Since its foundation in 1991, the Haus für Poesie, formerly the Literaturwerkstatt Berlin, has been promoting and supporting all areas of literature, but especially poetry, both as the written word and in conjunction with other art forms and media. Its work has focused exclusively on poetry since 2000. It is the venue where contemporary poetry in all its diversity of forms is showcased and discussed.
On its 25th anniversary in 2016 the Literaturwerkstatt Berlin changed its name to the Haus für Poesie.
The Haus für Poesie brings poets to Germany from all over the world and endeavours to promote German authors abroad. Its production commissions provide incentives for innovation and experiment. The Haus für Poesie opens up dialogue with the audience, promoting access to poetry and understanding of poetry and its forms among the public.
One the main concerns of the Haus für Poesie is to nurture and encourage the next generation of writers and to get children and young people excited about poetry.
The Haus für Poesie has built up formats and structures which are unique for the art of poetry in Germany and in some cases unique in the world.
With the web portal www.lyrikline.org, which has been awarded the Grimme Online Prize, the Haus für Poesie runs the world’s biggest online portal for contemporary poetry. Poems can be listened to in their original languages, with translations which can be read alongside. Lyrikline takes poetry from our country out into the world and makes poetry from around the world known in the German language area. The platform is made possible by a network of partner institutions in more than 50 countries.
The open mike competition for young, German-speaking writers of prose and poetry has been in existence since 1993 and takes place in Berlin It is the best-known competition for new talent in the German-language area, and its prizewinners often go on to be part of the Who’s Who of German-language literature.
New poetic talent is nurtured in the open poems poetry workshop.
The poesiefestival berlin is the largest of its kind in Europe and year by year brings some 150 well-known poets and artists to Berlin from all over the world to be part of the 10-day international celebration and discussion of poetry.
The VERSschmuggel / reVERSible translation workshops in which pairs of poets from two different languages translate each other ensure that German poetry gets the very best translations and poetry from other languages is translated into German.
The ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival brings together poetry films from around the world every two years and is the only festival of its kind internationally. It a platform for creative exchange, for working out ideas and an encounter with a wide public. Besides a competition, it presents the variety of the Poerty Film’s genre in different sections, such as film programmes, readings, retrospectives, exhibitions, performances, workshops, colloquiums, talks and a programme which is specifically aimed at children.
The in-house programme of events of the Haus für Poesie in its event room in the Culture Brewery provides continuity throughout the year for the ongoing interaction with poetry with book launches, discussions and poetry from around the world.
The Poetic education and participation programme
Political Frameworks provide important content and discourses for the promotion of cultural education programs, which have an impact on all offers of the Haus für Poesie: diversity, transculturality and participation (change of perspective, „with“ instead of „for“ children, adolescents and adults, diversity competence, cultural education linked to democracy building, anti-anti-Semitism education, interreligious and intercultural education and European education), process orientation and digitization (artistic-experimental, open-ended, personality-building, creative stubbornness).
The Cultural Education at the Haus für Poesie initially has 13 target groups: children and adolescents, families, mediators (teachers, educators, parents), professional poets, nonprofessional poets, translators, self-organized poetry collectives, groups, clubs, publishers, researchers, interested laymen, interested public Social institutions (schools, universities, museums, theaters), political institutions and bodies (ministries, foundations, associations).
Head of Poetical Education and Participation: Karla Montasser
Poet and author of nonfiction books. Comparatist and literary scholar. hza certified trainer and trainer in adult education and communication trainer. Freelance consultant for Deutsche Telekom, Deutsche Bahn. Co-founder of the KOOK label, board member of KOOK e.V .. Co-founder and board member of the Netzwerk Lyrik e.V. Organizer of reading series and project manager of cultural processes for institutions. Co-operator of the institution Schreibwerkstatt & Literaturlabor. Expert in interreligious and intercultural dialogue.
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