Program / lit.RUHR List of all events

He played soccer for Borussia Mönchengladbach in the German Bundesliga, was a member of the national team from 2014 to 2016, winning the World Cup in 2014, and is a much sought-after expert. Now, … This text was shortened for this overview. Follow the more-link to read the full text.

More information about the event Life began that summer – with Christoph Kramer

What makes a good life? What fulfills us? Who and what is important to us? Is there a recipe for happiness? In their new books, bestselling authors Stephan Schäfer and Kester Schlenz each go … This text was shortened for this overview. Follow the more-link to read the full text.

More information about the event Collecting the moments – Stephan Schäfer and Kester Schlenz on what makes a good life

At the end of the Second World War, a young boy is found in the middle of Germany. He knows nothing about himself or where he has come from. He is given the name Hartmut and an estimated age. He… This text was shortened for this overview. Follow the more-link to read the full text.

More information about the event You Must Hold My Hand Tighter, No. 104 – with Susanne Abel

The Brost Foundation has launched a new series, “Fragen eines lesenden Schauspielers” [“Questions From a Reading Actor”]. In it, Dietmar Bär, actor and passionate reader, turns his attention to literatu… This text was shortened for this overview. Follow the more-link to read the full text.

More information about the event Questions From a Reading Actor. Dietmar Bär meets Lisa Roy

Radio station Österreichischer Rundfunk called her “one of the great upcoming talents in contemporary poetry”, Anke Engelke is a self-confessed fan of her work, and her debut collection, “i am blow-d… This text was shortened for this overview. Follow the more-link to read the full text.

More information about the event starve pray sob swim. New poetry from the region – with Sirka Elspaß

Volker Kutscher’s Rath novels, which were adapted into the hugely successful “Babylon Berlin” TV series, end in 1938. After that, the fate of the characters – complicated commissioner Gereon Rath, brave C… This text was shortened for this overview. Follow the more-link to read the full text.

More information about the event The grand finale of a mystery series – Volker Kutscher and Kat Menschik on what happened after the war

Literature from around the globe contains all sorts of good spirits who appear when help is required, supporting protagonists in unconventional ways. For example, there’s the down-to-earth variety s… This text was shortened for this overview. Follow the more-link to read the full text.

More information about the event In good spirits: Maria Schrader, Devid Striesow and Knut Elstermann on the invisible helpers

Günter Wallraff’s 1985 book Lowest of the Low, based on his undercover reporting as Turkish guest worker Ali Levent, sent shockwaves throughout Germany. Wallraff uncovered inhumane working co… This text was shortened for this overview. Follow the more-link to read the full text.

More information about the event Lowest of the Low – taking stock after 40 years. With Günter Wallraff.

For nearly 40 years, on an unremarkable street in Cologne, people have stood for hours, trying to peek through a curtained window and waiting to be let into a magical world. “Le Moissonnier” is unu… This text was shortened for this overview. Follow the more-link to read the full text.

More information about the event True stories from a very special restaurant – Vincent Moissonnier, Bert Gamerschlag, Frank Schätzing and Peter Lohmeyer

Stefan Schwarz has been one of Leipzig’s least successful gardeners for over 20 years. In his series Der kleine Gartenversager [“The Little Gardening Loser”], he tells hilarious tales of his garde… This text was shortened for this overview. Follow the more-link to read the full text.

More information about the event “Fun doesn’t stop at the garden fence!” Kai Magnus Sting and Stefan Schwarz talk about gardens

What would rock ‘n’ roll be without its stories? Without sex and drugs? Without hysterical fans? Without delusions of grandeur? Without band intrigue and the secrets of success (and failures)? Wit… This text was shortened for this overview. Follow the more-link to read the full text.

More information about the event It’s Only Rock ’n’ Roll … With Bibiana Beglau, Gerd Köster, Markus Naegele and Stefan Stoppok

January 1956: Seventeen years after fleeing Nazi Germany just in time, Mascha Kaléko returns. It’s a journey into the past, intertwined with the anxious question of whether it can also take her into th… This text was shortened for this overview. Follow the more-link to read the full text.

More information about the event If I Were a Cloud – Maria Schrader and Volker Weidermann on Mascha Kaléko and the journey of her life

Giulia Enders is a gastroenterologist and one of Germany’s most successful popular science authors. Following the success of her bestseller “Gut”, her new book, Organisch [“Organic”], takes an even broader v… This text was shortened for this overview. Follow the more-link to read the full text.

More information about the event Organic – what listening to your body really means. With Giulia Enders

At a dinner party in 1922, novelist Virginia Woolf meets author and celebrated aristocrat Vita Sackville-West. It is the start of an all-consuming passion and a deep friendship that inspires the… This text was shortened for this overview. Follow the more-link to read the full text.

More information about the event “I have missed you. I do miss you. I shall miss you.” Luise Wolfram and Jasna Fritzi Bauer on Vita Sackville-West and Virginia Woolf

Our feelings are like houses that we live in – they influence our relationships with the world, our decisions and our trust in the future. In his new book Haus der Gefühle [“House of Feelings”], social… This text was shortened for this overview. Follow the more-link to read the full text.

More information about the event Politics of feelings – ways out of crisis mode. Stephan Grünewald meets Harald Welzer

Wussten Sie, dass es eine Romantrilogie eines türkischen Autors über Duisburg gibt? Kennen Sie den Roman über eine polnische Familie, ähnlich den »Buddenbrooks«, in dem die Gründung von Borussia Dortmu… This text was shortened for this overview. Follow the more-link to read the full text.

