There are a full six weeks between late summer and autumn in which there are more than 75 literary events at 20 locations in Hamburg. The Harbor Front Festival opens up the city from September 14th to the end of October: from the Elbphilharmonie in the Hafencity to the factory in Altona, from the theater at the main train station to the “Uebel und Gefährlich” at Heiligengeistfeld, from the light hall of the state and university library to the St. Pauli Church. The initial impetus of the two former publishers Nikolaus Hansen and Peter Lohmann when they started Harbor Front in 2009 was to discover the harbor and its not-so-well-known corners and places. But at some point small stages or museum ships were no longer sufficient. Although the number of events has hardly changed since then, the number of visitors has.
That may be because of the big names. This year, people like Richard Ford, Daniel Kehlmann, Richard David Precht, Gabriele von Arnim, Saša Stanišić, Jeannette Walls and Benjamin von Stuckrad-Barre. It may also be due to the way the festival has changed over the years. Away from reading with lamp and water glass. Away from the known and predictable. Towards new formats such as Harbor Front Sounds, which has been bringing music and literature together since 2019.
Six weeks of literary experience: The festival offers encounters and special readings.
(Photo: Thomas Hampel/Harbour Front)
And it may be due to the realization that literature does not want to be consumed passively, but rather to be discussed and lived in a lively way. Then there’s someone sitting on stage that you didn’t expect at all. If Robert Seethaler on Tuesday, September 19th. from 8 p.m. in the Deutsches Schauspielhaus from “The Café without a Name” For example, the author Dörte Hansen (“Altes Land”) joins us as a conversation partner. That’s surprising, because the two don’t know each other that well, but they love each other’s books. And Dörte Hansen recommends reading Seethaler’s books particularly slowly, at that very own “Seethaler pace”. Surprising stage pairings in which no one knows exactly in which direction the conversation will go and what insights it will produce.
The fans at Harbor Front love this unexpectedness. And with the same excitement they probably also await newcomer readings like that of Coco Mellors from her debut “Cleopatra and Frankenstein” on Monday, September 18th. from 8 p.m. in “Uebel & Dangerous”. Fast-paced writing and with huge numbers of followers on social media. There were times when the Harbor Front Literature Festival had problems with not enough young audiences. Probably not anymore now. The debutante salons, which have been around since 2010 but first had to get around in the scene, may also have led to this. For the pre-selection this year, a five-person preliminary jury read a total of 55 submitted debut novels and selected eight of them, paying attention, among other things, to originality, stylistic confidence and the question of whether the author is capable of writing more books. On a total of four evenings, two of the nominees will read in front of the main jury for the debut prize worth 10,000 euros.
Last but not least, it is the places in the city that support the festival. Since its opening in 2017, especially the Elbphilharmonie. One of a total of three readings in their large hall, which can accommodate more than 2,000 people, is that of Bettina Böttinger moderated “Conversation about life and music” with Marius Müller-Westernhagen and Friedrich Dönhoff on Thursday, September 21st. from 8 p.m. Author Friedrich Dönhoff shows the person behind the superstar in his biography “Marius Müller-Westernhagen”. The book project was an experiment that both of them, who previously knew little about each other, embarked on. Nobody was allowed to see, listen to or read each other’s films, music or books before the first meeting. Like two people who meet by chance. This first meeting in Westernhagen’s apartment in Berlin was followed by twenty more intensive conversations, which became the very personal book that made it into the Elbphilharmonie without any music. Because it’s so nice to chat about life and literature.
All dates and information at: harbourfront-hamburg.com