiving".

[read more…]

Buchvorstellung und Lesung mit Mati Shemoelof u.a., Moderation: Rainer Zimmer-Winkel

Die Publikation von Mati Shemoelofs neuem Gedichtband "Bagdad | Haifa | Berlin" markiert einen bedeutsamen Augenblick: hebräischsprechende Dichter kehren nach Berlin zurück. In der Zeit zwischen den Weltkriegen gab es in Berlin einmal mehr hebräische Verleger als in Palästina. Zugleich ist der Übersetzer des Bandes, Jan Kühne, ein deutschsprechender Dichter, der in West-Jerusalem lebt.

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Performance mit Stimme, Gesten und visuellen Elementen von Violaine Lochu und Tomomi Adachi

Violaine Lochu is a performance artist working with language and voice. As her debut in Berlin, she presents a new working progress performance with a Berlin-based sound poet, performer/composer, Tomomi Adachi after their residency in Lettrétage. Lochu performs her solo work, Babel Babel as the first part.

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Preisverleihung und Buchpremiere mit S.K. Perry, Victoria Manifold, Anbara Salam, und Traci Kim

“The Circus” is the name of the new anthology published by KLAK Verlag. The compilation presents the winning texts of 2019 Berlin Writing Prize, including works by S.K. Perry, Victoria Manifold, and Anbara Salam. Over 350 writing samples were submitted to be examined by the committee. The judges May-Lan Tan, Elnathan John, Sophie Mackintosh, Martin Jankowski, Katrin Schönig and Victoria Gosling have chosen their ten favourites for publication.

[read more…]

Multilingual Reading and Performance with Joshua Idehen, Adelaide Ivánova, Johny Pitts and Joanna Legid

(Deutsche Übersetzung siehe unten)

For centuries the cities of London and Berlin have been transformed and re-invented by people from all over the world, who have created vibrant cultures in local areas at the intersection of art and politics. Is this all under threat now, as creative and political spaces are eaten up by developers and capital cities are overrun by the power of capital?

[read more…]

B I S     A U F     W E I T E R E S     A B G E S A G T

Lesung und Performance

Poetic hafla, is a celebration of Berlin art and culture straight out of middle east Kreuzberg.
Enjoy a night full of exceptional performances from up and coming recording artists, spoken word artists, dancers and actors.

B I S     A U F     W E I T E R E S     A B G E S A G T

Lesung in englischer Sprache, Moderation: Traci Kim

Literally Speaking is Berlin's fiction reading series that features local writers and the authors who inspire their stories. Each month, five writers share their original work, as well as an excerpt from an author of their choice that highlights the month’s theme.

[read more…]

Lesung und Performance

Poetic hafla is a celebration of Berlin art and culture straight out of middle east Kreuzberg. It will be a night full of performances from up and coming recording artists, spoken word performers, dancers and actors.

[read more…]

Lesung und Performance

Poetic hafla is a celebration of Berlin art and culture straight out of middle east Kreuzberg. It will be a night full of performances from up and coming recording artists, spoken word performers, dancers and actors.[read more…]

Soul and the City is thrilled to continue with their "Love, Sweat and Laughter" series of events, which allow an outlet to different types of arts to manifest, intertwine and grow together with the purpose of creating a culturally diverse tapestry of thought-provoking expressions, up-close emotions and in-depth gestures, leaving positive imprints of social engagement and political awareness.

[read more…]

Reading and Performance by Soul and the City 

Soul and the City is thrilled to invite you to a Valentine’s Special Edition Event focused on diversity, individuality and the richness of languages and cultures with the purpose of uplifting and empowering individuals and communities, in an overall atmosphere of amazing vibrations, good times, inherent hope and love manifestations through multidisciplinary artists and an array of thought-provoking, engaging artistic displays.

[read more…]

Reading by Padraig Regan and Bebe Ashley

The Seamus Heaney Centre Presents…

“Lifeboat meets Lettrétage for The Sensual City … and more”

Bringing to a close the annual British Council Literature Seminar – 3 nights and 2 days of readings and talks focusing on writing from Northern Ireland – Berlin’s finest independent literature venue and Belfast’s most exciting publishing house combine for a special event to celebrate the publication of Padraig Regan’s new pamphlet THE SENSUAL CITY.

