The LitLab (Literature Lab) is an initiative of the Department of Linguistics and Literary Studies and is aimed at upper secondary school students. Through our programs, students come into contact with authors from different backgrounds and are encouraged to develop their creative writing skills under professional guidance and gain their first insights into literary studies.

This year, author Rasha Khayat is presenting her novel I’m not coming back as part of a student workshop. Broken friendships, loneliness, racism and the importance of family are at the heart of Khayat’s second published work. The protagonists Hanna, Zeyna and Cem are initially inseparable. Nothing seems to disturb their friendship at the end of the 1980s in a small working-class neighborhood in the Ruhr area. However, everything changes with the terrorist attacks on September 11, which ultimately lead to a final break. Years later, Hanna returns home to rekindle their old friendship despite all the adversity.

About the person:

1987° (Dortmund, Germany). Rasha Khayat is a German author and translator with Saudi Arabian roots. She grew up in Saudi Arabia and moved back to Germany with her family in 1988. Khayat studied Modern German Literature and Philosophy in Bonn. She published her first novel Weil wir längst woanders sind in 2016. In addition to her work as a translator and author, Khayat runs the blog Westöstliche Diva – Das deutsche Fenster zu Arabistan , in which she draws attention to the cultural connection between Germany and the Arab world. Khayat lives and works in Hamburg.

The project is funded by the University of Bremen Foundation.