Freiheit der Literatur (The freedom of literature)

Reading, discussion, and flute music, in cooperation with the German Colloquium of Osnabrück University, featuring

Liao Yiwu

Exiled Chinese writer, Berlin

Karin Betz

Literary translator and cultural mediator, Frankfurt am Main

Herbert Wiesner

Literary critic, former Secretary General of the German PEN Centre, Berlin

Facilitator
Professor. Dr. Christoph König, Osnabrück University

Liao Yiwu, born in Sichuan Province in 1958, is an exiled writer living in Berlin. He fled China via Vietnam in 2012, and was awarded the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade for his novel entitled Die Wiedergeburt der Ameisen in the same year. The reading revolves around this novel, which has only been published in German – the Chinese manuscript was smuggled out of prison bit by bit. In the book, the writer’s own family history is interwoven with the history of China. While atrocities are never overlooked, the atmosphere of the book is defined by courage, composure, and clarity. The freedom of literature prevails.
Liao Yiwu presented short passages from the original manuscript, then sinologist and translator Karin Betz (Frankfurt am Main) read from the novel. In the following panel discussion, Herbert Wiesner (Berlin), former Secretary General of the German PEN Centre, analyzed censorship and the persecution of writers in China. Christoph König (Osnabrück University) moderated the evening which, with Liao Yiwu’s flute recital, became a small work of art in itself.

June 27, 2018, University Auditorium, Neuer Graben 29 / Schloss