Poetics of the Present

“Writing what is to come”: What will the literature of the future bring? Who will write it, with what themes, under what conditions? The “Symposium zur Poetik der Gegenwart” (Symposium on the poetics of the present) addresses these questions over three days from the 6th–8th of June in readings, discussions and performances, with over 60 guests from literary practice and theory.

It is the first major summit meeting of the German-language writing institutes in Cologne, Leipzig, Vienna and Hildesheim. Places where literary writing is not only taught - and its teachability debated. The writing institutes have long since developed into central venues for literary discourse as a whole. In this public symposium, fascinating and pressing topics will be addressed: How is AI changing writing, translation and text comprehension? What possibilities does the field of aesthetic research open up, how does contemporary literature react to the political upheavals of the present, to ecological multi-crises and to the demand for more diversity and multilingualism in society?

from 17.30 Admission - STADTGARTEN
WRITING WHAT’S COMING: It begins
Kick-off with welcome, keynote, drinks and performances

18.00 - STADTGARTEN
ADMISSION AND RECEPTION
Greetings from Kathrin Röggla (Academy of Media Arts Cologne), Ulrike Draesner (German Literature Institute Leipzig), Stefan Charles (Head of Cultural Affairs of the City of Cologne) and Andrea Firmenich (Secretary General of Kunststiftung NRW)

7.00 pm - STADTGARTEN, CONCERT HALL
AIR PLANTS. Writing in the global
Keynote by Karin Harrasser

9.00 pm - STADTGARTEN, CONCERT HALL and GREENROOM
HEART BLUE & CRAYON
Two musical text performances with
Jojo Sélavy: Herzenblau and Farah Wind & Stefan Koutzev: Crayon

An event of the Academy of Media Arts Cologne, the German Literature Institute Leipzig, the Literature Institute Hildesheim and the University of Applied Arts Vienna in cooperation with the Literaturhaus Köln