Programs and Events

Selected readings from previous months and years

American Youth Author Encourages Young Readers to "Make a Difference"
October 17, 2007. On October 17, award-winning American youth book author T.A. Barron charmed young students during a tour through North Rhine Westphalia, including readings at a Cologne high school and at the public libraries in Cologne and Dortmund. (more) 

March 13, 2007
Reading with Jonathan Franzen, a program of the lit.COLOGNE festival 2007.
Jonathan Franzen read from his new novel "The Discomfort Zone: A Personal History" ("Die Unruhezone")

March 14, 2007
Reading with Louis Begley, a program of the lit.COLOGNE festival 2007.
Louis Begley read from "Matters of Honor" ("Ehrensachen")

March 16, 2007
Reading with Marisha Pessl, a program of the lit.COLOGNE festival 2007.
Marisha Pessl read from her first novel "Special Topics in Calamity Physics" ("Die alltägliche Physik des Unglücks")

March 18, 2007
Reading with Rick Moody, a program of the lit.COLOGNE festival 2007.
Rick Moody read from his new novel "The Diviners" ("Wassersucher")

March 18, 2007
Jeffrey Deaver read from his latest crime novel "The Cold Moon" ("Der gehetzte Uhrmacher")

National Book Award Winner Richard Powers on Reading Tour through Germany
November 27, 2006. On his reading tour through Germany, Richard Powers, recent winner of the National Book Award, read to full house on November 27 at Literaturhaus Köln. Richard Powers, the author of eight previous novels and a MacArthur Fellowship recipient, won the National Book Award for his latest book, The Echo Maker.  During a reading tour through Germany, which was co-sponsored by the U.S. Embassy and the Fischer Verlag, with stops in Hamburg, Berlin, Frankfurt, and Cologne, Richard Powers took time to chat about The Echo Maker and earlier works.  Chat transcript

In Praise of Unconventional Teaching: Frank McCourt
September 12, 2006. Some 300 people, many of them teachers, gathered at the Kulturkirche in Cologne on September 12 to see and hear author Frank McCourt read from his acclaimed third book “Teacher Man.” McCourt, an American citizen with Irish roots, not only read from his memoir but also spoke animatedly about the challenges and rewards of his thirty-year teaching career in New York schools. (more)

March 14, 2006
Reading with Dave King and Jan-Josef Liefers (part of Lit.cologne)
Dave King read from his new novel "Homecoming"

March 17, 2006
Reading with Joe R. Landsdale (part of Lit.cologne)

March 18, 2006
Reading with John Griesemer (part of Lit.cologne)
John Griesemer read from his new collection of stories "Roy auf dem Dach"

February 6, 2006
Reading with Michael Cunningham
The author of "The Hours" read from his new novel "Specimen Days"

Herbert Gold's Half-Century of American Literature
January 25, 2006. American writer Herbert Gold (b. 1924), novelist, journalist, short story writer, autobiographer and man of letters, visited Dortmund University on January 25, 2006 and impressed his audience of American Studies students and faculty hosted by Professor Walter Grünzweig with readings from "Fathers" and "Bohemia" and personal insights into and encounters with American literature and culture of more than five decades. (more)

American Author Writes About History of Coastal New England Town
September 14, 2005.  At a reading/discussion at Amerika Haus on September 14, American novelist Dawn Clifton Tripp presented her new novel “Season of Open Water,” which is set in the real and also fictional world of the early 20th-century coastal village of Westport Point in Massachusetts. The novel, based on authentic stories by Westport locals, is about fishermen and other town residents becoming involved in bootlegging in the 1920s. The German translation of the book, published by marebuchverlag, is entitled “Wasserzeit.” (more)

T.C. Boyle Reading in Cologne Attracts 800 Enthusiasts
May 18, 2005. American novelist T.C. Boyle was in top form as he entertained a large crowd of predominantly young people with readings from his novel “The Inner Circle” in Cologne on May 18. Boyle spoke animatedly and with humor about the novel’s main themes and the creative process of turning historical events and characters into fiction. (more)

May 9, 2005.
American writer James Salter presented his new short story collection “Last Night” at a reading attended by a large audience at Literaturhaus Köln on May 9. The event was introduced and moderated by Salter’s German publisher Arnulf Conradi.

May 3, 2005.
American writer and English professor Tobias Wolff read from his recent novel “Old School” at Buchhandlung Bittner on May 3. His German translator, Frank Heibert, was a congenial moderator for the event. Wolff gave a short introduction and read passages from the book before engaging the audience of 60 in a thoughtful discussion of the writing process and the mingling in his work of autobiography and fiction.

November 12, 2004
Two leading writers of contemporary American detective fiction, Sara Paretsky and Valerie Wilson Wesley, gave a joint reading at Cologne’s “Alibi” book store. The sell-out event gave the two writers an opportunity to expand on their fiction and discuss actual developments and trends in American society such as race relations, urban culture, and the role of women.

