Literature Festival 2023: About summer stories, growing older, a treasure and Heine's poetry

The Kniestedt Church in Salzgitter-Bad will host the eighth Salzgitter Literature Festival from September 1 to 3 and 9 to 10 this year.

This time, it will once again offer the opportunity to meet not only five authors, but many more readers, musicians, actors and art and literature enthusiasts in close succession.

Monika Peetz: "Summer Sisters - The Night of Lights"

The literature festival begins on Friday, September 1, at 7.30 p.m., with the new novel by Monika Peetz entitled "Sommerschwestern - Die Nacht der Lichter". A story set against a summery backdrop that is as light-footed as it is full of suspense.

The plot: Every family has a secret. The Thalberg family had two. The recipe for the best cheesecake in the world and the question of what really happened on the night of the storm in which the father died. In the second volume of the "Summer Sisters" trilogy presented at the literature festival, the four sisters come together again on the Dutch North Sea coast. The beach vacation turns into the ultimate test of endurance. A mysterious pursuer escalates the conflicts between the four women. Everything revolves around the crucial question: where was father Johannes Thalberg heading on the night of the storm? Each of the sisters knows a piece of the truth. And each has something to hide.

Monika Peetz, born in 1963, has lived as a screenwriter in Germany and the Netherlands since 1998. The novels in her bestselling series "Die Dienstagsfrauen" have sold over a million copies in German-speaking countries alone. Her books are published in 26 countries and are also bestsellers abroad.

Admission costs 10 euros in advance and 12 euros at the box office.

Arno Frank: "Sailor from the Seven"

On Saturday, September 2, at 7:30 p.m., Arno Frank's latest novel "Seemann vom Siebener" will guide us through the shoals of a summer's day.

The plot: sweltering heat, an outdoor pool and, in the middle of it all, six people whose lives intertwine for one fateful moment. Arno Frank's second novel tells of the desire to break out and the longing to arrive, of the hidden consequences of one's own decisions and of those places that remain unforgotten. A book as luminous as the last day of summer.

Arno Frank, born in 1971, is a publicist and works as a freelance journalist, primarily for Der Spiegel, taz and Deutschlandfunk. He lives with his family in Wiesbaden and writes in a hut in the Palatinate Forest. He most recently published the novel "So, und jetzt kommst du" (2017).
Tickets cost 10 euros in advance and 12 euros at the box office.

"Treasure Island" - live radio play based on Robert Louis Stevenson

Long awaited by many, the "Theater ex libris" will be coming to Salzgitter on the first Sunday of the Literature Festival, September 3, at 5 p.m., with another literary classic from its repertoire. This time, the popular ensemble of actors, speakers and musicians led by Christoph Tiemann will present the pirate story par excellence in their live radio play accompanied by music and image projections: "Treasure Island" based on Robert Louis Stevenson.

As early as 1881, Stevenson invented what is still fascinating about pirate stories today - an enigmatic treasure map, a mysterious island, chests full of gold doubloons and a flag with crossed bones.
Treasure Island is one of the most frequently adapted stories in world literature - but "Theater ex libris" stays very close to the original with its live radio play:

The plot: The coast of Somerset, England 1751. A stranger with a scar appears at the Hawkins family's small inn and everyone calls him "the Captain". What is hidden in the big old sea chest he has brought with him? And what is the captain, who stands on the cliffs every day looking out for, afraid of? When young Jim Hawkins discovers the secret, the greatest adventure of his life begins ...

For children aged 10 and over; duration approx. 2.5 hours including interval
Tickets cost 12 euros in advance and 14 euros at the box office.

The second weekend of the literature festival should be anything but boring. Together with her band, author, cabaret artist and illustrator Sybille Hein will take to the stage, followed by the versatile and popular actress Suzanne von Borsody - also accompanied by music - on the final evening of the "Literature Festival".

Sybille Hein: "Your lives - live them all!"

"Your lives - live them all!" is the motto of Hein's novel reading with funky folk music on Saturday, September 9, at 7:30 p.m., in keeping with the eponymous title of her novel published last year.

About the book: Who else started the rumor that in the middle of life you have also reached the middle of yourself? Ellen is always coming up with better prescriptions for her patients' abysses, but her own become quicksand beneath her feet. Freddy wonders whether the size of her body is the only visible variable in her life. Luise messes up her picture-book family. Johanna jumps.

In her novel, Sybille Hein tells the story of growing older with a great deal of humor and empathy. She sends four very different women on this journey of adventure and also gives an insight into her own hand luggage. Of course there is singing, dancing and jokes. Also involved: three rousing musicians behind their perfectly tuned instruments (Robert Gromotka on double bass, Falk Effenberger on piano and Rafat Muhammad on drums).

Admission costs 12 euros in advance and 14 euros at the box office.

Suzanne von Borsody reads Heinrich Heine

On Sunday, September 10, at 6 p.m., actress Suzanne von Borsody will dedicate herself to the work of Heinrich Heine.
Driven by the spirit of freedom, Heinrich Heine decided to turn his back on his native Germany and emigrate to Paris in 1831. But throughout his life, the poet also saw himself as a mediator between the two unequal neighbors.

With her unmistakable voice, the great actress Suzanne von Borsody takes her listeners on a poetic journey to a somewhat different Heine - the last Romantic of German literature - in this musical reading. Included are such pithy quotes from the poet as: "The sensual rat's nest, it only wants to eat and drink. It does not think, while it drinks and eats, that our soul is immortal." Von Borsody will be accompanied musically by Kurt Holzkämper on double bass and Chris Geisler on piano, who will present classical works by Schumann, Beethoven and Mozart in a completely new, jazzy guise.

This reading is a cooperative event between the Literaturbüro and "Kultur vom Amt", both of which are part of the City of Salzgitter's Department of Culture.

Admission costs 18 euros in advance and 24 euros at the box office.
Tickets for this event are also available in advance from the online ticket portal Reservix www.reservix.de (opens in a new tab).