Press release of September 24, 2026
PEN Berlin at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2026
PEN Berlin will be at the Frankfurt Book Fair from October 7th to 10th with nine events. We open with a conversation between historians Jill Lepore and Christina Morina, hosted by Thea Dorn, on the Dialogue Stage. From Thursday to Saturday, authors, journalists, and intellectuals will discuss some of today’s most pressing political and social questions at the PEN Berlin Booth.
What threatens democracy on either side of the Atlantic? How does the history of Central Europe shape us? What can religion offer in an exhausted age—and when does it become a weapon? What is life like for queer people in Germany today? Has the country truly come together? Where is constant outrage leading us? And how are war and rearmament changing our society?
Joining the conversations are Jill Lepore, Christina Morina, Radka Denemarková, Jaroslav Rudiš, Nora Bossong, Hamed Abdel-Samad, Nora Eckert, Joachim Helfer, Marco Linguri, Paula Fürstenberg, Manja Präkels, Hendrik Bolz, Eva Menasse, Shida Bazyar, Saba-Nur Cheema, Wolf Iro, Omid Nouripour, Mithu Sanyal, and Simon Engel.
On Thursday, October 8th, from 16:00, we invite you to a drinks reception at the PEN Berlin Booth in Hall 3.0 E60. Come by and join us!
OUR FULL PROGRAMME:
Wednesday, October 7th, 2026 · Dialogue Stage · Hall 4.0, Foyer
11:00–12:00 · Militant Democracy?
Few people in the West’s established democracies question democracy as a form of government in itself. Yet there is fierce disagreement over what “democracy” actually means. Is a country democratic when the majority can impose whatever political agenda it chooses? Or is democracy defined by strong, constitutionally enshrined institutions, such as the Federal Constitutional Court in Germany or the US Supreme Court, which ensure minority rights are protected as well? And what happened to the promise of liberal democracy that everyone is free in the pursuit of happiness? In the age of digital capitalism, has that promise not produced quasi-absolutist concentrations of power in the hands of a small number of tech entrepreneurs, reducing the people, the actual demos, to an easily manipulated mass of “users” and consumers?
America’s foremost historian, Jill Lepore, and Christina Morina, a leading German historian, discuss the risks and perils facing democracy in the United States and in Germany today.
With Jill Lepore (The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State, Liveright) and Christina Morina (Das amerikanische Beben – Erfahrungen und Konsequenzen für die deutsche Demokratie, Siedler)
Host: Thea Dorn
Thursday, October 8th, 2026 · PEN Berlin Booth · Hall 3.0, E60
12:00–13:00 · Guest of Honor Czechia: The Ghosts of History
Radka Denemarková and Jaroslav Rudiš, two central voices in contemporary Czech literature, discuss rushing trains, talking graves, and why the history of Central Europe refuses to let us go.
With Radka Denemarková (Schokoladenblut; Kobold, Hoffmann und Campe) and Jaroslav Rudiš (Wo die Toten sprechen, Luchterhand)
Host: Doris Akrap (taz)
14:00–15:00 · So God Help Us
Everyone is exhausted; no one really believes in anything anymore. Still, religion’s everywhere: in politics, in global conflicts, and in everyday life. Nora Bossong and Hamed Abdel-Samad approach the same question from different directions: What does faith do to us when it provides support? And what happens when it’s weaponized? A discussion on the search for meaning, power, and just how much religion an exhausted age can take.
With Nora Bossong (Welt mit anderen Mitteln. Für mehr Glauben in erschöpften Zeiten, Kösel) and Hamed Abdel-Samad (With God on Their Side, dtv)
Host: Paul-Henri Campbell (PEN Berlin)
16:00–18:00 · Drinks Reception
Come by and join us for drinks at the PEN Berlin Booth in Hall 3.0 E60!
Friday, October 9th, 2026 · PEN Berlin Booth · Hall 3.0, E60
14:00–15:00 · Hey, Queer World, How’s It Going?
One might have thought the issue was settled. But it ain’t. Nora Eckert, Joachim Helfer, and Marco Linguri discuss queer life in Germany in the present day, in the wake of the attack on Berlin Pride, which has raised the questions of safety and self-determination anew. Looking back at queer history in both West and East Germany and asking what space queer life can find within Islam, they explore where acceptance and threats truly stand today.
With Nora Eckert (Der lange Weg zur Selbstbestimmung. Eine trans*Geschichte BRD/DDR, Wallstein), Joachim Helfer (PEN Berlin), and Marco Linguri (author and imam)
16:00–17:00 · Can We Still Come Together?
Three people, one country, and an open question: Paula Fürstenberg, Manja Präkels, and Hendrik Bolz discuss what remains now that the grand narrative of German unity has long since begun to fracture. No nostalgia, no East-West clichés. Just three perspectives on origins, chance, and why people sometimes feel like strangers in their own country. A conversation for anyone who has ever wondered whether this sense of togetherness ever truly existed.
With Paula Fürstenberg (Niewiedervereinigung, Kiepenheuer & Witsch), Manja Präkels (Radiorauschen im Sternenpark, Verbrecher Verlag), and Hendrik Bolz (Aus Ruinen, Kiepenheuer & Witsch)
Host: Ijoma Mangold (DIE ZEIT)
Saturday, October 10th, 2026 · PEN Berlin Booth · Hall 3.0, E60
11:00–12:00 · The German Village
The neighbors you know. And don’t know at all. Eva Menasse and Shida Bazyar look to where things get uncomfortable: on the street, the communal hallway, and the familiar village that suddenly seems strange. In their latest novels, Alleinruhelage and Die Lücken, the two authors write about belonging and its opposite, pointedly, unflinchingly, and without offering any faux reconciliation. A conversation about who truly belongs and who merely imagines that they do.
With Eva Menasse (Alleinruhelage, Kiepenheuer & Witsch) and Shida Bazyar (Die Lücken, Kiepenheuer & Witsch)
Host: Daniela Sepehri (PEN Berlin)
13:00–14:00 · Calm Down Already!
Everyone is outraged all the time. About everything. Saba-Nur Cheema, Wolf Iro, and Omid Nouripour ask whether any of this is getting us anywhere. Or whether we are simply shouting at one another until no one is listening anymore. Three sharp minds offer three different answers to the question of how we can disagree without burning down the house. A conversation about anger, conviction, and the art of being right without destroying everything in the process.
With Saba-Nur Cheema (Die Empörungsfalle, Kiepenheuer & Witsch), Wolf Iro (Was jetzt zählt, Wagenbach), and Omid Nouripour (Empört euch nicht!, Ullstein)
Host: Bascha Mika
14:00–15:00 · War & Peace
Where do you stand on war? It is a question few people felt they had to ask themselves in the past—but now they do. Mithu Sanyal approaches the subject through literature and the essay; Simon Engel lives it as an officer in the German Armed Forces, for whom the question is anything but theoretical. Two people, two approaches, and no easy answers. A conversation about duty, conviction, and what each of us would be prepared to stand up for when things get serious.
With Mithu Sanyal (Nein. Gegen die Militarisierung der Gegenwart, Hanser) and Simon Engel (Wofür ich immer kämpfen würde, Penguin)
Host: Konstantin Küspert (PEN Berlin)
For interview requests, please get in touch.
PEN Berlin. We stand by our word.