52.
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
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.
Information about the course at the FU and the public events can be found here (soon).
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.
With Italy as this year’s guest country at the book fair in Frankfurt, Igiaba is now travelling a lot outside Rome. In Berlin we are fortunate to be able to welcome her twice. Once with a public event on 8 October this year and on 21 January 2025 at the Freie Universität Berlin.
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
Procrastinator’s Paradise
On December 2 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
