November isn’t far away, and you all know what that means – German Literature Month is just around the corner! For the 15th (!) time, we’ll be reading German, Austrian, or Swiss books, enjoying a whole month of German-language literature.
This year is a little different because Lizzy, of Lizzy’s Literary Life, is on a hiatus for health reasons. We hope she will still manage to participate but, sadly, she will not be able to co-host. I’m pleased to announce that Tony from Tony’s Reading List will be co-hosting this year.
If you’d like to participate, there’s only one rule to follow – read books that were originally written in German. Other than that, you can read whatever you like, or you can follow the structure Tony and I are adopting.
One special feature for this year’s event is a Thomas Mann week to celebrate his 150th birthday – you can see the full schedule below:
November 1st-9th: Genre Week
You could choose novels or short stories, but maybe you’d like to try something different, such as poetry or a play.
November 10th-16th: City Week
Pick either a book set in a particular city, or an author from a particular city.
November 17th-23rd: Thomas Mann Week
Let’s celebrate the great man’s 150th birthday in style.
November 24th- 30th: GDR Week
Any author from the former German Democratic Republic is possible.
German Literature Month is not a challenge, or a competition to read the most books, and reading one item, originally written in German, is enough to participate.
I hope that many of you will join Tony and me on our reading journeys. For those who are happy to do so, you can write blog or Instagram posts, or simply share what you’re reading on X (Twitter), BlueSky or Facebook – and don’t forget to add #GermanLitMonth so we can find you.
I’m planning on reading poetry, the city I might pick is Berlin or Hamburg. For Thomas Mann week I hope to revisit Der Zauberberg or read Tilmann Lahme’s brand new biography that just came out in German. Christa Wolf’s Medea or her short stories are my choice for GDR week.
What about you? What will you be reading?
