xPrevious Articles

News from Berlin

The Literature that Emerges from Bitterness

October 17th, 2014
20141016_The Literature that Emerges from Bitterness.jpg

News from Berlin - Violence has long been a source of inspiration for literature. Cruelty and fear often have threatened the protagonists of novels and poetry. The Ibero-American Institute (Ibero-Amerikanisches Institut), whereby literature reflects on the reality of Ibero-America will host an event on October, 21st in the Simon-Bolívar hall, which will operate as a refuge for letters and stories from the other side of the Atlantic.

On this occasion, Guatemala, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico and Spain will be the leading countries of the evening. There will also be a discussion on literature between the theatre and literary critic Dr Florian Borchmeyer; the linguistic Professor from Humboldt-Universität Dieter Ingenschay; and the journalist Peter B. Schumann.

A range of novels and historic prints were chosen for analysis; Herejes by the Cuban writer Leonardo Padura, a novel on a picture by Rembrandt, El Sonido de las Cosas al Caer (The Sound of Things Falling) by Juan Gabriel Vásquez - a story on violence in Colombia, El Rey, El Sol, La Muerte (The Kind, The Sun and Death) by the Mexican Writer Yuri Herrera, En la Orilla (On the Shore) by the Spanish writer Rafael Chirbes and lastly El Boxeador Polaco (The Polish Boxer) by the Guatemalan writer Eduardo Halfon.

All this literature is proof that violence cannot eclipse talent or the will to bring beauty to the world.

News from Berlin – Berlin Global