Event as part of the 31st Schwerin Literature Days
THE GAPS – Reading with Shida Bazyar
A novel about the foundations of our homeland.
Heimesbach in the Hunsrück is a fictional town where ninety years of German history have become ingrained in its walls and the lives of its people. It is a community that actively conceals its past while simultaneously becoming a refuge for those seeking safety here. The novel takes us through the years and into the minds of those who shaped the village: from Jewish families who lost everything, to Nazi profiteers who reinvented themselves as innocent bystanders, to the Sharifi and Karimpour families, who fled Iran decades later. Shida Bazyar weaves a masterful narrative mosaic about the burden of history, the lie of a fresh start, and the desire to finally find a home.
Shida Bazyar, born in Hermeskeil in 1988, studied creative writing in Hildesheim and worked in youth education for many years. Her debut novel *It’s Quiet at Night in Tehran* (2016) has been translated into several languages and has received numerous awards, including the Ulla Hahn Author Prize, the Uwe Johnson Prize for Emerging Writers, and a nomination for the International Booker Prize. “Drei Kameradinnen” followed in 2021 and was longlisted for the German Book Prize. In 2023, her work was honored with the Ernst Toller Prize.
Moderator: Ulrika Rinke, Program Director, Literaturhaus Rostock
Thursday, October 22, 2026, at
7:30 p.m.
Kulturforum Schleswig-Holstein-Haus, Puschkinstraße 12
Admission
Box office: 10.00 € / Advance sales: 7.00 € (plus ticket fee)
Click here for TICKETS
Organizers
Heinrich Böll Foundation MV and Cultural Office of the State Capital Schwerin
