Vilnius – Pakete – Berlin (Vilnius – Packages – Berlin). With Jan Wagner and Laurynas Katkus

It’s already become a tradition that the Akademie Schloss Solitude and the Literaturhaus Stuttgart hold readings together, in which the houses each allow a young author his or her voice. Poets Laurynas Katkus and Jan Wagner met in Vilnius several years ago, an encounter that development into not only a friendship but also an intense collaboration. Wagner translated Katkus’s poems into German, who in turn translated some of Wagner’s poems into Lithuanian. Katkus writes on the encounter: »It was exciting to meet a contemporary who avows himself so freely and self-confidently to lyric poetry. A contemporary who grew up in the West, but knows his way around Eastern Europe beyond the clichés. A sybarite of language and the poetic form – a ›soft force of nature‹, as they say so nicely.« Wagner reads from his poetry collection (2008) Achtzehn Pasteten (18 Pastries), and Solitude fellow Katkus reads the newest poems from his book of poetry that appears in fall 2009 in the Edition Thanhäuser and other works. The subsequent discussion with the authors is moderated by literary critic and translator Joachim Kalka.

In cooperation with the Literaturhaus Stuttgart.
Admission: 8 euros/6 and 4 euros. Tickets at 0711 – 2842904 as well as at the door