Project Launch: New Perspectives on German-Language Exile Literature

5 May 2026, by Janis-Marie Paul

Photo: Janis-Marie Paul/UHH

A new research project explores German-language exile literature from an expanded, cross-epochal perspective. The project investigates how literary texts from different historical periods can be meaningfully connected.

Focusing on works from the Vormärz period, the Nazi era, and contemporary literature, the project highlights the interconnections between these texts and examines how they are shaped by transnational dynamics that transcend national memory narratives.

Project-Website

The project will be launched with a public event on May 6, 2026. As part of the program, author Volha Hapeyeva, currently living in exile in Germany, will read from her new novel “Dictionary of a Nomad”. She will also present her “Exile Poetry Machine,” an artistic concept that opens new perspectives on experiences of exile.

Event Details
Location: Berendsohn Reading Room, Exile Library (Von-Melle-Park 6, Hamburg)
Date: May 6, 2026, 6:00 PM (Reading from 7:00 PM)

Project Leads
Doerte Bischoff (University of Hamburg)
Steffan Davies (University of Bristol)
Esther Kilchmann (Leuphana University Lüneburg)

Co-Lead
Martin Semmann (Hub of Computing and Data Science HCDS)