[read more…]

Musiktheater mit Ted Brasko

DIE TED BRASKO SHOW

Die Ted Brasko Show ist ein One-Person-Musiktheater. Es erzählt die Geschichte des Kapitäns, Künstlers und Abenteurers Ted Brasko, der den Versuch unternimmt, angstfrei durch sein Leben zu gehen und sich dabei ständig neu zu erfinden.

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Performance by Poetic Hafla

Poetic Hafla, a variety show with a Mediterranean flare! 10 artists, one
host & lots of Magic.

Poetic Hafla is a celebration of Berlin art and culture. It will be a night full of performances from up-and-coming recording artists, spoken word performers, dancers and actors.

[read more…]

Reading and Performance by Soul and the City 

[read more…]

Reading and Performance by Soul and the City

Soul and the City is thrilled to invite you to a fabulous special event focused on the awesomeness, glory, mysteries, prolificacy and beauty of the human expression and its manifestations, while exploring the interconnectedness between the individual and the society with its intricacies, restraints, lenities, hushes, and indulgencies.[read more…]

Stories by Katinka Kraft and music by Anke Wisch

This show connects the autobiogaphical story with the traditional to bring forth that which is political, personal, and timeless, accompanied
by violin and loop station.

[read more…]

Reading and Performance curated by Maria Leonard

in tandem: live literature celebrates the polyvocal across sound, meaning and language. It is a series of public experiments that pairs together writers to create in tandem performances that expand what translation can be in live practice.

[read more…]

Reading and Performance by Soul and the City
PLEASE NOTE: The starting time has been changed to 8 pm!

Soul and the City is thrilled to continue with our LOVE, SWEAT AND LAUGHTER series of events, which allow an outlet of different types of arts to manifest, intertwine and grow together with the purpose of creating a culturally diverse tapestry of thought-provoking expressions, up-close emotions, and in-depth gestures, leaving positive imprints of social engagement and political awareness.

[read more…]

Reading by Poetic Hafla

Poetic Hafla, a variety show with a Mediterranean flair!

10 artists, 1 host, lots of magic

Poetic Hafla is a celebration of Berlin art and culture. It will be a night full of performances from up-and-coming recording artists, spoken word performers, dancers and actors.

[read more…]

Reading and Performance by Soul and the City

Soul and the City is thrilled to invite you to a special event celebrating interdisciplinary arts, visions and visionaries, in an indelible exploration of the borders of reality and what lies beyond. Whether about allegorical representations, untethered artistic visions, futurism, or limitless discoveries of the human mind, we are bound to make this journey one-of-a-kind, while intertwining the various facets of cultural and artistic manifestations. All enhanced by unmatched representations.

[read more…]

Reading and Performance by Soul and the City

Soul and the City is thrilled to continue with our LOVE, SWEAT AND LAUGHTER series of events, which allow an outlet of different types of arts to manifest, intertwine and grow together with the purpose of creating a culturally diverse tapestry of thought-provoking expressions, up-close emotions, and in-depth gestures, leaving positive imprints of social engagement and political awareness.

[read more…]

Reading and Performance by Soul and the City

… and the Award goes to:

Best Artist in SpokenWord/Storytelling Category
Best Artist in Music Category
Best Artist in Dance Category
Best Artist in Comedy Category
Best Artist in Visual Arts Category

(Prize for each category: cash money)

and

Coolest Fan of the Year

(Prize: free entry to 10 SaC events)

…. because everyone deserves their own Oscars’ Night!

[read more…]

Reading and Performance by Soul and the City

Soul and the City is thrilled to continue with their LOVE, SWEAT AND LAUGHTER series of events, which allow an outlet of different types of arts to manifest, intertwine and grow together with the purpose of creating a culturally diverse tapestry of thought-provoking expressions, up-close emotions, and in-depth gestures, leaving positive imprints of social engagement and political awareness.

