Breyger’s most recent book of poems, Peace without War (kookbooks 2023) is nearly Celanian in its revolution around a single date, but it does not merely mark the date in which the Russian aggression towards Ukraine escalated. Responding to this escalation, Breyger composes a diary in verse, a “kriegsbuch” (“war book”), drawing attention to violence’s more indirect traces, such as a phone number parents write on a fleeing child’s back.

In her often-autobiographical poems, Madara Gruntmane gathers individual voices in scenes of violence both latent and present. Threats are perceived: the dark walk home, a staring neighbor, the drunken acquaintance. Gruntmane’s poetry probes traumatic experiences and their direct physical consequences: “My skin is evil to me.”

Reading & Talk with Yevgeniy Breyger and Madara Gruntmane in conversation with Sonja Hartl.

The event will be interpreted English-German.

With kind support by ECHOO Konferenzdolmetschen

Project management: Timo Berger | Matthias Kniep