Event as part of the 30th Schwerin Literature Days
DIE AUSWEICHSCHULE - Reading with Kaleb Erdmann
On the last day of the Abitur exams in 2002, shots are fired at the Gutenberg-Gymnasium in Erfurt. The narrator experienced this day as an eleven-year-old, was evacuated with his classmates and, in the weeks that followed, registered the helplessness of the adults in the face of this act. More than twenty years later, the event unexpectedly breaks into his life again and triggers an obsessive preoccupation with the subject, which is to result in a novel project. But why reopen old wounds after so many years? Does he have the right to do so? What about his memories, which stories did he tell so often that they became true?
Kaleb Erdmann's novel is a skillful play with perspectives, a piece of autofiction that is as critical of the audience (how voyeuristic is our interest in coming to terms with acts of violence?) as it is autocritical (what gives me the right to write about this day?). A trenchant, personal, harrowing text about a phenomenon that concerns us worldwide.
Kaleb Erdmann, born in 1991, studied literary writing, sociology and political theory. He was an open mike finalist and author and editor of various television and entertainment formats. His novel "Wir sind Pioniere" was awarded the LitCologne debut prize. Most recently, he wrote the play "Always Carrey On" for the Berliner Ensemble. Kaleb Erdmann lives and works in Düsseldorf.
Moderator: Carlo Ihde, journalist
Tuesday
21. October 2025
7:30 pm
Kulturforum Schleswig-Holstein-Haus, Puschkinstraße 12
Admission
Box office: €14.00 / advance booking: €12.00* (plus fee if applicable)
Organizer
Kulturbüro der State capital Schwerin
