Festival of the Arts

Literature as a link between generations

Photographer Ernst Peter Prokop, Edith Bernhofer (Musilinstitut Klagenfurt), Ulrich Hagg, association member Manuela Rader and Deputy Mayor Silvia Radaelli. (from left)(Bild: Stadt St. Veit)

The Neue Literaturtage St. Veit (15th to 17th November) offers a varied program for literature fans with a penchant for the visual arts and music. Young bookworms and teenagers will also get their money's worth. 

"A proper writer has nothing to say - he has something to write," said Nobel Prize winner Peter Handke. He was also a guest of the St. Veit Literature Days, which began in the 1950s and ended in 2022. Now this festival of literature is celebrating its comeback with a new team. Under the motto "Viewed from the edge", there will be three days of reading, music and listening in St. Veit Town Hall. "Seven international authors will be presenting their latest works in the atmospheric setting of the town hall courtyard," says organizer Ulrich Hagg.

Ulrich Hagg, organizer of the New Literature Days St. Veit.(Bild: Stadt st. Veit)

Ernst Peter Prokop with his photograph showing the authors Jonke and Handke in St. Veit in 1968.(Bild: Christian Krall)

Literature, visual arts and music 
The series of readings will be opened on Friday by Robert Schindel, who was awarded the Austrian Art Prize for Literature this year, and the Ukrainian writer Yevgenia Belorusets. A clarinet ensemble will accompany the evening with music: "It was important to us not only to present literature, but also to add music to the performances," says Hagg, explaining the overall concept of the festival: "A dialog between literature, visual arts and music." On Saturday, the two Bachmann Prize winners Birgit Birnbacher and Tamara Stajner will read from their works. "They accepted immediately - it's like coming home for both of them, but without the competition aspect," says Hagg.

A stage set for writers
The weekend, which has the character of a symposium, is framed by an exhibition by photographer Ernst Peter Prokop, who documented the "St. Veit Literature Days" photographically for years: "We have concentrated on the year 1968 in the context of this exhibition". The Carinthian artist Elisabeth Wedenig completes the stage set for the readings with three large-format pictures. 

PROGRAMME

Friday, November 15: 19:15: Robert Schindel reads from "Flussgang" 20:00: Belorusets reads from "Über das moderne Leben der Tiere" Music: Clarinet ensemble of the Norbert Artner Music School

Saturday, November 16: 16:00: Heinz Janisch reads from recent works / family reading Music: Corina Kuhs 19:15: Birgit Birnbacher reads from "Wovon wir leben" 20:00: Tamara Stajner reads new prose. Music: Jovica Ivanović

Sunday, November 17: 11:00 a.m.: Spoken word performance of short texts and slam poetry 12:30 p.m.: Presentation of the three short texts of the Young Writers Award.

Family reading and award-winning young people 
The literature festival also wants to get younger generations reading and writing. As part of the AI Symposium, pupils were asked to create texts with the help of artificial intelligence. The three winners of the "Young Writers Award" will present their texts in the town hall. "I am particularly pleased that we were able to win Heinz Janisch for our family reading," says Edith Bernhofer from the Robert Musil Institute enthusiastically. Janisch was awarded the Christine Nöstlinger Prize and the Hans Christian Andersen Award this year. A weekend not just for elite literary figures, but rather a festival of the arts that everyone can enjoy.