Europe's largest reading festival: Leipzig reads from March 27th to 30th, 2025
- Written by Portal Editor
"Words move Leipzig" - based on this year's motto of the Leipzig Book Fair, Europe's largest reading festival with more than 2,000 events will take place again this spring.
Leipzig will present the great diversity of literature at hundreds of locations in the city and at the fair. Numerous German and international authors have announced that they will be presenting the new spring releases live.
Guest country Norway will bring its "dream in spring" to the Leipzig Book Fair
Whether from far away or directly from Leipzig - all authors, publishers, exhibitors and visitors are united by the fact that they have entered the Leipzig Reading Festival and the Leipzig Book Fair as a fixed date in their calendars. However, the thousands of participants still have plenty to do before it starts on Thursday, March 27th. Thanks to their commitment, Leipzig will once again become a visitor magnet for hundreds of thousands of readers and a lively center of literature in Germany. As usual, the number of participants who have announced their attendance from abroad is high.
"Du skal skrive ditt eget liv", which means "you shall write your own life", was the first commandment of the Kristiania bohemians in Oslo 130 years ago. The dissection of one's own person is still a very popular subject among Norwegian authors. But Norwegians are also strong when it comes to creating fictional life stories to explore the secrets of the human soul. As part of the guest country appearance, fans of Nordic literature can look forward to readings by the following authors, among others:
Johan Harstad: “Under the pavement lies the beach”, Ullstein, 30.01.25, translated by Ursel Allenstein, Stefan Pluschkat
Linn Strømsborg: “Damned angry”, Dumont, 14.10.24, translated by Karoline Hippe
Tore Renberg: “The lung swimming test”, 23.10.24, translated by Ina Kronenberger, Karoline Hippe
Trude Teige: “The boy who swore revenge”, Aufbau, 04.07.23, translated by Gabriele Haefs, Andreas Brunstermann
Matias Faldbakken: “Poor thing”, btb Verlag, 11.09.24, translated by Maximilian Stadler
Happy Birthday Thomas Mann – new publications for the 150th anniversary year
One of the most important storytellers of the 20th century is celebrating a major anniversary in 2025. With a series of readings, Leipzig liest is also honoring the 150th birthday of the great German writer and Nobel Prize winner for literature. Whether in the form of current new editions of existing works by and about Thomas Mann or as novels that bring him back to life in an exciting way - the creator of Buddenbrooks remains immortal.
S. Fischer: "German listeners! Radio broadcasts to Germany - new edition with a foreword and afterword by Mely Kiyak", 29.01.25
DuMont: Martin Mittelmeier "Homesickness in Paradise", 11.03.25
Piper: Matthias Lohre "Devil's Brother", 10.01.25
Droemer: Tilo Eckardt "Dangerous Reflections - The Case of Thomas Mann", 04.11.24
Rough and soft, clear and shimmering, always searching - Young voices in literature
It is deep, the longing for belonging - in the present as well as in a possible future. It is loud, the radical anger that also arises from not knowing where one belongs. And which is often fed by the speechlessness and blind spots in one's own family. Leipzig liest is looking forward to the new novels by young authors such as:
Mascha Unterlehberg: “Wenn wir lachen”, Dumont, 11.02.25
Annegret Liepold: “Unter Grund”, Penguin, 26.02.25
Thea Mantwill: “Glühfarbe”, März Verlag, 27.02.25
Aria Aber: “Good Girl”, Ullstein, 27.02.25
Pierre Jarawan: “Frau im Mond”, Piper, 03.04.25
Flurin Jecker: “Santa Tereza”, Nagel & Kimche, 25.02.25
Being a woman, what does that actually mean – new feminist books 2025
Authors like those listed give answers at Leipzig liest from different perspectives: Whether as magical-surreal prose about the absurdities of motherhood, as a novel about rediscovering love in old age or in the form of collected contributions from various authors on the development of Women in East and West - being a woman can mean many things, sometimes even being a father.
Katharina Bendixen: "A contemporary form of love", Edition Nautilus, March 3, 2025
Wencke Mühleisen: "Everything I'm afraid of has already happened", Nagel & Kimche, March 25, 2025
Franziska Hauser, Maren Wurster: "East*West*Woman", Frankfurter Verlagsanstalt, February 27, 2025
Anna Dimitrova: "People Pleaser", Arctis, March 12, 2025
Lisa Bendiek: "Lesbians are better fathers", Nautilus Flugschrift, March 3, 2025
Veronika Fischer: "Female Working", Kremayr & Scheriau, February 19, 2025
The program with all authors and dates will be published from February 27th.
The Leipzig Book Fair in conjunction with the Manga Comic Con and the Leipzig Reads reading festival will take place from March 27 to 30, 2025. Tickets for the Leipzig Book Fair are available in the online ticket shop.
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