German Nobel Prize winner Günter Grass broke boundaries with his work and influence. His eye, always directed towards the most precise description of the state of affairs, transcends artistic, political and geographical boundaries of thought and action and his efforts to promote artists of foreign literatures inspire a new series of events under the motto “Grass Grenzenlos” (Grass Without Borders). Renowned artists from different countries and generations will be brought together to talk about their work.

The second event in the new series will take place on December 5, 2025 under the title “Giving Doubt” and will feature the Czech poet and diplomat Tomas Kafka and the Ukrainian writer Tanja Maljartschuk, who has won the Ingeborg Bachmann Prize, among others. The title was based on a self-positioning by Günter Grass: “I have no lesson. I don’t know the solution. I give you doubt… so to be nervous, to be disturbed, to be among the losers, to know what you have lost… Usually the horizons of the homeless and uprooted are wider than those of the inhabitants of small and large inherited properties…” Tomas Kafka experienced first-hand the exodus of dissidents, the suppression of literature and its underground existence in the former Czechoslovakia, as well as how cultures intertwined. Tanya Malyarchuk experiences the physical and intellectual threat posed by the Russian invaders on a daily basis. Is there still hope? Common European paths?

The event series is a cooperation between the Günter Grass Foundation Bremen, the Bremen Shakespeare Company, the Festival Globale and the City of Literature. The venue is the Silo-Hotel John & Will on the Überseeinsel. The talks will take place in a lounge atmosphere with a view over the Weser. The bar will remain open during the event.

December 5: “Giving Doubt”: Czech poet and diplomat Tomas Kafka and Ukrainian Bachmann Prize winner Tanya Malyarchuk in conversation