Leipzig Book Fair / ‘Leipzig liest’: Swiss events

A stage for Atefe Asadi, Wagdy El Komy, Dragica Rajčić, Shukri Al Rayyan & Mithu Sanyal.

Moderator: Ana Sobral (Weiter Schreiben Schweiz)

Literature has always played a key role in articulating alternative views and lifestyles, be it in opposition to state repression or to prevalent social norms. This can have grave consequences for writers. In a panel discussion followed by readings, authors who are in different ways linked to the project ‘Weiter Schreiben’ (continue/continuing to write), speak about the significance of writing as resistance.

In her latest novel ‘Antichristie’ (Hanser, 2024), Mithu Sanyal (Germany) reflects on the different dimensions of anticolonial resistance. Overall, her texts explore questions of power, how it is defined and how it is practiced. Dragica Rajčić (Switzerland/Croatia) writes poetry in a deliberately error-prone German, thereby raising questions as to who defines the limits of language. Atefe Asadi (Germany/Iran) uses her poetry to explore issues of gender, sexuality and women’s rights in the Iranian context. As a result, she was pronounced ‘not publishable’ in her home country. Shukri Al Rayyan (Switzerland/Syria) could only publish her first novel, ‘Nacht in Damaskus’ (edition bücherlese, 2024) in exile in Switzerland. The book is a deep and searing analysis of the impact of Assad’s autocratic regime on everyday life in Syria. Wagdy El Komy (Switzerland/Egypt) writes short stories and novels in his Swiss exile that use irony and implausible situations to reveal how the abuse of power in Egypt creates a dissonant reality.

The authors will jointly share their personal experience with the project ‘Weiter Schreiben’, which offers writers in exile in Germany or Switzerland an important platform. Can writing give rise to a new feeling of community, specifically in a context of exile, migration and multiculturalism?  How can stories trigger doubts about rigid narratives based on exclusion? And what does it mean to write despite or even against censorship?

You are invited to join us on this evening where we celebrate the unique value of writing, which time and again encourages us to stretch our imagination and go beyond established social narratives.

The discussions and readings are held in English and German.

Musically accompanied by the Swiss-Ghanaian singer and composer Joy Frempong.

Moderator: Wiebke Porombka (Deutschlandradio)

In connection with their latest publications, writers Regina Dürig, Meral Kureyshi and Jonas Lüscher, discuss topics including non-mothers, myths and marble, the possibility of family, and a present, which would like to know more about its future, with literature editor Wiebke Porombka (Deutschlandradio). The evening will be accompanied by the music of Swiss-Ghanaian singer and composer Joy Frempong, whose style moves freely between electronic, avant-pop, Afro-beats, improvisation and jazz.

In her collection titled ‘Frauen und Steine’ (Droschl, 2025) (Women and stones), Regina Dürig presents a dozen sparkling and surprising stories that take a critical look on the issues of our time. The female protagonists in the stories all ask, in their own way, how we can fight the patriarchal fossilisation of the world. Imagination is unleashed, resulting in stories that are angry, funny, eccentric and bizarre.

With clear vision and a poetic language, Meral Kureyshi’s latest novel ‘Im Meer waren wir nie’ (Limmat, 2025) (We were never in the sea) describes the lives of women over several generations, creating a contemporary portrait of the family. With a light touch and gentle melancholy, the book speaks about love and fear of life, being a child and growing up, old age and death.

In the unique room of mirrors in Jonas Lüscher’s latest novel ‘Verzauberte Vorbestimmung’ (Hanser, 2025) (Enchanted predestination), not a single conflict is resolved, and every story remains possible. What do we, the people of capitalism, dream of? What about the dreams of machines that are increasingly rising up against us? Clever and outrageous, funny, sharp-witted and totally topical, Jonas Lüscher proves he is at the top of his art.

27 March 2025

• 11:00 – Eva Roth (Helvetiq), ‘Säen, Sammeln, Wurmkompost’
• 12:00 – Katharina Geiser (Jung und Jung), ‘Die Wünsche gehören uns’
• 13:00 – Silvio Blatter (Geparden Verlag), ‘Es ist sein Leben’
• 14:00 – Lukas Maisel (Rowohlt Verlag), ‘Wie ein Mann nichts tat und so die Welt rettete’, Moderator: Ulrike Ostermeyer
• 15:00 – Zoë Jenny (Zytglogge), ‘Die Nachtmaschine. Matthyas Jenny: Ein literarisches Leben’
• 16:00 – Andrea Peter (vatter&vatter), ‘Das Wimmelbuch vom Abschied nehmen’, Moderator: Matthias Vatter
• 17:00 – Joanna Yulia Kluge (lectorbooks), ‘David Pablo’

28 March 2025

• 11:00 Shukri Al Rayyan (edition bücherlese), ‘Nacht in Damaskus’, Moderator: Ana Sobral
• 13:00 Nora Osagiobare (Kein & Aber), ‘Daily Soap’
• 14:00 Noemi Somalvico (Voland & Quist), ‘Das Herz wirft in der Brust keinen Schatten’, Moderator: Theresa Meschede
• 16:00 Sara Gmuer (hanserblau), ‘Achtzehnter Stock’

29 March 2025

• 11:00 Meral Kureyshi (Limmat Verlag), ‘Im Meer waren wir nie’, Moderator: Jana Sonderegger
• 13:00 Jonas Lüscher (Carl Hanser Verlag), ‘Verzauberte Vorbestimmung’
• 14:00 Regina Dürig (Literaturverlag Droschl), ‘Frauen und Steine’

30 March 2025

• 11:30 Cecilia Bozzoli (Seismo Verlag), ‘Celeste. Das versteckte Kind’
• 12:30 Leandra Mattea (8280-edition.ch), ‘Gedankenmeer’, Moderator: Stephan Militz
• 13:30 Manuel Gübeli (Arisverlag), ‘Die bestmögliche Vermutung’, Moderator: Aissa Tripodi
• 14:30 Christine Jäggi (Zytglogge), ‘Die Meisterdiebin’