53.
Samuel Fischer Guest Professorship
Literatures of the World
The Samuel Fischer Visiting Professorship for Literature was established on the initiative of Prof. Dr. Gerd Mattenklott at the beginning of the summer term 1998. It is funded by S. Fischer publishers, Freie Universität Berlin, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and Holtzbrinck Berlin – Inspire Together. Each semester an author is invited to teach at the Peter Szondi Institute of Comparative Literature. In addition to a seminar at the Freie Universität Berlin public readings and events with the guest professors are organized in Berlin and other German cities.
News
October 2025
Former #SFischerProf win Nobel Prize for Literature and German Book Prize 2025.
A double celebration in just a few days: Hungarian author László Krasznahorkai was awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Literature on October 9th. He held the position of Samuel Fischer Guest Professor at Freie Universität Berlin in 2008. On October 13th, Dorothee Elmiger received the 2025 German Book Prize, our guest professor during the winter semester 2021/22.
We wholeheartedly congratulate both of them and are delighted and very proud for their succes!
Winter Semester 2025/26
Tash Aw
We are pleased to announce that Tash Aw will be our guest professor for the winter semesters 2025 and 2026. His inaugural lecture “Authenticity and the Death of Literature” will take place on October 28th at FU Berlin and is open to the public.
Tash will also participate in the Frohen Festival 2025 at silent green on December 12th, where he will lead a Creative Writing Workshop and give a reading followed by a discussion. Tickets for this political literature festival are available here.
Summer Semester 2025
Constance Debré
In the summer semester of 2025, Constance Debré will teach at the Freie Universität Berlin as Samuel Fischer Guest Professor. Constance Debré gained international attention through her radical break with her previous life as a lawyer in the Parisian bourgeoisie and her uncompromising exploration of identity, freedom and social norms. She achieved her literary breakthrough in 2018 with Play Boy, an astute and provocative reflection on her departure from social expectations, which also marks the beginning of her new stage of life.
Winter Semester 2024/25
Mark Haber
Mark will be teaching as Samuel Fischer Guest Professor at the Peter Szondi Institute starting November 2024. Students will soon be able to enrol in the course “The Imagination of Place”, which focuses on the importance of places and environments in fictional literature and analyses how geography influences the imagination.
Mark will have two Events, one in November and one in December! Here you will find more Information.
Guest of Honour 2024/25
Igiaba Scego
After Felwine Sarr last year, we are pleased to present another guest of honour at the S.Fischer Professorship: Igiaba Scego! The Italian-Somali writer describes literature and reading itself as her lifeline:
“In books, I found my story, myself and, above all, Africa.”
Scego studied literature and education, and is today the author of several novels and stories. She also writes for newspapers and magazines such as “L’Unità” and “Internazionale” and is the editor of several anthologies.
Winter Semester 2023/24
Powerpaola
As part of the opening lecture on November 22, Powerpaola will talk about her writing practice in Virus Tropical and Todas las bicicletas que tuve as well as discuss other book publications, including QP and Todo va a estar bien. These texts will serve as the basis for Powerpaola’s presentation and discussion of topics she will explore with students in her winter semester seminar “I’m not talking about me (but also)”: the intimate and complex connection between creative work and life, oneself and other people.
Here you can find more information about Powerpaola
Literary Aesthetics
Constance Debré and Miryam Schellbach had a thoughtful conversation about aesthetics in literature at DAAD Gallery in Kreuzberg on June 19 2025. You can rewatch the event here.
© Phil Dera
Procrastinator’s Paradise
On December 2 2024 Mark Haber, Guest Prof of winter term 2024/25, and Ilona Hartmann chatted about the Art of Avoidance and the true meaning of Procrastination.
© Phil Dera
Virus Tropical
Screening of “Virus Tropical”, the film produced by Powerpaola after her identical Graphic Novel at Acud Kino Berlin, December 7th 2023!
© Phil Dera
read-write-design-read-write-design
Nancy Campbell and Salvador Plascencia in conversation with Svenja Gräfen at the Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst
© Andreas Lamm
Notes On Love: A Conversation with Xiaolu Guo.
Xiaolu Guo 郭小櫓 in conversation with Divya Ghelani at daadgalerie Berlin
© Phil-Dera
Five Men And A Caravaggio – Screening & Talk
Xiaolu Guo 郭小櫓 in conversation with Giuliana Kiersz
© Phil-Dera
