Ukraine: PEN Berlin goes ilb ’25
Solidarity Evening for Ukraine
With Yevgeniy Breyger, Maren Eggert, Vassili Golod, Yuriy Gurzhy, Wolodymyr Jermolenko, Tanja Maljartschuk, Katja Petrowskaja, Paul Ronzheimer, Deniz Yücel and a video message from Serhij Zhadan.
Haus der Berliner Festspiele | Große Bühne | Schaperstraße 24 | Berlin
Friday, 19 september | 7:30 pm | VVK: buy your ticket here | Ticket: 18 € / reduced: 12 € / Solidarity ticket: 28 € / Solidarity ticket reduced: 22 €. With your Solidarity ticket, you support the work of PEN Ukraine. Solidarity tickets can be found in the ticket shop under the menu item “Ermäßígung”.
Programme: War has been raging in Ukraine for three years and the world order is in flux. But what does this mean for writers and journalists – and how do they view this conflict today?
Opening: Deniz Yücel
Panel Kriegsreporter: Vassili Golod and Paul Ronzheimer discuss the situation on the front line.
Panel writers: Katja Petrowskaja, Yevgeniy Breyger and Tanja Maljartschuk report on how their everyday life and writing have changed.
Reading from »Blick auf Frauen. Den Krieg im Blick« by Victoria Amelina (edition.fotoTAPETA 2025): Maren Eggert
Keynote: Wolodymyr Jermolenko about the precarious situation of writers and media in his country and the fight for independent journalism.
Music: Yuriy Gurzhy
Video message: Serhij Zhadan
Moderated by Alev Doğan and Jörg Thadeusz
The Ukrainian journalist and author Victoria Amelina was killed in 2023 in a Russian missile attack. In her memory, PEN Berlin, PEN Ukraine, and the Ukrainian Institute invite you to an evening of solidarity. PEN Berlin in cooperation with internationale literaturfestival berlin. Funded by the Friede Springer Foundation.
Guests:
Yevgeniy Breyger [Ukraine *1989] is a poet, translator, and lecturer at the University of Applied Arts Vienna. He has received numerous awards for his work, including the Leonce and Lena Prize in 2019.
Alev Doğan [Germany *1989] is a political journalist and deputy editor-in-chief of »The Pioneer«. She hosts the weekly society podcast »Der 8. Tag«.
Maren Eggert [Germany *1974] is an actress. She has received numerous awards, including the Silver Bear at the Berlinale and the German Film Award.
Vassili Golod [Ukraine *1993] is a foreign correspondent for ARD. He has been head of the ARD studio in Kiev since 2023. Together with Jan Kawelke and Salwa Houmsi, he runs the podcast »Machiavelli – Rap & Politik«.
Yuriy Gurzhy [Ukraine *1975] is an author, DJ, and musician. Together with the writer Wladimir Kaminer, he initiated the legendary Russendisko party series in Berlin.
Wolodymyr Jermolenko [Ukraine *1980] is a philosopher, editor-in-chief of the online platform »UkraineWorld« and head of the political department at Internews Ukraine. He has served as president of PEN Ukraine since 2022.
Tanja Maljartschuk [Ukraine *1983] lives in Vienna. She was awarded the Ingeborg Bachmann Prize in 2018. Her most recent essay collection is »Gleich geht die Geschichte weiter, wir atmen nur aus«.
Katja Petrowskaja [Ukraine *1970] has lived in Berlin since 1999. Her debut novel »Maybe Esther« [tr. Shelley Frisch] was published in 2014. It has been translated into over 30 languages and has received numerous awards.
Paul Ronzheimer [Germany *1985] is a war reporter and deputy editor-in-chief of »Bild«. In 2022, Volodymyr Zelenskyi awarded him the Ukrainian Order of Merit, which he declined.
Jörg Thadeusz [Germany *1968] is a journalist, radio and television presenter, and writer. His most recent novel is »Steinhammer«.
Deniz Yücel [Germany *1973] is a journalist at »Welt« and spokesperson for PEN Berlin, winner of the Theodor Wolff Prize. His most recent publication is »Agentterrorist – Eine Geschichte über Freiheit und Freundschaft, Demokratie und Nichtsodemokratie«.
Serhij Zhadan [Ukraine *1974] is the winner of the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade. He received the Jan Michalski Literature Prize for »Vorošilovgrad«, among others. He lives in Kharkiv and is now a soldier.
PEN Berlin at the Leipzig Book Fair ’25
AI and Literature – Exploring Possibilities
Friday, March 28, 11 AM – 12:30 PM | Forum Mensch und KI | Hall 5, Stand D 301
Panel discussion with: Jan Cornelius (author), Jonas Lüscher (author), Sara Wegmann (writer). Moderated by: Dana Grigorcea (writer, PEN Berlin Board).
Artificial Intelligence – Blessing or Curse for Literature? Can AI find a new language between nations and generations? PEN Berlin presents an event on the hopes that AI raises among multilingual authors. MORE
Stories of AI – From subversion to dictatorship
Friday, March 28, 1:00 – 2:00 PM | Forum Mensch und KI | Hall 5, Stand D 301
Panel discussion with: Robert Schwartz (former Head of the Romania Desk, Deutsche Welle), Simon Roloff (media scholar). Moderated by: Dana Grigorcea (writer, PEN Berlin Board).
Using the example of Romania’s rigged presidential election, we talk about AI-generated stories on social media and the implications for our democracies. MORE
Book Release: “Be Beside Me and See What Has Happened to Me”
Berlin Premiere: The anthology *Be Beside Me and See What Has Happened to Me*, published by The Poetry Project and PEN Berlin, is now available at Verbrecher Verlag and in bookstores everywhere.
The book features 32 poets sharing their experiences of fleeing their homelands, how their relationship with their country of origin has changed, and how each of them envisions their new life in Germany. The texts are presented in German as well as in their original languages: Arabic, Kurdish, Farsi, and Ukrainian.
Book Launch Events and Readings:
Tuesday, December 3, 7 PM | Salon at FMP1 | Franz-Mehring-Platz 1
Host: Alexandru Bulucz. Free entry. MORE INFO
Friday, December 13, 8 PM | Buchkönigin | Hobrechtstraße 65
Host: Sandra Hetzl. Free entry. MORE INFO
PEN Berlin Congress 2024
2nd November in Hamburg: On we go
Saturday, 2nd November 2024, Alte Fabrik, Hamburg-Altona. With: Doris Akrap, Daniel-Dylan Böhmer, Aron Boks, Simone Buchholz, Alexandru Bulucz, Jan Ehlert, Dana Grigorcea, Iris Helbing, Sandra Hetzl, Daniel Kahn, Etgar Keret, Ivan Krastev, Eva Menasse, Bascha Mika, Daniel Morgenroth, Stella Nyanzi, Fintan O’Toole, Jovana Reisinger, Linn Penelope Rieger, Daniel Ris, Philipp Ruch, Juliana Socher, Alain Claude Sulzer, Sophie Sumburane and David Werdermann.
AfD, BDS, Iran: PEN Berlin at ilb ’24
I. What if we were wrong – what can help against the AfD?
Reading in Leipzig: The country needs new poets!
Over the past two years, a project has given young refugees the opportunity to express their experiences of flight, migration and Germany in poetry. Texts have been created that give an insight into the lives of these young adults.
The reading will be in German and Farsi.
📅 30. August
🕕 6 pm
📍 Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst
Karl-Tauchnitz-Str. 9 – 11, Leipzig
In cooperation with PEN Berlin e.V. and The Poetry Project e.V.