The first day of Literary Talks will continue with the main event at 8 p.m. in the Great Hall, called "Histories of War and Peace: seven personal stories".
The war in Ukraine has brought the question of war and peace very explicitly into the agenda of the whole of Europe. The tracking of any war in the world, the genesis of war in general and the awareness that peace requires constant effort, often lies in the register of the abstract or the dominantly expert analysis. Personal stories, however, paint a clear picture and bring us closer to learning what it is exactly that people experience during war and why it is important to make a greater effort for peace. These can be stories from the perspective of a journalist, a war reporter, a literary theorist and poet, a volunteer, but also the first-person stories of people escaping war. These seven stories will not be stories of heroism. They will bring forward the perspective and responsibility of the witness who seeks or still lives in peace.