Some of Berlin’s coolest artists will gather together to present their witty performances in an enjoyable, friendly and slammin’ atmosphere refilled with love, sweat and laughter, the right impetus for the entire night. Join us in this incredible event, share in the passion and help us perpetuate hope.

At SOULandtheCITY we embrace roots, growth, (r)evolution, transformation and human beauty

[read more…]

The Reading presents an evening with Calla Henkel, joined by songwriter Dan Bodan

Calla Henkel is an American writer, playwright, director and artist living in Berlin. She has staged plays at Volksbühne Berlin, The Whitney Museum of Art, as well as at New Theater, the experimental theater space she co-founded and programmed in Berlin from 2013-2015. Her art writing has been published in periodicals such as Texte zur Kunst, Spike, Mousse, and others. Her artistic work with Max Pitegoff has been exhibited in museums and galleries worldwide. She currently operates a bar, performance space and film studio called TV in Berlin. In 2021 she published her debut novel OTHER PEOPLE’S CLOTHES.

[read more…]

Reading and Performance by Soul and the City

Soul and the City is thrilled to continue with their ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS series of events, which allow an outlet for different types of arts to manifest, intertwine and grow together with the purpose of creating a culturally diverse tapestry of thought-provoking expressions, up-close emotions and in-depth gestures, leaving positive imprints of social engagement and political awareness.

Some of Berlin's coolest artists will gather together to perform in an atmosphere of fun and good times to end the year on a long awaited and much needed positive note. Specifically, the creators of this event stand in solidarity with Child support and development programs, Water pump projects, Water and Hygiene Themes, Feminism, Nutritionfacts projects, among others. Join us in this incredible event, share in the passion and help us perpetuate hope!

!!!At SOULandtheCITY we embrace roots, growth, (r)evolution, transformation and human beauty!!!

[read more…]

Reading and Performance by Poetic Hafla

(c) privat

Poetic Hafla, a variety show with a Mediterranean flare! 10 artists, 1 host & lots of Magic!

Poetic Hafla is a celebration of Berlin art and culture. It will be a night full of performances from up-and-coming recording artists, spoken word performers, dancers and actors.
[read more…]

Reading and Performance by Soul and the City

Soul and the City is thrilled to invite you to a Valentine's Special Edition Event focused on diversity, individuality and the richness of languages and cultures with the purpose of uplifting and empowering individuals and communities, in an overall atmosphere of amazing vibrations, good times, inherent hope and love manifestations through multidisciplinary artists and an array of thought-provoking, engaging artistic displays.

[read more…]

CANCELLED

This event has been cancelled!

Reading and Performance by Brueder Selke (CEEYS), Brandon Kilbourne, Hussina Raja and Tecla; with music by Benjamin Jefferys

(c) Gurmeet Singh

Humble – self-aware, contrite, modest, poor, down-to-earth: Humble has many meanings but they all revolve around one central idea – it's the opposite of showy and ostentatious. Showy ostentation however might be the very core of today's culture – whether its influencers showing off their lifestyles, politicians showing off their nuclear arsenals, or industries paying extravagant bonuses while causing massive greenhouse emissions. Humble, it seems, is out of fashion.

[read more…]

Reading and Book Launch with Heather Perry, presented by The Reading Berlin

(c) Belgravia Books

Based on chilling real events, ORPHEUS BUILDS A GIRL is the story of a brilliant doctor determined his relationship with his true love will persist beyond the grave, and the sister who refuses to let his version of events go unchallenged. It’s a novel of sisterly love and deranged obsession that has been described as “grotesque and strangely beautiful” (Alice Ash) and “a sinister dark flower of a book” (Camila Grudova).

