A Long Night of Literature

Readings from German prose and poetry hosted jointly by the Max Mueller Bhavan, Pro Helvetia New Delhi, Austrian Cultural Forum and The German Book Office in collaboration with the India International Centre.

In an effort to build audiences for contemporary writing in German in the Indian subcontinent the Austrian Cultural Forum, the German Book Office, Max Mueller Bhavan and Pro Helvetia New Delhi will jointly host readings from prose and poetry in collaboration with the India International Centre on the occasion of the World Book Fair. 

The authors will read from the original. Translations will be available for those interested and the sessions will be moderated in English by local literary experts.    
Date: Saturday 30 January 2010 
Time: 7 pm onwards
Venue: India International Centre Annexe Lecture Room
Max Mueller Marg, New Delhi 110003        
                       
Schedule
7.20 pm   Welcome by Marilen Daum, Max Mueller Bhavan Delhi
7.30 pm  Arnold Stadler with Puneet Kaur 
8.00 pm   Peter Rosei 
8.30 pm   Break 
8.45 pm   Nora Eugenie Gomringer with Dr Brinda Bose
9.15 pm   Peter Pannke with Dhritabrata Bhattacharjya Tato
9.45 pm   Break
10.00 pm Stephan Thome with Mridula Koshy
10.30 pm Bas Boettcher and Dalibor Markovic

Nora-Eugenie Gomringer, Switzerland
Nora-Eugenie Gomringer, born in 1980, has published four volumes of poetry, articles,radio plays, short stories and prose miniatures. She has received several awards for poetry and fellowships, and her collaboration with musicians, painters and performers gave her the opportunity to spend months working in Russia, Venice, the US, Canada and Norway. She holds an MA in American and German Literature and another in Art History. She is currently finishing her PhD. Starting April 2010 she will be principal of an international artist residency in Bamberg, Germany. Nora's poetry is translated into Swedish, French, English and Polish.
Moderated by Dr Brinda Bose, Associate Professor, Department of English, University of Delhi  

Peter Pannke, Germany
Peter Pannke, a German indologist, sinologist and musicologist describes himself as a singer, dreamer and storyteller. He is a well-known broadcaster with more than 4,000 features and radio plays to his credit. He has contributed immensely to bringing Indian traditions to culturally interested audiences in Germany and was awarded the Rabindranath Tagore Cultural Prize in October 2009.  His book Dreamtalker - Songs, Poems, Essays has been released by Daastaan, New Delhi in January 2010. Moderated by Dhritabrata Bhattacharjya Tato, Publisher, Daastaan.

Peter Rosei, Austria 
Peter Rosei was born in Vienna in 1946. He obtained a doctorate in law from the University of Vienna in 1968 and commenced his career as a writer in 1972, and gained critical acclaim with his novel Wer war Edgar Allan? (Who was Edgar Allan?) (1977) which was turned into a movie by director Michael Haneke in 1984. A majority of his work has been translated into English, and he has won many awards. His latest novel, Das große Töten (The Big Kill), was published in 2009. Peter Rosei also works as a translator and editor.  

Stephan Thome, Germany 
Stephan Thome was born in 1972 in Biedenkopf in Germany. He studied Philosophy at Freie Universität in Berlin and spent three years studying Chinese and Japanese at universities in Nanking, Taipei and Tokyo. After obtaining his PhD in Philosophy in 2004 he moved to Taipei where he still lives and does research on modern Confucian philosophy. His first novel Grenzgang (Walking the Border) was published by Suhrkamp in 2009 and was shortlisted for the German Book Prize. It was awarded the aspekte-Literaturpreis for best first novel of 2009. Moderated by Mridula Koshy, Writer. 

Arnold Stadler, Germany 
Arnold Stadler was born in 1954, and studied Catholic Theology in Munich and Rome, then German Literature in Freiburg and Cologne. The author, who was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Freie Universität in Berlin in 2006, lives in Küsten and Berlin. Stadler has won numerous literary awards, including the 1999 Georg Büchner Prize and the 2009 Kleist Prize. He will read from his novel A Charming Scrap Dealer. 
Moderated by Puneet Kaur, Faculty Member, Max Mueller Bhavan.   
        
Bas Boettcher, Germany
Bas Boettcher, born 1974, is one of the most outstanding German spoken word poets. Being famous for his sophisticated poetry style, Bas has been active in the German poetry slam scene since the early 1990s – his dynamic and rhythmic poetry has won him one prize after another at numerous slam competitions since. The performer’s reputation has earned him invitations to perform all over the world, always enthusing his audience by his captivating lyrics and his highly developed linguistic skills. “Neonomade” is Bas’ latest publication.