Berlin International Literature Festival

Starting today is the 11th edition of Berlin’s International Literature Festival, that brings writers, editors and illustrators from around the world to a number of different venues around the city. The festival lasts for ten days, so there is plenty of time to catch some of the action, and with such a wide variety of events and speakers there is surely something to catch your interest.

The programme is divided into a number of different sections, and here are some the things that caught our eye when we took a look:

Literatures of the World – All manner of writers from all manner of countries, including the current guest authors of the DAAD Berlin Artist’s programme. Highlights include: A.S. Byatt (UK), Gary Shteyngart (USA), Mario Vargas Llosa (Peru), Irvine Welsh (Scotland).

International Children’s and Youth Literature – featuring the dynamic, Gruffalo-inventing duo of Julia Donaldson (UK) and Axel Scheffler (Germany).

Focus Asia-Pacific – this is the main focus of this year’s festival, and the events include participation from Omair Ahmad (India), Ha Jin (China), Kim Chi-ha (Korea), and DAAD guest author Altaf Tyrewala (India).
Reflections – Authors, journalists and international experts will be offering up their opinions on current political, social and cultural topics from eastern Europe.

Speak, Memory – In this section, German and international authors – both famous and forgotten – will be remembered in a combination of readings and talks. Some of the authors being showcased and discussed include Jose Saramago, Rabindranath Tagore, Peter Weiss, Czeslaw Milosz and Fuad Rifka.

Other events taking place over the next ten days include poetry slams, film screenings, concerts, a presentation of graphic novels and a section discussing literature behind bars. Of course, what we have here is just a tiny selection of what is going on, so if you want to find out more, take a look at the official Berlin International Literature Festival website.