At the stand of the "Japanfreaxx"

The first day of the Leipzig Book Fair came to an end with an anticipated award ceremony, honoring authors in three categories with a prize endowed in total with € 45,000. Amongst the nominees was 18 year-old Helene Hegemann with her highly debatted debut novel, that first caused an outcry of astonishment, which later turned to loud groans of dissapproval because parts of it were found to be plagiarised.

Girl showing the boys how to play Pokemon

The question of originality arised, leading to a nation-wide discussion of her book “Axolotl Roadkill”. To the delight of many, (and to the disappointment of some) Helene Hegemann did not win the prize, instead it was Georg Klein for his “Novel of Childhood”.

Bookfans on the way to the Exhibition

This morning at 9 AM the annual Leipzig Book Fair successfully kicked off four days dedicated solely to literature, new book arrivals, and other book-related events. More than 2000 publishers from 39 countries are here in Leipzig to present not only their newest publications, but also to take a look at the journey a book undergoes before it lands in our hands.

This year’s extra-program “Leipzig Liest“, which I have renamed the “LL“, invited 1500 authors from across the nation to come together and read texts to their fans in cafés and bars. Almost every café in the saxonian city can call itself a proud host to a reading event of the “LL“. Tonight promises many cool events at even cooler locations, like a reading with jazz at the jazz-bar Spizz and several readings at the renouned Moritzbastei.

Lady under the Engine Hood

Yesterday, I rediscovered Berlin’s hippest district: Kreuzberg. Initially, this post was solely dedicated to interesting bookstores in Kreuzberg, but on my expedition through the streets, I came across a lot more than just bestsellers and second-hand books.

Let me begin with a brief recapitulatation of Kreuzberg’s history. Kreuzberg, which means “cross-mountain“, is divided into two area codes. During the time of the Berlin Wall, three quarters of the southeastern part, also known as SO36, were closed off from the rest of Berlin. In this rather isolated area, the people living here cultivated their own culture. The majority of the people were foreigners, embracing the new symbiosis of Turkish, Persian, African and German culture. Today, more than 180 nationalities live in Kreuzberg, which makes this district a rare melting pot. On my search for interesting bookstores, I discovered a retro garage, a Persian candy factory and, of course, books en masse.