2019 is a significant year in terms of German history, both actual and literary. It’s
- 30 years since the Fall of the Wall;
- 100 years since the Founding of the Weimar Republic; and
- 200 years since publication of Goethe’s West-Eastern Divan.
Lizzy and I have decided to include all of the above into the plan for GLM IX!
To commemorate The Fall of the Wall there will be an ex-DDR week. For the founding of the Weimar Republic, the badge has been converted to Bauhaus-favoured sans serif typography and we will host a readalong of Alfred Döblin’s seminal Berlin Alexanderplatz. Last, but definitely not least, there will be a Goethe Reading Week.
There will also be plenty of read-as-you-please time so you can choose from the whole gamut of German-language literary pleasures (writing from outside Germany, historical and crime fiction, graphic novels, etc) entirely according to your heart’s desire.
The reading schedule looks like this:
01-02.11.19 Read as You please 03-09.11.19 Ex-DDR week 10-16.11.19 Read as You Please 17-23.11.19 Goethe Reading Week 24-30.11.19 Read as You Please
The Berlin Alexanderplatz readalong will take place on 4 Saturdays commencing on 9.11. More details and sign-up post to follow shortly.
As always, to participate in German Literature Month you can stick to the plan, pick and choose only the parts that interest you, or follow your own path entirely. You can read in any language you want. The only rule is that whatever you read must have originally been published in German.
All that remains now, is for you to search through your shelves, your library catalogues or maybe undertake a shopping expedition! German Literature Month IX will be here before you know it! Will you join us?
