Embassy Literature & Lecture Series
Embassy Literature & Lecture Series
U.S. Embassy continues its Literature and Lecture Series
The U.S. Embassy Literature & Lecture Series features a number of cultural and literary events with renowned speakers, critically acclaimed writers and new talent. The Embassy Literature and Lecture Series, which was established in 2008 to celebrate the return of the U.S. Embassy to Pariser Platz, is continued with the following programs in 2009:
The Lincoln Bi-Centennial Celebration
John Stauffer, Harvard University, has lectured on “Symbols of Democracy in the United States: Stories of Race and Friendship” in Berlin on January 16, 2009 (more)
Ronald C. White, Jr., the author of A. Lincoln: A Biography, published by Random House, lectured in Berlin and other German cities in April 2009.
Readings and Discussions:
Junot Diaz read from his award winning novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao in Berlin on March 12, 2009 and in other German cities (more) Other events include Richard Powers, Carl Djerassi, Tony Horwitz, and Geraldine Brooks.
Upcoming Events
Please check out our complete list of announcements
Past Events
2008 series
U.S. Presidential Election 2008 - Berlin-Brandenburg School Project
A joint program of LISUM and the U.S. Embassy
In November 2008, the United States of America will elect a new President. During their party conventions in August and September, the Democratic and Republican party will decide on their respective candidate. Audiences at home and abroad have been following the decision making process with great interest. Leading up to the Presidential Election 2008, the U.S. Embassy in cooperation with LISUM would like to invite Berlin and Brandenburg schools to participate in a school program involving a teacher training seminar and a two-week school project. Program Information
The U.S. Embassy Literature Series
The U.S. Embassy, the Federal State Representation of Hesse, the U.S. Consulate General Frankfurt, and Bayam Consulting on the occasion of the Frankfurt Book Fair and its Guest of Honor 2008 Turkey cordially invite to a reading and discussion with Maureen Freely and Güneli Gün.
Maureen Freely is a novelist, journalist, translator and academic. She will read from her latest novel, Enlightenment which was published by Marion Boyars in March 2007.
Güneli Gün is a Turkish writer who writes in English. She will read from On the Road to Baghdad, a picaresque novel published by Bagdat Yollarinda in 1987, Hunter House in 1991 and Fischer Verlag in 1992.
Berlin, October 14, 2008, 18:00-19:30
Frankfurt, October 17, 2008, 11:00-12:30
Program Information | Flyer (pdf)
The U.S. Embassy Lecture Series presents:
American Indians Today: A Discussion with Allison Davis-White Eyes
Allison Davis-White Eyes works as Coordinator in the Indian Education Office at Oregon State University. Previously she served as Special Assistant to the President on Native American Affairs, also at University of Oregon. She received a BA in American History in 1983, and an MA in American Indian Studies: History and Law in 1988 from the University of California, Los Angeles. She will complete her doctoral degree in Education in 2008. Program Information
The U.S. Embassy Literature Series presents: Author Annie Proulx reads in Germany
Annie Proulx, one of the most prolific and interesting American authors, read from her stories at the City Library in Frankfurt (May 16), at the German American Institute in Heidelberg as a highlight of the annual conference of the German Association (May 18), and at the renowned Akademie der Künste in Berlin (May 21) to overflow crowds of about 750 fans. Other events included a luncheon meeting with Dr. Boos, director of the world's largest Book fair in Frankfurt together with Frankfurt’s Consul General Powell, a dinner hosted by Minister-Counselor Helena Finn and a "master class" with a select group of students of Humboldt University, the Free University and Potsdam University (May 21). Annie Proulx’s program stressed the vitality and popularity of American literature in Germany and established the Embassy as a strong supporter of cultural programming in its new place in Berlin’s center.
