Events
Our annual conference, held as a weekend seminar, is the most important regular event of Literaturforum Indien. It features lectures, workshops, panel discussions, conversations with authors from India and South Asia, and a cultural programme with music or classical Indian dance, providing ample opportunity to exchange ideas. From 2008 to 2013, the annual conferences were held at the Arbeitnehmerzentrum Königswinter; since 2014 at the Evangelische Akademie Villigst, each time in cooperation with those institutions.
Readings offer an excellent way to understand literature and to encounter writers in lively dialogue. Literaturforum Indien e.V. has given a number of authors from India — and one from Pakistan — the opportunity to present their works in German translation to an interested and critically engaged audience, by organising reading tours in cooperation with local literary venues, bookshops, associations and others.
All listed events are concluded.
2026
Mahasweta Devi: Tribute to the Bengali Author and Activist on the Occasion of Her 100th Birthday
An online conference of Literaturforum Indien e.V.
Saturday, 7 February 2026, 10:00–12:00 (CET)
Access link: https://uni-goettingen.zoom-x.de/j/61578779307
Meeting ID: 615 7877 9307
The event was open to all.
2025
Conference 2025: When Love Is Political
Between Romantic Feelings and Social Constraints: The Spectrum of Love in South Asian Literature
9–11 May 2025, Evangelische Akademie Villigst
2024
Conference 2024: Ecology as a Theme in South Asian Literature?
Tracing the Theme in Literature and Society
24–26 May 2024, Evangelische Akademie Villigst
Online Conference: Diaspora in Marathi Literature
An online conference on the theme of diaspora in Marathi literature took place on 28 April 2024 from 14:00 to 17:00 (in English).
2023
Reading Tour by Geetanjali Shree — Readings and Conversations
Photo: Gagan Brar
- 29 June 2023 · Heidelberg
Organiser: feeLit – Internationales Literaturfestival Heidelberg
Spiegelzelt, Universitätsplatz, 69117 Heidelberg · 21:00 - 4 July 2023 · Würzburg
Organiser: University of Würzburg
Lecture Hall 4, Philosophy Building, Am Galgenberg 52B, 97074 Würzburg · 16:00
Reading and discussion in English. - 6 July 2023 · Göttingen
Organiser: Literarisches Zentrum Göttingen
Nikolaistraße 22, 37073 Göttingen · 19:00
Reading and discussion in English. - 7 July 2023 · Hanover
Organiser: Deutsch-Indische Gesellschaft Hannover · 19:00
Registration by e-mail: kontakt@dighannover.de or tel. 0511-647 68 72
Reading and discussion in English. - 12 July 2023 · Zurich
Organiser: 11. Literaturfestival Zürich
Alter Botanischer Garten, Talstrasse 71, 8001 Zürich · 20:30
The conversation was held in English. Text passages were read in German.
In bad weather at Kaufhaus Kaufleuten, Pelikanplatz 1.
Conference 2023: Between Tradition and Modernity
The Dissolution of Established Family Structures in South Asia. Social Change as Reflected in Literature
12–14 May 2023, Evangelische Akademie Villigst
2022
Conference 2022: 75 Years of Independence and Partition of the Indian Subcontinent as Reflected in Literature
20–22 May 2022, Evangelische Akademie Villigst
Reading Tour by Martin Kämpchen — »Mein Leben in Indien. Zwischen den Kulturen zu Hause«
Martin Kämpchen presents his autobiography recently published by Patmos Verlag.
Tour venues:
Hanover 22 Apr · Aachen 29 Apr · Vienna 2 May · Salzburg 3 May · Dachau 4 May · Munich 5 May · Münster 10 May · Aachen 17 May · Welkenraedt 18 May · Schwarzach am Main 25 May · Darmstadt 29 May · Cologne 20 Jun
2021
Conference 2021: Comedy – Irony – Satire
Humour and Social Criticism in the Literatures of South Asia
The conference took place online on 29 May 2021, in cooperation with Evangelische Akademie Villigst.
Conference 2020
The 2020 conference had to be cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
2019
International Literature Festival Berlin
As part of the major Berlin literature festival, two events featured authors from India:
- 14 September 2019, 20:00: Meena Kandasamy — When I Hit You
- 15 September 2019, 18:00: Benyamin — Goat Days
Reading Tour: Sara Rai
Sara Rai, winner of the 2019 Coburg Rückert Prize, embarked on a reading tour in May.
Photo: Sohail Akbar
- 5 May, 16:00 — Reading in Nossen (near Meissen), castle courtyard
- 10 May, 11:30 — Event at the Indian Consulate General, Frankfurt/Main
- 13 May, 14:00–18:00 — Reading and workshop, Mainz, Library of Indology
- 14 May, 18:00 — Reading in Tübingen, Neue Aula, 1st floor, Lecture Hall 10
- 17 May, 19:30 — Reading in Coburg, Kunstverein, Park 4a
- 18 May, 19:30 — Reading in Wetzlar, "Phantastische Bibliothek", Turmstraße 20
- 19 May, 17:30 — Reading at the Heidelberger Literaturtage
- 22 May, 17:00 — Reading in Neuss, Burgunderstr. 9
- 24–26 May — Reading and workshop at Evangelische Akademie Villigst (Schwerte)
Conference 2019: Women in South Asia between Tradition and Emancipation
Evangelische Akademie Villigst, Institut für Kirche und Gesellschaft der EKvW
24–26 May 2019
Staged Readings from the Novel »Ein Mann des Mittleren Weges« by Manuka Wijesinghe
With Jayantha Gomes, percussion
- 9 November 2019, 18:00
Library of Indology, Gutenberg-Institut der Universität
Colonel Kleinmann-Weg 2, 55128 Mainz · Building SB II, ground floor (admission free) - 21 November 2019, 19:00
Literaturhaus Darmstadt, Kasinostr. 3, 64283 Darmstadt
Readings by Geetanjali Shree — »Im leeren Raum«
Photo: Nicola Pozza
- 29 April 2019, 18:00 — Indian Embassy, Berlin
- 30 April 2019, 19:30 — Münster, Im alten Backhaus (DIG Münster)
2018
Reading Tour: Rahman Abbas
Following the annual conference of Literaturforum Indien e.V., at which Rahman Abbas and his translator Almuth Degener presented the Mumbai novel Die Stadt, das Meer, die Liebe, Abbas embarked on a reading tour.
Photo: Carla Peca
- 29 May · 19:00 — Pfälzer Hof, Schönau
- 1 Jun · 11:00 — Indian Consulate General, Frankfurt/Main
- 2 Jun · 19:30 — Stadtteiltreff Mainz-Gonsenheim
- 8 Jun · 17:00 — Heidelberg, South Asia Institute
- 12 Jun · 18:15 — University of Bonn, Senate Hall
- 13 Jun · 19:00 — Frankfurt-Höchst, Café Mouseclick
Conference 2018: Megacities in South Asia: Focal Points of Social and Religious Conflict
Evangelische Akademie Villigst, Institut für Kirche und Gesellschaft der EKvW
25–27 May 2018
2017
Uday Prakash in Bonn
The University of Bonn and Literaturforum Indien e.V. jointly invited guests to a reading of selected passages from Uday Prakash's works translated into German on 12 December 2017, 18:00, at the university. The well-known author of novels, stories and short prose read brief excerpts in Hindi himself, and afterwards took part in a lively discussion conducted in English.
Visitors were particularly interested in the author's controversy with the Sahitya Akademi (India's national academy of letters), whose award he returned in 2015 in protest against the academy's lack of solidarity following the politically motivated murder of another laureate.
Musical-Literary Evening of the DIG Bonn/Cologne
The German-Indian Society Bonn/Cologne invited guests to a musical-literary evening following their annual general meeting, 19:00 at the Karl Rahner Akademie, Jabachstr. 4–8, 50676 Cologne.
The renowned Indologist Prof. em. Dr. Dieter B. Kapp read from his translation of Chudamani Raghavan's short story collection Der Nagalingabaum. In her stories, the author critically examines entrenched social traditions.
Conference 2017: Modern Theatre in India
Evangelische Akademie Villigst, Institut für Kirche und Gesellschaft der EKvW
12–14 May 2017
Speakers from German and Indian universities presented — some with audio-visual material — the many facets of India's highly vibrant theatre scene, in which the major themes of social discourse are addressed.
