Speak, Memory

_16.00_speak, memory
Literaturhaus | Großer Saal

Bruno Schulz: Cinnamon Shops
Introduction: Wilfried F. Schoeller
Speaker: Friedhelm Ptok
"The Cinnamon Shops" – one of the 20th century’s great childhood accounts – tells of the vanished world of the Galician shtetl: the eccentric father and his evil antagonist Adela, enchanted gardens and mouldy doorways, rooms, unexpectedly discovered behind nailed-shut doors, in which the wallpaper is starting to come to life, the shimmering summer idyll, a storm that disturbs the litter on the reservoir, nights which see tailors’ mannequins come alive. Doreen Daume created a new language to translate the Polish original, rich in neologisms and atmospheric imagery; in combining faithfulness to the original and a gift for invention she created an extremely striking text. She received the prestigious Zug Translation Grant for her work.
Entry 6/5/4 €

_19.00_speak, memory
Literaturhaus | Kaminraum

Francesco Petrarca: Africa
Introduction: Hartmut Diekmann
Reader: Friedhelm Ptok
When Petrarch (1304-1374) read to King Robert of Naples from “Africa”, the monarch requested the work be dedicated to him. He was enthused by the idea of the work, which celebrated the victory of Rome over Carthage as the starting point for a reawakening of the Roman Empire. At Easter of 1341, Petrarch was crowned poet on the Roman Capitoline Hill. The poet interpreted the coronation as a renewal of the empire in the ancient spirit, and the victory over Africa as a final confirmation of this.

_21.00_speak, memory
Literaturhaus | Kaminraum

Ken Saro-Wiwa: Sozaboy
Introduction: Hartmut Diekmann
Reader: Max Volkert Martens
They call him Sozaboy – the boy who, above all else, wants to go to war. Even though no-one really knows who they’re fighting against or where, let alone why. Sozaboy’s experiences exceed his understanding, terrible, incomprehensible or simply bewildering experiences. By the end, his life is all but ruined, his village destroyed, his family killed, his opportunities scarce. But despite all his setbacks, shame and humiliation, his lust for life and his simple energy never desert him. Saro-Wiwa (Nigeria 1941-1995) received the Alternative Nobel Prize and was nominated for the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize – one year after he had been executed by the Nigerian military regime.
Entry 6/5/4 €