Why do I write, what do I write, how do I write, and for whom? What forms the foundation of my writing, what influences do I encounter, and how consciously do I engage with my poetics? What is the relationship between writing and everyday reality – be it personal, social or economic? What do the literary scene and funding systems look like in different countries?

15 prose authors aged between 25 and 40 from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Austria and Germany met in Berlin in early September 2012 to take a step back from their daily writing routines and discuss fundamental issues. One author was nominated from each of the Nordic countries, all of whom had already published several independent works of prose. Each of these authors brought along a younger writer from their own country with a shorter list of publications, who had not yet been translated into foreign languages but had already made a name for themselves in the literary circles of their home country and were at the start of their careers. In addition to the diversity of the participating countries, a wide range of voices and independent writing styles was selected. In this way, a highly productive exchange across linguistic and national boundaries was encouraged, with the aim of inspiring with one’s own practice, receiving inspiration for one’s own writing, allowing one’s own ‘writing’ to collide with literary foreign bodies, and, last but not least, gaining and revising images of one another.

The working language was English. Each participant had a literary and a poetological text translated into German and English respectively to serve as a basis for discussion. The translated texts were published as an anthology following the conference.

Although the conference didn't take place in public, the impressions and ideas generated were able to reach the wider public, as the event was accompanied by a series of readings and discussions in Berlin, Dresden and Stuttgart, which were also available via livestream online. This provided direct insights into the very latest developments in Nordic literature – without the years-long delays caused by market, funding and translation mechanisms. Conversely, all participants had the opportunity to expand the frame of reference for their literature, which is usually still regional or national, beyond the boundaries of countries, languages and mentalities.