Readings & Discussions on This Year's Theme, "Literary Obsessions"
In formal language, an obsession is a passion or fixation on a specific topic pursued with an obsessive intensity. In a psychological sense, obsessions are compulsive thoughts—that is, thoughts, compulsive ideas, or even feelings—that repeatedly haunt a person against their will and are often perceived as frightening. The origin of the German term can be traced back to the Latin word *obsessio* (blockade). Exploring “literary” obsessions can therefore be very fascinating.
A “predestined life’s work” weighed upon him—Walter Kempowski notes this sentence in his diary, adding that there were no “ifs or buts.” With these confessional-sounding words, he refers to the immense claim that has always fundamentally defined his self-image as a writer—namely, the claim to bear, through a body of work composed of novels, diaries, and monumental historical text collages to bear the historical guilt of the Germans during National Socialism. (Kai Sina)
An academic conference at the Institute of German Studies will engage in a discursive examination of this topic in July 2026. As professional and public “sidekicks”—and drawing on and referencing Walter Kempowski’s literary aspirations—we invite authors who each “live out” a literary obsession in the Kempowski sense: archives, research, and life themes.
PROGRAM
Wed | July 15, 2026 | 7:00 p.m.
Reading
Insa Wilke | Maria Schrader
Are you comfortable?
On Reading and Books—An Evening for Roger Willemsen
Moderator: Dr. Stephan Lesker
Auditorium of the University of Rostock
Roger Willemsen and books—it was a passionate love affair, exuberant and intense. Hardly anyone today speaks about reading in such a humorous, open, and at the same time deeply serious way as he did, whether he was criticizing or raving, paying homage or scrutinizing. With a wisdom second to none, Willemsen profiles great authors, tells tales of fairy tales, and analyzes the obscene in an essay of great contemporary relevance. He sets forth “10 Rules for Readers,” offers more than seventy very specific book recommendations, and, after enduring countless nights at book fairs, pokes fun at the literary establishment. Sparkling with wit and wit, he subjects literary studies to a fundamental critique and articulates what needs to be said on the topic of “Literature and Human Rights.”
Thu | July 16, 2026 | 7:00 p.m.
Reading and Discussion
Jochen Schmidt
Hoplopoiia
Moderator: Dr. Katrin Möller-Funck
Council Room at the University of Rostock
Richard Sparka is the urban neurotic of the 21st century! In “Hoplopoiia,” Jochen Schmidt paints a pointed portrait of society that reveals the overwhelming demands and isolation faced by people in our fast-paced present, all while repeatedly turning his mercilessly comic gaze toward his hapless hero, Sparka.
As everything changes far too quickly, Richard Sparka can only watch events unfold with a mixture of astonishment and resignation. His relationship with Klara is over; the children are growing up, and his parents are getting old. Even life in the city where he was born—and which has always been his home—seems increasingly impossible to him. The newspaper stand at his favorite late-night store has had to make way for a shelf of potato chips—nothing short of a catastrophe for Richard. And the trendy new ice cream shop around the corner will change his neighborhood until rents become unaffordable; Richard is convinced of it. How do others manage to keep their heads above water in the face of these drastic changes? Richard sets out to search for clues in his childhood in the GDR. Does his inability to cope with life have anything to do with growing up under a dictatorship? Would his outlook on the future be more optimistic if he’d seized the chance back then to become a mathematician? “Hoplopoiia” is a clever, profound, and hilarious reflection on the world by a masterful skeptic who is far from giving up on his search for the right life.
Fri | July 17, 2026 | 7:00 p.m.
Reading and Discussion
Helene Bukowski
Who wouldn’t want to stay alive?
Moderator: Dr. Steffi Brüning
Auditorium of the University of Rostock
A rebellion against loneliness: In 1985, a young pianist in Neubrandenburg took her own life. Decades later, the writer Helene Bukowski stumbled upon her story. She gently approaches Christina’s story, searching her biography for cracks and upheavals, but also for moments of great happiness. She meets a father who wants to realize his own dreams through his daughter, a mother who loves to take photographs, and a piano that stands immovably in the apartment. Bukowski follows Christina to Berlin, to the special music school with its cold practice rooms and daily drills. Later, to Moscow, to study at the conservatory, through torrential rain and nights full of snow. And she discovers an illness for which a diagnosis has only recently been established.
OUR PARTNERS
Ministry of Science, Culture, Federal, and European Affairs of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Hanseatic and University City of Rostock
University of Rostock
State Agency for Political Education of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Documentation and Memorial Site of the Former Stasi Pretrial Detention Center in Rostock
Rostock House of Literature
andere buchhandlung