2016
Conference 2016: Literature of the Adivasi
Literature of India's Indigenous Peoples
Evangelische Akademie Villigst, Institut für Kirche und Gesellschaft der EKvW
27–29 May 2016
The conference was devoted to the Adivasi — India's indigenous peoples — who, after a long tradition of exclusively oral storytelling, have in recent decades also produced written literature and even their own English-language publisher, Adivaani. Its founder Ruby Hembron was represented at the conference alongside poet Jacinta Kerketta.
Indian Literary Evening
2015
Reading Tour by Geetanjali Shree
In November, Literaturforum Indien was once again co-organiser of a reading tour by Geetanjali Shree, whose novels Mai and Unsere Stadt in jenem Jahr as well as the short story collection Weißer Hibiskus were available in German.
- 4 Nov — Alpines Museum, Praterinsel 5, 80538 Munich
- 5 Nov — Alte Schule, Luitpoldstraße 20, 82211 Herrsching
- 6 Nov — Stadtbibliothek am Mailänder Platz, 70173 Stuttgart
- 11 Nov — Katlenburg, 37191 Katlenburg-Lindau
- 14 Nov — DIG, Königstrasse 64, 90402 Nuremberg
- 19 Nov — Literaturhaus, Kasinostraße 3, 64293 Darmstadt
- 22 Nov — Südbahnhof, Saumstraße 9, 47805 Krefeld (matinée)
- 24 Nov — Bahnhof Langendreer, Wallbaumweg 108, 44894 Bochum
Conference 2015: India in 2015
Hindu Nationalism, Human Rights, Environmental Issues
Evangelische Akademie Villigst, Institut für Kirche und Gesellschaft der EKvW
15–17 May 2015
2014
Conference 2014: Women and Violence in India
Joint event with the Institut für Kirche und Gesellschaft der EKvW
16–18 May 2014, Evangelische Akademie Villigst
Reading Tour: Uday Prakash 2014
2013
Conference 2013: Youth and Ageing in India
Joint event with the Stiftung Christlich-Soziale Politik e.V. (CSP)
21–23 June 2013, Arbeitnehmerzentrum Königswinter
2012
Conference 2012: Booming Megacities and Rural Stagnation
Joint event with the Stiftung Christlich-Soziale Politik e.V. (CSP)
29 June – 2 July 2012, Arbeitnehmerzentrum Königswinter
Reading Tour: O.N.V. Kurup 2012
Reading Tour: Omair Ahmad 2012
2011
Conference 2011: The Power of Indian Literature in Shaping Society in India
Joint event with the Stiftung Christlich-Soziale Politik e.V. (CSP)
8–10 July 2011, Arbeitnehmerzentrum Königswinter
The programme of our 2011 conference as well as the celebration of Rabindranath Tagore's 150th birthday are also available as PDF downloads.
2010
Conference 2010: Regional Literatures of India as a Mirror of Religious and Social Conflicts
The seminar aimed to open new approaches to Indian society, politics and religion through the medium of literature:
- How are social and religious themes processed and interpreted in literature?
- What role do authors in India play in political and religious movements?
- What impact do religious and social conflicts have on the content of India's regional literatures?
- How does the German-speaking public receive literature from India that engages with religious and social themes?
Reading Tour: Geetanjali Shree 2010
2009
Conference 2009: Images of Women in India's Regional Literatures
From 3 to 5 July 2009, Literaturforum Indien e.V., in cooperation with the Arbeitnehmerzentrum Königswinter, organised a seminar on the theme "Images of Women in India's Regional Literatures: Mirrors of Oppression, Power Relations and Emancipatory Efforts in a Developing Country."
2008
Conference 2008: Are the Broken and Disenfranchised in India Voiceless?
On the Situation of Dalits, Adivasis and Their Literature in India
From 20 to 22 June 2008, a conference on the literature and social situation of Dalits (the 'untouchables') and Adivasis (tribal peoples) in India was held at the Arbeitnehmerzentrum Königswinter.
Up to 400 million people belong to these marginalised groups, who suffer from disenfranchisement, lack of opportunity and discrimination. During the three-day event, various specialists presented on the contemporary living conditions of Dalits and Adivasis as reflected in their subcultures.
