Reading and discussion with the writer Volker Braun
Brigitte Reimann became aware of Volker Braun's literary talent in Hoyerswerda, as evidenced by an entry in the writer's diary dated February 14, 1960. At the time, Volker Braun was working as a civil engineering worker and concrete pipe layer at the Schwarze Pumpe combine and attended the Writing Workers' Circle, which was led by Brigitte Reimann and Siegfried Pitschmann.
To mark his 85th birthday on May 7, 2024, Suhrkamp Verlag published Volker Braun's new volume of prose "Fortwährender Versuch, mit Gewalten zu leben", which he will present at the Brigitte Reimann Literaturhaus Neubrandenburg.
"In the past, we could have left the world, simply torn down our tents, now there is no other world, we are everywhere." With a keen eye for the interconnectedness of the world and renowned linguistic virtuosity, Volker Braun approaches the big questions that reach into the future in his new volume of prose: What constitutes our present-day "everywhere"? To what forces is it exposed? And what happens when the opponents are no longer states, but storms? His movement takes him to the Eurasian landmass, to the Berlin Liquidrom and to Niederschönhausen Palace Park, where he is surrounded by the voices of his companions. Volker Braun's "experiments" on the abysses and contradictions of our globalized world are surprising in their complexity and brilliant in their power of language.
Moderation: Dr. Margrid Bircken, Germanist