[read more…]

Reading with Julia Bosson, Sanders Isaac Bernstein, Paul Scraton and Alexander Wells

(c) Lotte Altman

“Who in all the world comes to Berlin voluntarily?” Joseph Roth’s question in THE WANDERING JEW (1927) asks us to consider the routes we take to end up in Berlin. His suggestion that there is something that drives people here is not only true of the refugee Jews from Eastern Europe then, but also characterizes the timeless situation of migrants and expats in Germany’s capital. Today Roth might be best known for his novels of the Habsburg Empire like RADETSKY MARCH (1932) and HOTEL SAVOY (1924). However, it was in Berlin where, chronicling the city’s diversity, with special attention to the marginalized, that he became a feuilletonist.

[read more…]

Reading and Performance

CANCELLED! Unfortunately, this event has been cancelled.

CANCELLED!

UNVEILING IRAN: VOICES FROM AFAR offers a platform for Iranians, Iranian Germans, and Iran-lovers to get on stage and express their dreams and desires for home.

The evening will feature live music by Ansan, a group of musicians from Iran, Israel, India, and the US, dedicated to peaceful living through music. Their fusion sound links Persian poetry to modern Western genres like jazz and blues and sets the tone for the culture of mixing and mingling that is Iran’s particular strength. Poets and writers with Iranian roots and those who have something to say about Iran will perform their work in Persian and English, telling stories of beauty, loss, belonging, longing.

[read more…]

Reading and conversation with Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi

(c) Joerg Kandziora

Kirabo grows up at her grandparents' in rural Uganda. Despite the love she experiences, the older she gets, the more questions come to her mind, the answers to which the adults around her seem to know, yet try with all their force to conceal: Where is her mother, whom she has never met? Why did she leave her daughter behind back then and chose a life without her? Clever and headstrong, Kirabo begins to get to the bottom of these questions.

[read more…]

Reading with Redfern Jon Barrett

A glittering metropolis of 24 million people, Berlin is a bustling world of pride parades, polyamorous trysts, and even an official gay language. Its distant radio broadcasts are a lifeline for teenagers William and Gareth, but is there a place for them in the deeply divided city? Meanwhile, young mother 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.

[read more…]

Book Swap Party by The Reader Berlin, Siena Powers, and Victor Breidenbach

(c) Victor Breidenbach, Siena Miller

It is time to let go of the fantasy that you will ever read Thomas Mann’s Der Zauberberg or Alfred Doblin’s Berlin Alexanderplatz. They have been judging you from their high shelf for long enough. You are an adult and will never find the time to read them! The time has come to let someone else carry the burden for a while. [read more…]

Reading and Performance by Soul and the City

(c) Soul and the City

Soul and the City are thrilled to invite you to a special event focused on politics out of love and love out of politics – and some deadly kisses in between. Some say “everything is politics”, others say “everything is love”, while the truth lies in between. This special event is bound to raise social and political awareness, while celebrating diversity, individuality, cultures and ethnicities in an overall atmosphere of amazing vibrations, good times, inherent hope and love manifestations through multidisciplinary artists and an array of thought-provoking, engaging artistic displays.

!!!At SOULandtheCITY we embrace roots, growth, (r)evolution, transformation and human beauty!!!

[read more…]

Reading and discussion with Lucy Jones and Alexander Wells

(c) pxfuel.com

Brigitte Reimann was one of the most important female voices in the GDR. A prolific writer, she wrote a clutch of novels before dying fifty years ago of cancer, aged 39. The English version of her novel "Die Geschwister", has been published by Penguin Classics and Transit Books as Siblings, translated by Lucy Jones.[read more…]

Christopher Kloeble in conversation with Liska Jacobs

Bartholomew is an orphan from Bombay. He’s twelve years old and speaks almost as many languages. That is why, in the year 1854, he is hired as a translator by the brothers Schlagintweit from Germany who, with the support of Alexander von Humboldt and the East India Company, embark upon the greatest expedition of their time, which takes them across India and the Himalayas. But Bartholomew is also pursuing his own agenda: he wants to establish the first museum of his remarkable, complex native land. And for this, he is willing to risk everything – even his life.

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Reading in two languages: Ukrainian and English

🇬🇧 Evening of beautiful contemporary Ukrainian poetry in two languages: Ukrainian and English. You will hear the best poems from special guests and actors. Perfect event for better understanding of Ukrainian culture.

