Poetica

Poetica, an international festival for world literature, has been transforming Cologne into a stage for poetic exchange and intellectual encounters every year since 2015. Organized by the University of Cologne in cooperation with the German Academy for Language and Poetry and other cultural institutions in the city, the festival is dedicated to poetry as an often overlooked literary genre. Each year, an outstanding voice from the literary scene curates the program and invites up to ten internationally renowned poets to discuss a central theme.

At the heart of Poetica is dialog - be it between female writers and academics or between cultures and different questions of existence. Different formats such as readings, staged interpretations and workshops provide space for a variety of approaches to the texts. Events such as discussions at the university or productions at Schauspiel Köln create a unique combination of poetry and urban lifestyle. All works are presented in the original language and in German translation, which does justice to the linguistic diversity of world literature. An accompanying publication documents key texts and essays and invites readers to engage with them in greater depth.