19 April 2023 press release

The German National Library is presenting a varied programme at the Leipzig Book Fair from 27 to 30 April 2023 and as part of the reading festival "Leipzig Reads".

Our newly designed promotional area in Hall 4, Stand C 304 will bring together visitors to the Book Fair and representatives of the Library to talk about important questions such as: what does the German National Library do? What will libraries look like in the future? Discussions, presentations and workshops will give visitors a unique insight into many aspects of our work, our departments and our unique collections. Visitors can relax in our audio chairs and enjoy a wide range of music and films.

In the German National Library itself, visitors will be welcomed on guided tours of the Library along with the exhibitions and collections of the German Museum of Books and Writing and the German Music Archive. In our exhibition "Jetzt & Alles. Austrian literature. The last 50 years", visitors will encounter the many different voices of Austrian literature since the 1970s.

As part of the reading festival "Leipzig Reads", well-known authors will present their works in a series of readings and talks at the German National Library:

DBSM:meet #6 "Composing a text and turning it into an image" - Ulrike Damm in conversation with Michael Hametner // German Museum of Books and Writing at the German National Library // Thursday, 27 April 2023, 18:00

Author and artist Ulrike Damm will be publishing her new book "Zwei Wahrheiten des Schreibens" (Two Truths of Writing) in the spring of 2023 (edition frölich). A conversation with the journalist Michael Hametner will focus on the interaction between editing and visualising a text at the same time.

Free admission, Permanent exhibition

Reading and discussion Clemens J. Setz "Monde vor der Landung" (Moons before landing) // German National Library in Leipzig // Thursday, 27 April 2023, 19:30

How can anyone seriously believe that humanity lives not on a globe, but inside it? Clemens J. Setz tells the moving story of Peter Bender, writer, founder of a religion, and fervent supporter of the so-called "hollow world" theory. But even more than this, "Monde vor der Landung" (Moons before landing) is an exploration of the destructively delusional world of a manic egocentric.

Clemens J. Setz is a translator and freelance writer in Vienna. His work has won many awards, most recently the 2021 Georg Büchner Prize.

An event in cooperation with Suhrkamp Verlag and Süddeutsche Zeitung.
Moderation: Lothar Müller (Süddeutsche Zeitung)

Free admission, reading room, doors open at 19:00
Reservation at www.dnb.de/bookfair or by phone +49 341 2271-286

Christiane Hoffmann "Alles, was wir nicht erinnern" (Everything we don’t remember) // Reading and discussion // German National Library in Leipzig // Friday, 28 April 2023, 19:30

Veteran journalist and author Christiane Hoffmann, daughter of two former child refugees, walked the 550-kilometre route along which her father, then still a child, fled with his family at the beginning of 1945. The result is an autobiographical report containing reflections on escape, homeland, the horrors of war and the strategies adopted for survival.

The Ravensburger Verlag Foundation awarded Christiane Hoffmann the 2022 Family Novel Book Prize for "Everything we don’t remember" (C.H. Beck).

An event in cooperation with Ravensburger Verlag Foundation.
Moderation: Andrea Reidt

Free admission, lecture hall, doors open at 19:00
Reservation at www.dnb.de/bookfair or by phone. +49 341 2271-286
free livestream at www.dnb.de/bookfair

"Bücher meines Lebens" (Books of my live) // Volker Weidermann talks to Helga Schubert and Clemens Meyer about the books that have shaped their life // German National Library in Leipzig // Saturday, 29 April 2023, 19:30

In her personal, sadly beautiful book, Helga Schubert tells of her first encounter with Chekhov and the first time she read his story "Misery", which both shocked and saved her. Clemens Meyer holds an internal dialogue with Christa Wolf in which he relates the story of utopia in literature. The result is an unconventional, subjective, compelling narrative that chronicles the history of literature in the GDR.

This new series of books is "about enthusiasm, the life-changing power of books, and the novels that have made our most prominent authors the people they are today. The love, the sport, the political persuasion, the writing style, the lifestyle that reading has led them to," says editor Volker Weidermann.

An event in cooperation with Kiepenheuer & Witsch

Free admission, reading room, doors open at 19:00
Reservation at www.dnb.de/bookfair or by phone. +49 341 2271-286

A full outline of the programme is available at www.dnb.de/bookfair.

Background

The German National Library collects, documents and archives all written publications and sound recordings published in Germany, along with foreign publications about Germany or in the German language, since 1913. These are then made available to the public. It also includes all editions of notes and resources of music. It offers a comprehensive range of services at its sites in Leipzig and Frankfurt am Main along with digital services that can be accessed all over the world.

With the German Exile Archive 1933-1945 and the German Museum of Books and Writing, the German National Library also has valuable and rich special collections. It regularly organises readings, exhibitions, presentations and concerts to draw attention to its treasures and promotes a culture of books, reading and music with a diverse programme of events.

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