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Reading and discussion with Julia Armfield, Lizzy Yarwood and Mikaella Clements

"Part bruisingly tender love story, part nerve-clanging submarine thriller" (The Times), OUR WIVES UNDER THE SEA is Julia Armfield's chilling and tragic debut novel.

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Presentation and conversation

Jessie Kerspe explores how the visualization of nostalgic ideas and the interaction of text and images emerged in Chagall's work. Taking the three books illustrated by Chagall as a trilogy, one can represent the artist's triple identity as French, Jewish, and Russian. At the same time, Chagall's engagement with contemporary nostalgic discussion can be opened up.

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Reading and Performance by Soul and the City

Soul and the City are thrilled to continue with their LOVE, SWEAT AND LAUGHTER series of events, which allow an outlet to different types of arts to manifest, intertwine and grow together with the purpose of creating a culturally diverse tapestry of thought-provoking expressions, up-close emotions and in-depth gestures, leaving positive imprints of social engagement and political awareness. Some of Berlin's coolest artists will gather together to present their witty performances in an enjoyable, friendly and slammin' atmosphere refilled with love, sweat and laughter, the right impetus for the entire night.

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The Reading #8 with Jennifer Neal: Berlin Launch of her new novel

Gabrielle has always had a complicated relationship with her mother Tallulah, one marked by intimacy and resilience in the face of a volatile patriarch. Everything in their home has been bleached a cold white—from the cupboards filled with sheets and crockery to the food and spices Tallulah cooks with. Even Gabrielle, who inherited the ability to change the color of her skin from her mother, is told to pass into white if she doesn’t want to upset her father.

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PART 1: The Neighborhood

Paul Brody’s sound installation lands somewhere between a recorded concert and a poetry reading, what he calls “musical translations” of poems and short prose pieces. Underpinning the words are compositions based on samples from symphonies and instruments taped live in a studio, creating a series of playfully eclectic mini-musical-poetic adventures.

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A documentary by Adar Bozbağ

Unfortunately Aslı Erdoğan won't be able to take part in the event as planned. Instead the documentary "Incomplete Sentences" by Adar Bozbağ will be shown this evening.

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Reading by Poetic Hafla

Poetic Hafla, a variety show with a Mediterranean flair! 10 artists, 1 host, lots of magic. It is a celebration of Berlin art and culture. It will be a night full of performances from up-and-coming recording artists, spoken word performers, dancers and actors.

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The Reading #9 with Victoria Gosling: Berlin Launch of her new novel

On Monday August 28th, The Reader Berlin and Lettretage host the Berlin launch of Bliss & Blunder, Victoria Gosling’s scandalous retelling of the Arthurian legend for the twenty-first century.[read more…]

Sound installation artist and composer, Paul Brody, creates live compositions in dialogue with the voices of recorded poets.

The music is created from samples of orchestral sounds, prepared piano, environmental noise, percussion derived from toys and kitchen utensils, and more. The selected poets are Marica Bodrožić, Orsolya Kalász, Uljana Wolf, Tom Bresemann, Dmitri Strozew, Marina Frenk.

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Reading  and Book launch with Megan Fernandes and Edgar Kunz; moderation: Tracy Fuad

Megan Fernandes and special guest Edgar Kunz join Tracy Fuad of the Berlin Writers’ Workshop to celebrate the launch of Fernandes’s third poetry collection I DO EVERYTHING I’M TOLD. It explores disobedience and worship, longing and possessiveness, and nights of wandering cities.

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A Book release, lecture-performance  and text-based art exhibition with Artemis Chrysostomidou

Poetry, text-based art, worlds full of contradictions, women, mistakes and forgiveness. OH, THAT HAND OF YOURS was written trying not to injure the present. [read more…]

An evening of readings with Sanders Isaac Bernstein

The Reader is beginning another fall of workshops and writing! Join The Reader Berlin's community to hear what everyone's been working on this past year- and to start off the next.[read more…]

Queer Poetry with Elena Lazutkina

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