Calendar

Zsuzsanna Gahse is one of the most distinctive voices of the literary avant-garde. Her texts move between poetry and prose, are light, fragmentary, dialogue-based - and always have a special linguistic conciseness. She has been a regular presence in Dresden since her Chamisso Poetry Lectureship in 2008.

Her new book "Spielbeginn. Verrutschungen" unfolds like a theatre play: characters wait - as in Beckett - and talk about meaning, language and transformation. But Gahse shows the counter-movement to silencing: Syllables, words, sentences, contexts emerge from sounds. Language becomes a field for experimentation. "Narrative islands" and "disruptions" structure the text, short interjections that can trigger entire stories.

"The Greens", ten numbered characters who improvise and exchange thoughts, perform on stage. Anton's lost notebook forms the second part of the book and provides an insight into the planned dramaturgy: language as a mushroom web, conversations in silence, misunderstandings through "slips of the tongue".

Those who get involved with "Spielbeginn" will encounter the adventure of language itself: the possibility of inventing a new language from listening experiences.

Admission €8, reduced €5

Literarische Arena e. V. in cooperation with the Evangelische Akademie Sachsen and the museums of the city of Dresden.

In 2026, the ‘Literary Alphabets’ will be held under the theme ‘Between Generations’ for the first time. The title says it all. For we want to ask: What is the state of the relationship between the generations? Do they cooperate, or do they avoid one another? What problems exist? Is there a fruitful exchange, including in the artistic and literary spheres? If not, what might that look like? What needs to change? What can we do? Do younger authors read older ones, and older authors read younger ones? How great is the interest in each other’s work?

Nadja Küchenmeister will read from her award-winning new collection of poems *Der große Wagen*, whilst Ingo Schulze will offer insights into his new novel *Das Wasser im August*, winner of the 2026 Uwe Johnson Prize.

Volker Sielaff will be talking to the pair this evening about the similarities and differences in their literary biographies. What sets Küchenmeister and Schulze apart, and what connects them? An evening exploring two exciting life journeys, an evening ‘across generations’.

• Admission €8, concessions €5

Literaturforum Dresden e. V. in cooperation with the Museums of the City of Dresden

Funded by the Cultural Foundation of the Free State of Saxony. This initiative is co-financed by tax revenue on the basis of the budget adopted by the Saxon State Parliament

Supported by the City of Dresden

• Duration: 1 hour
• Meeting point at the ticket office
• Guided tour free of charge, plus museum admission
• Book online or via the visitor services department of Dresden’s museums on +49 351 488 7272 (Mon–Fri)

• With Prof. Maria Häuser

With Dr Claudia Quiring, curator, and Jonas Malzahn, co-curator

• Duration: 1½ hours
• Meet at the ticket office
• Guided tour free of charge, plus museum admission
• Book online or via the visitor services department of the City of Dresden Museums on +49 351 488 7272 (Mon–Fri)

Photographer Christine Starke presents her 1989 photo album on the Gorbitz new-build estate.

The work documents a residential building through medium-format black-and-white photographs. The album is notable for its elaborate design, featuring a variety of fold-out sections that guide the viewer’s gaze from the outside in and from the basement to the roof. The photographs depict the architecture, the residents and their living environment in what was then a newly built housing complex.

The photo album is currently on display in the special exhibition ‘Platte Ost / West’; it will be taken out of the display case for the event.

About the photographer:
Christine Starke (born in 1951 in Dresden) has been working as a freelance photographer since 1985, specialising in portrait, documentary and architectural photography.

• Museum admission

Where does a writer come from? Which books, sounds and images accompany them – and when do these influences become their own literary language? The ‘Schreibspuren’ reading series explores these questions. To kick things off, the Dresden-based poet Jayne-Ann Igel will be our guest.

Jayne-Ann Igel has developed her own poetic language, in which the landscape becomes a resonant space for history and personal experience, whilst the language itself is never taken for granted, but is constantly being sought anew and tested.

Anyone wishing to trace the path of her writing will encounter a multitude of literary voices. Elias Canetti, Virginia Woolf and Paul Verlaine hold particular significance in this regard. Elsa Morante’s *Dream Diary* provided Jayne-Ann Igel with a key inspiration to explore the recording and literary documentation of dreams herself. Among German-speaking poets, Sarah Kirsch, Elke Erb and Johannes Bobrowski occupy a particularly important place. In these texts, she encounters questions that are significant for her own writing.

The conversation with Jayne-Ann Igel centres on such literary milestones and turning points in her writing career. Igel presents texts that have been important to her and talks about the influence they have had on her own writing.

Moderator: Patrick Wilden

• Admission €8, concessions €5

A collaboration between Literarische Arena e. V., the Evangelical Academy of Saxony and the Museums of the City of Dresden

This event is sponsored by the City of Dresden.

Short guided tour with Aikaterini Dori, Dresden City Museum

What does an advertising label from the Dresden-based cigarette company ‘Georg Jasmatzi & Söhne’ have to do with the fight against cartels and monopolies? This talk offers an insight into a chapter of Dresden’s industrial history at the start of the 20th century, when medium-sized cigarette companies fought back against the dominance of large American corporations.

• With Aikaterini Dori from the Dresden City Museum

Every first Friday of the month, we shine a spotlight on an object from our permanent exhibition: in short guided tours lasting no more than 20 minutes, museum staff, members of partner organisations or members of the local community will highlight the special features of a selected piece of Dresden’s history.

• Duration: 1.5 hours
• Meeting point at the ticket office
• Guided tour free of charge, plus museum admission
• No booking required

Today’s Reick CHP plant houses two works of art that are not normally open to the public: a monumental mural (1976) by Heinz Drache in the control room and ceramic reliefs (1989) by Siegfried Schade from the former canteen. These works also depict prefabricated buildings – yet the depictions vary greatly, making them a reflection of their time.

With commentary by Dr Claudia Quiring (Dresden City Museum) and Tino Kuhnke (SachsenEnergie) on the content and the subsequent handling of the works.

• SachsenEnergie Combined Heat and Power Plant Dresden-Reick
  Liebstädter Straße 1
  01277 Dresden
• Register online or via the visitor service of the Dresden City Museums on +49 351 488 7272 (Mon – Fri)

Guided tour of the permanent exhibition

• Duration: 1.5 hours
• Guided tour free of charge, plus museum admission
• Meet at the ticket office

In a world of increasing confrontation, understanding and reconciliation are becoming ever more important. Owing to its universality and the evocative nature of its metaphors, the language of poetry is capable of fostering a vibrant dialogue between cultures.

The German-Arabic Poetry Salon, founded by the German-speaking poet and visual artist Fouad EL-Auwad – who hails from Syria – and organised by him annually since 2005, is intended to serve as an example of this. Year after year, it creates an opportunity for cultures to meet on a literary level and to build a new bridge between the Arab and European worlds. The German-Arabic Poetry Salon is now coming to Dresden for the fifth time.

• Music: Razgar Karim (oud)
• Admission: €8, concessions €6

An event organised by Literaturforum Dresden e. V. in cooperation with the Museums of the City of Dresden and the German-Arabic Poetry Salon