This pair meets great: Maria Α. Ioannou and a festival. Starting out as an author Maria felt the need to bring literature to the people in Cyprus – in different ways than to write. That is why in 2013 she started a literary festival for hybrid artistic creations: SARDAM. Hear how she started it, how it developed and how her motherhood is influencing her. Continue reading Maria A. Ioannou – A festival organiser of Cyprus
Category Archives: CRY OUT FOR CROWD interviews
Mirko Božić – A “Literary Activist”
Engaged literature has many faces. What unites these approaches is, though, the will to change something in the reader’s mind. A goal. This is the reason why these works reflect a will to address issues of political, social and cultural explosiveness. Mirko, born in Mostar (Bosnia and Herzegovina) has published several volumes of poetry, essays, columns and stories and founded a literary festival. “I want to give a differentiated view”, he says when asked what his goals are. And these views are often connected to his home country. So let’s find out what his literature has to do with his origins. Continue reading Mirko Božić – A “Literary Activist”
Fiston Mwanza Mujila – “Finland was my non-lieu”
Fiston Mwanza Mujila travelled on the OMNIBUS Reading Tour in the very first week from Helsinki across the arctic circle way up into the north. Coming originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo, journeying has become a necessary part of Fiston’s life as an author and migrant emplyoing a unique perspective on countries and national borders. I talked with Fiston about travelling, the OMNIBUS Reading Tour, guilt and influences on writing. Continue reading Fiston Mwanza Mujila – “Finland was my non-lieu”
Cristian Forte: Throw the pen – Poetic performances
Cristian Forte came to Berlin in 2009, having left Argentina that same year. Why is this important? Because Cristian is the kind of poet that is very sensitive to his surroundings and the places he performs his poetry. This turns every one of his pieces into a political question, too. Continue reading Cristian Forte: Throw the pen – Poetic performances
Hartmut Abendschein: e-books, Rorschach-Test, 50 % Flarf
INTERVIEW: In her article from October 2015 for one of the major German newspapers F.A.Z., Elke Heinemann writes that you see the future of literary weblog publishing not in the curated e-book as a form of assemblage of rhizomatic texts but in no less than “the internet” itself. This already sounds outdated enough, looking at bots, Twitter, Instagram, and literature apps and games. How do you keep up? Do you maybe consider yourself as “first generation”? What are blogs today? Continue reading Hartmut Abendschein: e-books, Rorschach-Test, 50 % Flarf
Tom Chivers: UK publishing and intimate spots in urban landscapes
Based in London, UK, Tom Chivers is running a small publishing house called ‘Penned in the Margins’ which brings together a whole range of different activities under one roof, from book publishing to spoken word performances. Risky and venturous, the arts producer Tom Chivers shows what the future of publishing can look like – let me tell you, it is not in the digital world.
Continue reading Tom Chivers: UK publishing and intimate spots in urban landscapes
Megan M. Garr (USA/NL): On activism and writing
Megan M. Garr is a poet and editor who crossed borders. She is an American living in the Netherlands who is engaged in activism in the literary world fighting for more diversity. An Interview. Continue reading Megan M. Garr (USA/NL): On activism and writing
Xiaolu Guo: Everybody dreams of a borderless world
Born in China in a small village, and after studying film in Beijing Xiaolu Guo went into exile to London. Her work is inspired by her biography, resistance, identity, home – she lives between different worlds and languages. Today she is one of the most appreciated and proliferated authors and film makers in Britain – in November she will be in Berlin at Lettrétage, presenting her works.
Continue reading Xiaolu Guo: Everybody dreams of a borderless world
Satu Taskinen (FI): „I try to add to awareness.“
Satu is described as an author who writes about the European middle class and thus writes European literature. One could say that she adds to awareness by pointing out the limitations of our knowledge and ambitions. What does “perfect” in her novel “The perfect Schweinsbraten” then mean? An e-mail interview.
Continue reading Satu Taskinen (FI): „I try to add to awareness.“
Ondřej Buddeus (CZ): „Spread the wor(l)ds“
Ondřej is a writer, translator and editor based in Prague, Czech. His poetry often deals and plays with roles and identities (see the picture above) and conventional language pieces, objets trouvé, of our everyday life. Continue reading Ondřej Buddeus (CZ): „Spread the wor(l)ds“