Programme of the 9th international literature festival berlin 2009

Wed, 16.09. at 8 pm, Literaturladen Wist (Postdam)
Kalaidescope
Gerhard Falkner (Germany): Auf Liebe und Tod
PRESENTER: Carsten Wist
After his celebrated hunt for Brüno the bear, Falkner returns from the mountains to the city in his
new novel Auf Liebe und Tod (t: Here's to love and death). He leaves the dangerous bear (who
gets killed in the end) for a dangerous woman (who gets killed in the end). He has gone from the
clutch and grind of Stifter and Hemingway to the thistles and thorns of Chekhov and Gogol. –
Admission free.
Wed, 16.09. at 8:30 pm, Maxim Gorki Theater / Studio stage
Speak, Memory
Paul Scheerbart (Danzig 1863 – Berlin 1915)
INTRODUCTION: Gregor Pohl, SPEAKER: Friedhelm Ptok
Paul Scheerbart has always been fascinated by Utopias. He spent years building a perpetuum
mobile, always convinced that he was just a small step from completing it. Most of his works are
also Utopian: with Der Tod der Barmakiden (t: The death of the Barmakids) and Der Alte Orient (t:
The Old Orient) we have two insights into Scheerbart’s fantastic land of tomorrow.
Wed, 16.09. at 9 pm, Babylon
Kaleidoscope
David Wroblewski (USA)
PRESENTER: Tanya Lieske, SPEAKER: Ulrich Matthes
The New York Times describes The Story of Edger Sawtelle as “a great, big, mesmerizing read.”
Born mute, Edgar has a particularly close relationship to the dogs his parents breed on their
Wisconsin farm. When he is forced to leave home, he is dependent on the animals' help as he
moves through breathtaking landscapes. A gripping family saga and an adventure novel, depicting
a young man's struggle to survive in the wilderness.
Wed, 16.09. at 9 pm, Babylon_Kleiner Saal
Specials
Torsten Schulz (Germany)
SPEAKER: Milan Peschel
"Revolution and crabs": love and betrayal in era of social change; life's promises that are not
fulfilled in the way we hoped. Torsten Schultz (Raus aus der Haut, Boxhanger Platz) casts a glaring
light on revolutions large and small. "Wonderfully sad narratives reminiscent of film shorts," said
Spiegel Online, and in Die Zeit, "well-focused close-ups – condensed into fascinating explorations
of the human soul." Tickets: €8
Wed, 16.09. at 9 pm, Collegium Hungaricum Berlin
Focus Arab World
Poetry meets Melody
Girgis Shoukry (Egypt) and José F. A. Oliver (Germany)
The German-Andalusian José F.A. Oliver and the Coptic Egyptian Girgis Shoukry give us an
evening of poetry and music. Floating between the flamenco sounds of his birthplace and his own
poetry, Olive will accompany Shoukry’s poems, which, in the author’s own words, “should look like
people on the street.”
Wed, 16.09. at 10pm, DAAD Galerie
Reflections
Worldwide Readings for Democracy and Freedom in Iran
With Amir Hassan Cheheltan, Navid Kermani and others
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