Reading & Discussion as part of LiteraTOUR Nord | Moderator: Dr. Stephan Lesker (University of Rostock)
Longlist for the 2026 German Book Prize
Lviv, 1941. Sixteen-year-old Nelka is rounded up by soldiers and deported westward along with numerous other girls and women. On a northern German estate, they are forced to perform hard labor. Nelka’s father had taught her about fruit growing at an early age, and even as a child she had helped him graft apple trees. Thanks to this knowledge, she is initially able to fend off the estate manager’s advances. She plans the apple orchards for him, and after the war, the orchards bring him a fortune. Decades later, Nelka returns to the place of her suffering. She wants Marten to remember what she herself must finally free herself from.
Svenja Leiber, born in Hamburg in 1975, grew up in northern Germany and spent some time in Saudi Arabia as a child. She studied philosophy, literature, history, and art history, making her debut in 2005 with the short story collection *Büchsenlicht*, followed in 2010 by the novel *Schipino*. Suhrkamp Verlag published *Das letzte Land* in 2014, *Staub* in 2018, and *Kazimira* in 2021. Svenja Leiber lives and works in Berlin and Schleswig-Holstein.
Advance ticketsplus a 10 €fee at the press center and at mvticket.de
Admission: 12 € / 10 € (reduced)*
*Discount for members of Literaturhaus Rostock e.V.
Students at the box office: 5 € (Registration: reservierung (at) literaturhaus-rostock(dot)de)
Students at the University of Rostock and the HMT Rostock receive free admission. Please register in advance at: reservierung@literaturhaus-rostock.de
Location: andere buchhandlung, Wismarsche Str. 6/7, 18057 Rostock
In cooperation with “andere buchhandlung” and the University of Rostock.