Alternating Current

"The boundary was just a widened vein that you could step over. / Like a rubber band, like a playing field for hopscotch or dodge ball." (Lidija Dimkovska, Slovenia | Macedonia)

In its project Alternating Current, the Literatur Forum Südwest presented six young female writers from Central and Eastern Europe, all of whom have "stepped over" boundaries - geographic, literary, cultural, and even gender-specific boundaries. The social and political upheaval in the countries of this region strongly influenced the lives and works of all the writers in the project. Today they represent a powerfully dynamic and expressive literary movement unlike any other in Europe which resulted from a period of societal transformation after 1991.

The project featured well-known female writers, such as Dorota Masłowska from Poland or Petra Hůlová from the Czech Republic, both of whom enjoy a large following in their countries and whose works are already well-known in the German-speaking world. Several new literary voices were also included in the group, such as the Belarus poet Valzhyna Mort, the Macedonian poet Lidija Dimkovska, and the prose writers Tanja Maljartschuk from Ukraine and Noémi Kiss from Hungary.

From 20 to 27 October 2007, the participating writers presented their newest literary works in Freiburg, Basel, Vienna, Leipzig, Göttingen and Berlin. Following the readings, they were discussing cultural and political issues, the conditions of literary production for women and the thematic focuses of young contemporary literature in their countries. In addition to their own works, each writer presented another female writer from their country - a "literary mother" of sorts who has either strongly influenced their own writing or their country's literary production on the whole.

Artistic directors: Stefanie Stegmann, Kateryna Stetsevych, Katarina Tojic
Participating artists: Dorota Maslowska (PL), Tanja Maljartschuk (UA), Valzyna Mort (BY), Petra Hùlová (CZ), Noémi Kiss (H), Lidija Dimkovska (SLO|MK).

Venues and schedule: 20 - 27 October 2007

Literaturhaus Freiburg (20 -21 Oct.), Literaturhaus Basel (22 Oct.), Literaturhaus Wien (24 Oct.), Haus des Buches Leipzig (25 Oct.), Literarisches Zentrum Göttingen (26 Oct.),Volksbühne Berlin in cooperation with Literarisches Colloquium Berlin (27 Oct.);