Annie Proulx is often described as a chronicler of American provincial life. She started out as a journalist before publishing her first book "Heart Songs and Other Stories" in 1988. She received all major literary prizes in the U.S. for her novels and short story collections, among them: The PEN/Faulkner Award, 1992, for "Postcards", the National Book Critics Circle Award, National Book Award, Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize, and Irish Times International Fiction Prize, all 1993, and Pulitzer Prize for fiction, 1994, all for "The Shipping News"; the Dos Passos Prize for Literature, 1996, for "Accordion Crimes"; the National Magazine award, 1998, and O. Henry Prize, both for "Brokeback Mountain"; the award for fiction, New Yorker, 2000, for "Close Range: Wyoming Stories"; the Best Foreign Language Novels of 2002/Best American Novel Award, Chinese Publishing Association and Peoples’ Literature Publishing House, 2002, for "That Old Ace in the Hole". Annie Proulx is author of the short story Brokeback Mountain which, in its 2006 film version, received four Golden Globe awards and three Oscars. Program Information (pdf)
Louis Begley, Author
Novelist and retired lawyer Louis Begley is a survivor of the Holocaust, He was born in Poland in 1933 and came to the U.S. in 1946. He attended Harvard University, served in the U.S. Army from 1954-56, and graduated with honors from Harvard Law School in 1959. Louis Begley has received numerous awards for his literary work. Louis Begley will read from Matters of Honor (2007) published in German by Suhrkamp under the title Ehrensachen in 2007. Program Information
Amy Bloom, Author
Amy Bloom is author of two novels, two collections of short stories, and a nominee for both the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. Her stories have appeared in Best American Short Stories, Prize Stories: The O. Henry Awards, and numerous anthologies in the U.S. and abroad. She has written for the New Yorker, the New York Times Magazine, the Atlantic Monthly, Vogue, Slate, and Salon, among many other publications, and has won a National Magazine Award. She lives in Connecticut and teaches at Yale University. Program Information (pdf)
Matt Ruff, Author
Matt Ruff is the author of "Fool on the Hill" (1988), "Sewer, Gas & Electric: The Public Works Trilogy" (1997), "Set This House in Order: A Romance of Souls" (2003). He will read from his new book, "Bad Monkeys," published in German by Carl Hanser Verlag. Program Information (pdf)
John Haskell, Picador-Guest Professor at the University of Leipzig
John Haskell is the author of the short story collection "I Am Not Jackson Pollock" (2003) and the novel "American Purgatorio" (2005). John Haskell will read from his works in Berlin, Hamburg and Karlsruhe. Program Information (pdf)
The U.S. Embassy Election Series presents
Susan Alexander, Minerva Research & Advisory “The 2008 Elections: It’s the Economy, Stupid! – Again? ”
Susan Alexander is founder and Managing Director of Luxembourg-based Minerva, a firm producing proprietary and bespoke research on the financial markets and issues relating to globalization and the knowledge economy. She is a senior expert for the EU on R&D and national innovation systems. A native New Yorker, before moving to Luxembourg she was Vice President and head of fixed income, derivatives and international market research at Oppenheimer & Co. Program Information (pdf)
Dr. Jeremy D. Mayer – George Mason School of Public Policy
"Politics at the Speed of Light: The Effect of New Media on the 2008 Presidential Race"
Jeremy Meyer is Associate Professor at the George Mason School of Public Policy in Arlington, Virginia. He specializes in presidential elections, public opinion, racial politics, and foreign policy and has published widely on American politics. Program Information (pdf)
The Race to the White House: An Analysis of Super Tuesday
William D. Chandler, PhD, University of California, San Diego
William Drozdiak, American Council on Germany, New York
Ralf Beste, Der Spiegel, Berlin
In cooperation with The German Marshall Fund of the United States
Program Information (pdf)
Jerry Hagstrom - The National Journal
“After the First Primaries: Implications for the Campaign and the Candidates.”
Jerry Hagstrom is a prize-winning American journalist, author and commentator. Program Information (pdf)
Black History Month Celebration
Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King. A Celebration of the Architects of Global Movements Towards Peace - with Music and Text
Kevin Maynor, bass, accompanied by pianist Eric Olsen
Kevin Maynor has scored success in over 40 operatic roles in five different languages. He is well-known in concert halls and opera houses around the world. Program Information (pdf)
The Berlin performance is part of the Distinguished W. E. B. Dubois Lecture Series organized by the American Studies Department at Humboldt University.
July 7-10, 2009. The U.S. Embassy Literature Series took Pulitzer Prize-winning authors Geraldine Brooks and Tony Horwitz on a reading tour through Germany. The writing couple discussed the interplay of historical fact and literary fiction in the following places:
