The big read - globale° 2011
globale° is taking off. This year a total of 16 male and female authors, the largest number to date, are participating in the 5th annual literature festival organized by Jacobs University and Radio Bremen. globale° – Festival for Cross-Border Literature takes place from October 21 to November 8.
October 19, 2011The festival program includes readings, workshops, lectures, discussions and exhibitions. Literature fans can see globale° authors – among them prize-winning writers – at twelve different venues across Bremen and Bremerhaven.
This year, 16 male and female authors from various cultural backgrounds exemplify the genre of cross-border literature. Most of them write in German enriching their work with their knowledge of other languages and cultures. Through their experience with migration they force open traditional boundaries and viewpoints. The festival features established authors such as Feridun Zaimoglu and Zsuzsa Bánk as well a younger generation of novelists such as Catalin Dorian Florescu and Nicol Ljubić.
One of the highlights at this year’s globale° will be a reading by award-winning author Claudio Magris, who was honored with the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade in 2009. On October 21, the Italian-born author will read from his new book ‘Das Alphabet der Welt’ at the Festsaal of the Bremen Town Hall.
“With their knowledge of multiple languages and their multicultural experiences our guests at globale° are experts in building cultural bridges. Their works show that literature is often one step ahead of politics,” acknowledges Immacolata Amodeo, Professor of Literature at Jacobs University and one of the organizers of the festival. “The work of globale° writers mirrors the incredible richness and variety of migration culture in Germany.”
Libuše Cerná, deputy editor of ‘Funkhaus Europa’ at Radio Bremen, shares organizational responsibility for the globale° with Prof. Amodeo. “Our festival aims to show the great possibilities offered by globalization and the positive sides of integration,” she explains. “For the last four years we have invited many male and female writers who have found their place in the German language. Multi-lingual authors often talk about switching languages depending on which kind of text they are writing. On a global scale they blend one culture into another. In a melting pot of diversity new forms emerge and cultural hybrids unfold.”
The 5th globale° also caters for a young audience. As part of ‘junge globale°’ young people can turn works by Turkish-born poet Zehra Çirak into video clips or make their stage debut under the direction of Jaromir Konecny, a German-Czeck slam poet. Other groups can develop their writing skills with Romanian-born author Catalin Dorian Florescu. In Bremerhaven pupils can take part in a writing workshop with Francesco Micieli, a Swiss-Italian novelist with Albanian roots.
Globale° again welcomes a writer-in-residence this year. For four weeks Australian Campbell Jefferys, writer in residence of the Sparda-Bank Hannover Foundation, will live and work with Jacobs University students on the campus in Bremen-Nord. During a reading with the author the results of creative writing projects with the students will be discussed.
An art exhibition titled ‘Kunstaustausch’ (Art Exchange) in Bremen accompanies the festival showcasing works by 14 Bremen-based artists with migration background. The show will open in January at Villa Ichon and Spedition in Bremen.
Radio Bremen is a media partner of globale° 2011; shows broadcast on stations Nordwestradio and Funkhaus Europa will cover the festival. While Nordwestradio puts the focus on literature and reports on literature festival and readings in the region, Funkhaus Europa covers multicultural developments and positive, culturally enriching aspects of migration in Germany.
For more information in German visit www.globale-literaturfestival.de or download the program. 
