Im Gespräch mit Judith Schalansky: Marmor, Quecksilber, Nebel

In the organizer's words:

It begins not with a white sheet, but with a white block, an almost 17-ton monster of solid marble. Even months after the fateful encounter on a ferry off the island of Thassos, the stone will not let go of Judith Schalansky and leads her on a snow-white trail into the marble quarries and sculpture studios, through the dark, often violent history of material extraction and world appropriation. A workshop at the Guadalajara School of Art, on the other hand, turns into a bold, mercurial performance as an apologist for book culture. And the reconstruction of a long-ago ascent of the mostly fog-shrouded Brocken is condensed into an encyclopaedia of opacity that seeks enlightenment in the unknown.

As always with Judith Schalansky, her new book is about everything: the nutritional value of marble pigs, the weight of the earth, the occupancy plan of Noah's Ark, the truthfulness of Mexican wrestling or the Brocken ghost - phenomena in which the contradictory reality is reflected and multiplied. Her three winding, always surprising texts, sometimes essay, sometimes narrative, explore the material conditions of life and not least of her own writing with playful precision."

Admission only after prior registration until May 12, 2026 via Msil to im.gespraech@rsgv.de with subject "Judith Schalansky"

Moderation: Emily Grunert (Literaturbüro NRW) / Dorothée Coßmann (Sparkassen-Kulturstiftung Rheinland)

An event organized by the Literaturbüro NRW in cooperation with the Sparkassen-Kulturstiftung Rheinland and the Heine Haus Literaturhaus Düsseldorf.

Price information:

Admission only after prior registration until May 12, 2026 via im.gespraech@rsgv.de With subject "Judith Schalansky"