Solothurn Literary Days
Solothurner Literaturtage
Journées Littéraires de Soleure
Giornate Letterarie di Soletta
Sentupada Litterara a Soloturn

Every year after Ascension Thursday  from Friday until Sunday, the City of Solothurn turns into the Swiss literary Capital. Since 1979 authors from the four Swiss language regions as well as from foreign countries come together to present their latest texts to an interested audience gathering from near and far.

In the course of the last 31 years  thousend writers have appeared in Solothurn to give readings  or to take part in discussions etc.  In total 768 Swiss authors (549 German-, 143 French-, 46 Italian- and 30 Rhaetian speaking) as well as 296 from foreign countries, amongst others six Nobel prize Winners, namely John M. Coetzee, Günter Grass, Imre Kertész, Herta Müller, Claude Simon and Wole Soyinka.

In the interational program have appeared for example in the year 1989 three Nigerian authors (Zaynab Alkali, Flora Nwapa and Gracy Osifo), in the year 1992 Lisa Appignansesi and Fay Weldon, GB, Joel Agee, USA, 1993 Jenny Diski, GB,  1998 Michael Hamburger and Liselotte Marshal, GB, 2000 Lavinia Greenlaw, GB,  2001 Ukrainian authors (Andrej Kurkow, Oksana Sabushko, Oleksa Lohwynenk and Serhij Shadan), 2006 Jordanian authors (Iljas Farkuch, Samiha Chrais, Ibrahim Nasrallah), in the year 2007 Lebanese authors (Hassan Dawud, Iman Humaida Junis, Mohammad Abi Samra) and 2009 some Israelian authors Gabriela Avigur-Rotem, Sayed Kashua and Eshkol Nevo.
List of authors from abroad cf. http://www.literatur.ch/?id=178

During the festival there is a great variety of contemporary  literature: readings, discussions, workshops, musical-literary performances, exhibitions and other presentations. Not to  mention the efforts made to attract children and young people who have the opportunity to get to know popular authors  writing for the younger generation. But don't get a fright if you feel there is too much going on, there will always be time for coffee and a chat.
 
Moreover everyone has possibility to send in a self-written  text in one of the four Swiss national languages fort he OpenNet-Competition.

The 33rd Solothurner Literary Days will take place from 3rd to 5th of June 2011.

The printed programme with the exact description comes out four weeks before the event starts. The same details can also be retrieved on www.literatur.ch.

At the same time will be published the reader New Swiss Writing which contains about 40 texts in original language and in English translation.