From May 24-27, 2018, the Ars Baltica accredited project “European Festival of the First Novel” takes place in Kiel again. Since 2003 new prose from ten European countries formed the heart of the European Festival of the First Novel. This year, eleven novelists, their editors and other literarily professionals will discuss writing and publishing and acquaint themselves with new novels.

The opening reading gala, meetings with students at the Christian-Albrechts-University, and the following literary conference are giving the participants, the public audience, and the conference guests a forum for exchange on literature, language, and ways of promoting and transferring literature in Europe.

The participants of the festival 2018 are:

• Austria: Mascha Dabić „Reibungsverluste“, Wiener Edition Atelier

• Finland: Hanna Weselius „Alma!“, WSOY

• Denmark: Tine Høeg „Nye Rejsende“, Rosinante

• France: N.N.

• Germany: Karosh Taha „Beschreibung einer Krabbenwanderung“, Dumont

• Italy: Francesca Manfredi „Un buon posto dove stare“, La nave di Teseo

• Netherlands: Jente Posthuma „Mensen zonder uitstraling“, Atlas Contact

• Norway: Zeshan Shakar „Tante Ulrikkes vei“, Gyldendal

• Poland: Weronika Gogola „Po trochu“, Książkowe Klimaty

• Slovenia: Gašper Kralj „Rok Trajanja“, cf*

• Switzerland: Frédéric Zwicker „Hier können Sie im Kreis gehen“, Nagel & Kimche Verlag

Excerpts of the debut novels will be presented during the public reading „Lesefest“ at the Literaturhaus in Kiel on Thursday, May 24, 2018, from 7 pm to 11 pm (2 breaks in between). The authors will read short sequences from their novels in the original language before the professional readers Jule Nero and Nils Aulike will present excerpts from the German sample translations.

Institut Francais