First, Chancellor Olaf Scholz gets rough at the opening of the Leipzig Book Fair because of pro-Palestinian disruptors – then prize winner Omri Boehm tries to bring light into what is currently a rather gloomy world.
Occasionally the word itself becomes quite overwhelming. People then talk about his power, as if one could cure illnesses with words alone, open canned food lids and win arm wrestling against all the evils in the world. It really does exist, “the power of the word”, and you really become aware of it when, alongside powerful words, many weak words fly through the air. You really become aware of this in the Leipzig Gewandhaus on Wednesday evening.