BETRIEBSVERSAMMLUNG: Ausgabe 1: Prekär, aber poetisch? – Die Lebensrealitäten von Autor*innen

In the organizer's words:

Literature is a lonely business: in the writing process and in the writing crisis, on a reading tour or without the hoped-for attention. In the competition for prizes, funding and publishing contracts. Literature is a painful business: rejection, pressure and existential fears characterize everyday working life. That's why authors Svenja Gräfen and Yade Yasemin Önder, together with Leipzig literary organizer Elisabeth Jaspersen, are launching the BETRIEBSVERSAMMLUNG, a series of readings and talks that brings together writers and other players in the literary industry. Experimental, unpublished or unfinished texts and in-depth discussions on each evening's topic will shed light on the conditions and abysses of the business. The last item on the agenda will be problem-solving - live on stage, together with our guests, we will create the utopia of a more diverse, inclusive and sustainable literary industry.
For the first edition of BETRIEBSVERSAMMLUNG, hosts Yade Yasemin Önder & Svenja Gräfen invite Anke Stelling & Christian Dittloff to talk openly about the conditions of production. How can we survive in the literary industry? How do we deal with structurally scarce resources? Is envy allowed when it comes to existential concerns? And: How can the literary industry be made more solidary?


Anke Stelling, born in Ulm in 1971, studied at the German Literature Institute in Leipzig. Her novel "Gisela", co-written with Robby Dannenberg, was made into a film in 2004 and her story "Glückliche Fügung" in 2010. In addition to numerous publications, the children's books "Erna und die drei Wahrheiten" (2017) and "Freddie und die Bändigung des Bösen" (2020) have also appeared. Her novel "Bodentiefe Fenster" (2015) was longlisted for the 2015 German Book Prize. The novel "Schäfchen im Trockenen" (2018) was awarded the 2019 Leipzig Book Fair Prize.
Homepage: https://ankestelling.de/

Christian Dittloff, born in Hamburg in 1983, studied German and English language and literature in Hamburg and literary writing in Hildesheim. Before publishing his debut novel "Das Weiße Schloss" in 2018, he worked in a psychiatric clinic, as a cultural journalist and as an expert in cultural marketing. He is a member of Literatur für das, was passiert - a collective of writers who use their writing to financially support people on the run. Christian Dittloff is currently focusing in particular on autofictional narrative formats and the topics of critical masculinity and grief. In spring 2023, his third book "Prägung. Reflections on masculinity".
Homepage: https://christiandittloff.de/

Yade Yasemin Önder studied German Literature at the HU Berlin and Literary Writing at the German Literature Institute Leipzig. Her first play "Kartonage" was invited to the Autor*innentheatertage 2017 and premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienna. Her debut novel "Wir wissen, wir könnten, und fallen synchron" (Kiepenheuer & Witsch), was awarded the lit.COLOGNE Debut Prize and the Nicolas Born Debut Prize and was shortlisted for the ZDF-apekte Literature Prize. In 2023, she received a work grant from the German Literature Fund. In 2024, the collective novel "Wir kommen" was published, of which she is a co-author. Her second novel was published in 2026 and in the same year her current play "Bu sözler bizim - Die Worte gehören uns" premiered at Schauspiel Leipzig.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marmeyade/

Svenja Gräfen is an author and lives in Leipzig. Her most recent publication was a story in the anthology "Sie: Geschichten über wunderbare Frauen" (Diogenes) in 2023 and the bestseller "Radikale Selbstfürsorge jetzt. A feminist perspective" (Eden Books), and before that the two novels "Freiraum" (2019) and "Das Rauschen in unseren Köpfen" (2016, Ullstein five). Svenja Gräfen currently writes about writing in the monthly newsletter "Soft Pratice" and is working on her third novel. In addition to her work as a writer, she moderates readings and other events and edits novels and non-fiction books.
Homepage: https://svenjagraefen.de/


The event is part of the theme year "More than a story. Book City Leipzig". You can find more information about the program here: https://www.leipzig.de/freizeit-kultur-und-tourismus/veranstaltungen-und-termine/jubilaeen-und-festivals/themenjahr-2025-mehr-als-eine-geschichte-buchstadt-leipzig

Price information:

08Euro = No coal ticket 12 Euro = Normal price 15 Euro = Promotional ticket for the "No coal" ticket <3