Internationales Literaturfestival Berlin
ILB Blog: The wave rolls out
The 18th International Literature Festival came to an end on last Saturday. Time to look back and reflect after 10 days. Read more
ILB Blog: It's a thin, white line
As the ILB slowly comes to an end, we look at two questions. How can drugs be legalized? And how can we understand Russia? Read more
ILB Interview: Federico Varese
Federico Varese is professor of criminology at Oxford, a mafia expert and the author of "Mafia Life". His book chronicles the ins-and-outs of organized crime. Read more
ILB Interview: Akwaeke Emezi
Nigerian author and video artist Akwaeke Emezi brought her debut autobiography Freshwater (2018) to the International Literature Festival this year. We chatted about her widely celebrated book, which analyzes the experience of having a fractured self Read more
ILB Interview: Charmaine Craig
Burmese-American author Charmaine Craig first came to prominence with her US bestseller The Good Men, published in 2002 and translated into six languages. It would be 15 years before she resurfaced with her second novel Miss Burma. Read more
ILB Blog: Thinking big
Gender, sexuality, food: The first ILB weekend was chock-full of topical readings and discussions... Read more
ILB Interview: Nell Zink
Bad girl of lit, bird lover, Brandenburger-by-choice – novelist Nell Zink is many things... including busy. Not just with a book a year, either. On Sep 11 and Sep 12 at Haus der Berliner Festspiele, you can see for yourself what that might mean. Read more
ILB Blog: The literary storm has arrived
The International Literature Festival is underway, kicking off Wednesday night with a speech from Eva Menasse. Here are our impressions of its start. Read more
ILB interview: Yaa Gyasi
American literary shooting star Yaa Gyasi filled us in on her opinions about race, violence and the importance of small goals. Returning to the ILB, she will read from her successful debut novel "Homegoing" on September 5, 23:00 at Le Bar. Read more
ILB preview interview: Will Self and his Phone
Ahead of his reading on the September 6 at the International Literature Festival Berlin (and as a taste of our upcoming coverage – stay tuned), Self talks LSD, the eeriness of Grindr and the psychotic nature of Berlin’s urban spaces. ILB: Sep 5-15. Read more
ILB Blog: One for the books
As we wrap up this year's ILB, we reflect on our favorite moments and overall takeaways. Read more
ILB interview: Charlotte Wood
Fresh off her 2016 Stella Prize for her novel, The Natural Way of Things, Australian author Charlotte Wood talked to us about Berlin, feminism, and the immersive power of fiction writing. Read more
ILB interview: Madeleine Thien
Canadian author Madeleine Thien read from her award-winning book "Do Not Say We Have Nothing" last night at the Berliner Festspiele. We chatted with her beforehand about Berlin, history and how one should not look at China. Read more
ILB Interview: Edna O' Brien
We spoke to the grand dame of Irish letters, Edna O' Brien, who was at the lit fest yesterday presenting her novel "The Little Red Chairs", about influences on her work, the current state of literature and the "criminal act" of writing. Read more
ILB Author Spotlight: Aris Fioretos
Aris Fioretos' wide ranging and illustrious literary career spans Swedish, German and English poetry, prose and translation. He speaks about his essay "Die Dichte Welt", which reflects on the suicide of a friend on Sep 15 at 18:00. Read more
ILB Author Spotlight: Norman Ohler
After the publication of his controversial non-fiction book on drug use in the Third Reich, "Blitzed", German author Norman Ohler returns to his novelist roots with the launch of his latest novel "Die Gleichung des Lebens" (Sep 15, 21:00). Read more
ILB Author Spotlight: Madeleine Thien
Canadian author Madeleine Thien reads from her Man-Booker Prize-nominated latest novel Do Not Say We Have Nothing on September 14, 21:00 at Berliner Festspiele. Read more
The ILB Blog: Women on top at the Lit Fest
Tuesday night was ladies night, as we caught an ILB Special event on feminism featuring Singaporean author Amanda Lee Koe and the German/Indian journalist, cultural scientist and author Mithu Sanyal. Read more
ILB Interview: Xiaolu Guo
We caught up with internationally renowned author Xiaolu Guo at the International Literature Fest for a chat about language, filmmaking and the International Congress for Democracy at the ILB this weekend. Read more
ILB author spotlight: Tim Parks
Author and translator Tim Parks presents his latest novel "Thomas and Mary: A Love Story" about the gradual decline of a 30 year marriage on Sep 14, 19:30 at Berliner Festspiele. Read more