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 34 years more than 1’200 writers have appeared in Solothurn to give readings or to take part in discussions etc.  In total 864 Swiss authors (616 German-, 164 French-, 56 Italian- and 28 Rhaetian speaking) as well as 386 from foreign countries – included the Nobel prize Winners John M. Coetzee, Günter Grass, Imre Kertész, Herta Müller, Claude Simon and Wole Soyinka.

In the interational program have appeared for example Nigerian authors (Zaynab Alkali, Flora Nwapa and Gracy Osifo, Helon Habila), Ukrainian authors (Andrej Kurkow, Oksana Sabushko, Oleksa Lohwynenk, Serhij Shadan), Jordanian authors (Iljas Farkuch, Samiha Chrais, Ibrahim Nasrallah), Lebanese authors (Hassan Dawud, Iman Humaida Junis, Mohammad Abi Samra, Alexandra Schraitach), Spoken-word-authors from Africa and India (Chirikure Chirikure, Lebogang Mashile, Meena Kandasamy); GB: Lisa Appignansesi, Antonia S. Byatt, Regi Clair, Jenny Diski, Lavinia Greenlaw, Michael Hamburger, Liselotte Marshal, Fay Weldon; USA: Joel Agee, Michael Cunningham, Carl Djerassi, Lydia Davis, Nathan Englander, Ruth Klüger, Dinaw Mengestu.
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.

2012 the Literary Days were visited  by 13'000 fans of literature.
Recording of the readings 2012: http://www.literatur.ch/Freitag.628.0.html?&L=0

English-books, published by Solothurner Literaturtage (texts from Swiss-authors translatet in Englisch), can be orderet by info(at)literatur.ch:

New Swiss Writing 2008 (45 texts, translated by Ann Cotten, Alison Gallup, Lise Weil, Paul Knight, Donal McLaughlin, Rafaël Newman). 128 p. IBSN 978-3-9523242-1-9

New Swiss Writing 2009 (40 texts in original and english: 27 germ., 7 french., 5 ital., 1 rumantsch), translated by Donal McLaughlin, Andrew Shields, Paul Knight. 172 p. ISBN 978-3-9523242-3-3

New Swiss Writing 2010 (38 texts in original and english: 27 germ., 7 french, 3 ital., 1 rumantsch, translated by von Donal McLaughlin, Paul Knight, Andrew Reynolds, Andrew Shields, John Taylor; 168 p. ISBN 978-3-9523242-5-7

New Swiss Writing 2011 (39 texts in original and english: 24 germ., 6 french, 4 ital., 2 rrumantsch, 1 walserdeutsch, 2 english, translated by von  Donal McLaughlin, Simon Knight, Andrew Shields; engl.>germ: Ulrich Blumenbach. 168 p. ISBN 978-3-9523242-6-4

29.4.2013

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.