September 22, 2004
Jonathan Lethem, author of several books which are set in Brooklyn in the 1970s, read from his latest novel, “The Fortress of Solitude,” to an audience of 200 at Cologne’s Literaturhaus on September 22.

September 20, 2004
Paul Beatty, Black American writer from New York, engaged an audience of 250 Cologne high school students and teachers on African-American culture . After reading excerpts from his novel “The White Boy Shuffle,” Beatty discussed Black youth culture and the way in which it is depicted in the media, dispelling a number of misconceptions among the students.

June 19, 2004
Dirk Wittenborn read from "Courting a Rhine Maiden in Manhattan" (dt.: Vom Werben um eine rheinische Maid in Manhattan)

June 18, 2004
Jonathan Lethem read from "Fortress of Solitude" (Festung der Einsamkeit)

June 15, 2004
Jennifer Egan read from "Look at Me"

June 1, 2004
Richard Powers read from his new novel "The Time of Our Singing" (Der Klang der Zeit )

May 5, 2004
Paul Auster read from his novel "Oracle Night" (Nacht des Orakels)

April 26, 2004
Literary Reading with Kevin Baker from his new novel "Paradise Alley" ("Die Strasse zum Paradies")

April 21, 2004
Colson Whitehead read from his novel "John Henry Days"

March 17 - 21, 2004
lit.Cologne
Die folgenden amerikanischen Schriftsteller/innen lasen in Köln
Nick Hornby & Julie Orringer
Jeffrey Eugenides & Elizabeth McCracken
Sue Graham Mingus über Charles Mingus
Dirk Wittenborn
more

November 26, 2003
Reading with Russian-American writer Gary Shteyngart: "The Russian Debutante's Handbook"

November 24, 2003
Lesung mit John Griesemer (Signal and Noise/ Rausch, dt.)

October 7, 2003
Benjamin Anastas read from his novel "The Faithful Narrative of a Pastor's Disappearance" (Die wahre Geschichte vom Verschwinden eines Pastors)

September 23, 2003
Don DeLillo read from his novel "Cosmopolis" in cooperation with Literaturhaus, Kunststiftung NRW and Kiepenheuer & Witsch

September 10, 2003
Jonathan Franzen read from his novel The Twenty-Seventh City" (Die 27ste Stadt) in cooperation with Literaturhaus, Kunststiftung NRW & Rowohlt Verlag

March 19 - 22, 2003
Jonathan Safran Foer
Jeffrey Eugenides
David Grand
Readings by prominent American writers David Grand (The Disappearing Body / Körperfluchten), Jeffrey Eugenides (Middlesex), and Jonathan Safran Foer (Alles ist erleuchtet) attracted large German audiences at Cologne's international literature festival lit.Cologne.

January 22, 2003
At his reading at Köln's Literaturhaus, U.S. author Dennis Johnson (Angels, Jesus' Son, and Already Dead) impressed his audience as an important voice in contemporary American fiction. Johnson talked about early writing attempts, his eventful life, and metaphysical and religious elements in his fiction.

January 20, 2003
American fiction writer Siri Hustvedt drew a large crowd of 200 at her Cologne reading at the Literaturhaus. Hustvedt read excerpts from her latest novel "Was ich liebte" (What I Loved) recently published in German by Rowohlt. Hustvedt's novel is set in New York in 1975 where her multifaceted characters inhabit a rarefied world of SoHo art galleries and universities.

September 23, 2002
Richard Ford'sreading from his new book "A Multitude of Sins" ("Eine Vielzahl von Sünden") struck a responsive chord among the audience of some 200 in Cologne. Ford stressed that the analysis of difficulties in interpersonal relationships would also be useful for a better understanding of political and intercultural problems and processes.

September 12, 2002
Studs Terkel In the course of a two-hour program of readings, narration, and questions and answers at Cologne's Stadtbiliothek, American writer Studs Terkel lived up to the expectations of some 200 participants by talking about the lives and values of ordinary Americans. Drawing on his latest book "Will the Circle Be Unbroken?" Terkel reflected on his life experiences and the pervasive values of love, decency, hope, and individual freedom cherished by Americans.

March 17, 2002
Susan Sontag read from her novel "In America". (Part of lit.Cologne)

March 16, 2002
Armistead Maupin reads from "The Night Listener" (Der nächtliche Lauscher) - Part of lit.Cologne

December 6, 2000
Valerie Wilson Wesley, best known for her Tamara Hale Mysteries, read from her works.
Her most recent novel Ain't Nobody's Business If I Do is a delightful story of an African-American family in transition that is, at once, touching, sad, and funny, and that celebrates love, personal freedom, and the pursuit of happiness with charm, humor, and wisdom.