Literature Day. On Staying and Letting Go

Moderation
Maria Piok

Free admission

Programme

2:30–4:00 p.m.: readings and discussions
Paola Lopez, Die Summe unserer Teile (Tropen Verlag, 2025)
Katharina Feist-Merhaut, Sterben üben (Otto Müller Verlag, 2025)
Hannah Lühmann, Heimat (Carl Hanser Verlag, 2025)

4:30–6:00 p.m.: readings and discussions
Ursula Knoll, Zucker (Edition Atelier, 2025)
Christian Mitzenmacher, Knallkrebse (Frankfurter Verlagsanstalt, 2025)
Maya Rosa, Moscow Mule (Penguin Verlag, 2025)

Some things remain, even when we let go. Family, for example. In Paola Lopez’s debut novel Die Summe unserer Teile, we follow the women of a family across three generations, from Poland to Germany and on to Lebanon. The title of Ursula Knoll’s new novel Zucker stands for what connects the female lives portrayed, from the nineteenth century to the present day. In Hannah Lühmann’s novel Heimat, a young family’s move to the countryside leads to the unraveling of a once shared life plan. Leaving Moscow and heading for Europe is what Karina and Tonya long for in Maya Rosa’s debut novel Moscow Mule, until their shared dream becomes a severe test. In Christian Mitzenmacher’s debut novel Knallkrebse, Tom’s role as godfather to the minor refugee Farid develops into a friendship. But being friends also means being able to let each other go. Of those we lose forever, memories remain—intense, beautiful, and painful—just as Katharina Feist-Merhaut depicts them in her debut Sterben üben. Six novels and many stories: about staying and letting go. About what unites us. And about what divides us.