Sunday, 19th August, 12:00
Minorites monastery, cloister, small minorities hall
Literature event: writers as friendly aliens in Graz – city of asylum
A little Alien is a literature event of a different kind. An encounter between writers that are strangers in Graz, who have found refuge in Graz or that write about their search for a home. It is an attempt to describe arrival with words.
Upon arriving in a new country one is always a little alien – especially if the language is unknown. But being a stranger means that one is able to pay more attention to the little differences and similarities of a nation. Strangers decode traditional gestures, action patterns and language peculiarities more easily than locals.
In medieval times the town chroniclers took protocols and had therefore the opportunity to discover the character of their towns. Every year Graz invites international writers to spend a year above the rooftops of the city to get to know Graz and its people and write about them. Observing a foreign place but finding something familiar every now and again reflects in their literature. Graz is not only host to town chroniclers but also harbour for “Writers in Exile”. Since 1995 Graz carries the title “City of Asylum” and has offered shelter to one writer from political or religious persecution for five consecutive years.
In cooperation with the Afro-Asian Institute Graz and the International Writers House Graz.
Free entry!