Greeting from the mayor

The Bremen-based festival for cross-border literature is unique in Europe because it intensively presents and celebrates the diversity of international literature.
Since 2007, the Globale e.V. association – in conjunction with Theater Bremen, the local university and other municipal institutions – has helped the cosmopolitan festival to achieve a high reputation and even literary appeal.
In this new edition, the format has gained additional prestige in that the organizing team played a major role in Bremen being named a UNESCO City of Literature.

Accordingly, many illustrious guests are paying us their literary respects this year.
For example, journalist and literary scholar Uwe Wittstock will be presenting his highly acclaimed book “Marseille 1940” at the opening of the festival on October 28 in Bremen City Hall.
It brings together dramatic and touching stories about the flight of German writers into exile in France, including Anna Seghers, Lion Feuchtwanger and Walter Benjamin.

Theater Bremen presents the winner of the Leipzig Book Prize in the fiction category: Barbi Marković presents her short story collection “Minihorror”.
Saša Stanišić will read from the twelve stories in his latest book, which has a remarkable title: “If the widow wants to be addressed, she places the watering can on the grave with the spout facing forward”.
Another guest at Theater Bremen will be Eva Illouz, the award-winning French-Israeli professor of sociology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the École des hautes études en sciences sociales in Paris.

Several Italian authors will also be traveling to Bremen, including Gianni Biondiollo and Igiaba Scego.
Italy is this year’s guest country at the Frankfurt Book Fair.
Another highlight of the series of events is undoubtedly the commitment of junge globale°, which will once again be delegating authors to Bremen schools for readings and workshops.

I wish all visitors inspiring events and good discussions.
I would like to thank the organizers for their commitment and wealth of ideas.
May the tried and tested festival continue to stand for diverse readings, surprising topics and an open-minded approach.