More information about the event Als die Bergarbeiterfrau mit der türkischen Nachbarin ein Baklava aß

The story of phenomenally rich Jay Gatsby and beautifully smug Daisy Buchanan is a classic piece of 20th century literature. In his timeless masterpiece released in 1925, F. Scott Fitzgerald paints… This text was shortened for this overview. Follow the more-link to read the full text.

More information about the event “You must know Gatsby.” Claudia Michelsen, Benno Fürmann and Bernhard Robbe on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s masterpiece

“The whole world understands my language,” said Joseph Haydn (1732–1809), one of the greatest composers of his time. He shaped Viennese classicism like no other, and his 77 years were filled with creat… This text was shortened for this overview. Follow the more-link to read the full text.

More information about the event Haydn! A literary symphony with Alain Claude Sulzer and Elke Heidenreich

Can the dead come back to life? Many years ago, a young woman disappeared without a trace in the Amazon. Now she suddenly returns, but something about her is not quite right. There’s something odd a… This text was shortened for this overview. Follow the more-link to read the full text.

More information about the event Andreas Eschbach imagines a thrilling future for the three investigators

“A wondrous book” – that’s how philosopher and bestselling author Wolfram Eilenberger described Konstantin Richter’s work of narrative non-fiction, Three Hundred Men. “Three hundred German men determined … This text was shortened for this overview. Follow the more-link to read the full text.

More information about the event Three Hundred Men – Konstantin Richter, Nina Kunzendorf and Jörg Thadeusz on the rise and fall of a great industrial nation

Katja Riemann is one of the best-known actors in the German-speaking countries. With finesse, she traverses the line between commercial and art-house film and is likewise at home in the world of… This text was shortened for this overview. Follow the more-link to read the full text.

More information about the event Katja Riemann – Fog and Fire

Democracy as a political and social system is in danger worldwide, even in countries considered to be pioneers and role-models of modern democracy, such as the US or France. Illiberal, far-right… This text was shortened for this overview. Follow the more-link to read the full text.

More information about the event What Democracy Means – with Julian Nida-Rümelin

Author Jaroslav Rudiš is not only an expert in traveling by train, as proven in his bestseller, “Travelling by Train, a User’s Manual”. The Bohemian native is also a passionate beer drinker. In A User’s… This text was shortened for this overview. Follow the more-link to read the full text.

More information about the event Beer – A User’s Manual. With Jaroslav Rudiš and Sven Regener

An addictive novel, a multi-talented artist, an evening of literature, life and music: Daniel Donskoy presents his literary debut, Brennen [“Burning”] – a feverish, tender and brutally open story about… This text was shortened for this overview. Follow the more-link to read the full text.

More information about the event Burning – Reading, talk and music with Daniel Donskoy

Soccer is a strange game. “First you’re unlucky and then things go wrong,” as striker Jürgen Wegmann once said. But what if many of the things we think we know about soccer are simply not true? What if the… This text was shortened for this overview. Follow the more-link to read the full text.

More information about the event Christoph Biermann and Sven Mislintat – The Table Always Lies

Born in the shadow of the Cold War, Sputnik – as his mother calls him – grows up in West Berlin, which is riddled with upheaval, contradiction and history. Between his mother’s fantasy world and his fathe… This text was shortened for this overview. Follow the more-link to read the full text.

More information about the event Sputnik – with Christian Berkel

Since 2017, the Brost Foundation has invited exceptional authors to make the Ruhr area their temporary home and discover the region through writing as part of the “Metropolenschreiber” program. Jou… This text was shortened for this overview. Follow the more-link to read the full text.

More information about the event The new Ruhr writer-in-residence – Jens Balzer in conversation with Wolfram Eilenberger

We live in turbulent times, with crisis-plagued democracy and highly complex geopolitical challenges. In the midst of these profound changes, two bright minds come together: Green Party politician… This text was shortened for this overview. Follow the more-link to read the full text.

More information about the event The Great Upheaval – Ricarda Lang and Steffen Mau talk to Louis Klamroth about crises, conflicts and compromises

Charlie is 15 and feels like she’s living behind a glass wall. Her mother has a new boyfriend – the waiter from the Italian place round the corner, of all people. Her best friend has just kissed the boy… This text was shortened for this overview. Follow the more-link to read the full text.

More information about the event Where the Sky Never Ends – with Julia Engelmann

Our aging society is neither child-friendly nor fair to children. Politically overlooked and socially neglected, a generation is growing up that will soon be expected to take on responsibility, but… This text was shortened for this overview. Follow the more-link to read the full text.

More information about the event More opportunities for children – Sebastian Kurtenbach, Emilia Roig, and Mithu Sanyal on the future of our society

Ever since her international bestseller “Dear Child” – now an award-winning Netflix series – Romy Hausmann has been one of Germany’s most successful thriller authors. In Darling Mine, she once again spins a g… This text was shortened for this overview. Follow the more-link to read the full text.

More information about the event Darling Mine – with Romy Hausmann and Martin Bechler

Ten years after his sensational documentary “Im Nazidorf” [“In the Nazi Village”], which won the German Television Award, and five years after his bestselling book “Germany Defeats Me”, Michel Abdollahi’s… This text was shortened for this overview. Follow the more-link to read the full text.

More information about the event It’s Our Country – Michel Abdollahi, Tupoka Ogette and the wish for an open society

Caroline Wahl is back. After “22 Lengths” and “Gale Force 17”, the shooting star of German-language literature presents her new novel, The Assistant. Charlotte’s big dream was to have a career as a musician.… This text was shortened for this overview. Follow the more-link to read the full text.

More information about the event Caroline Wahl – The Assistant