Lutz Seiler: The Ticking Heart - 40th Freiburg Literature Talk: Reading and Conversation with Christoph Schröder

Description

After his Robinsonade "Kruso", which tells of shipwrecked people on Hiddensee during the GDR era, and his novel "Stern 111", capturing the chaos of the post-reunification period, Lutz Seiler continues the story of his hero Carl Bischoff. His new work "The Ticking Heart" (Suhrkamp, 2026) begins with a small, non-healing wound caused by a kiss. A fairy-tale-like, magical yet doubtful love for Aysha, the daughter of a Kazakh shaman, leads Carl at the beginning of the new millennium from Berlin to Amsterdam, Rotterdam, the Curonian Spit, the winter-cold steppe, and an old nuclear test site. There, Aysha's tribe has taken refuge to prepare a sacrifice to save the Earth — while Carl loses himself from the world.
Lutz Seiler, who found his storytelling voice through poetry, remains a linguistically gifted lyricist with an unmistakable voice as a novelist: "melancholic, intense, sincere, full of wonderful echoes from a long literary tradition," as stated in the certificate for the Georg Büchner Prize 2023. This year, he will participate for the fifth time in the Freiburg Literature Talk.
---
Photo: © Jürgen Bauer Supporters: Cultural Office of the City of Freiburg, Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts Baden-Württemberg, Sparkasse Freiburg-Nördlicher Breisgau, Guzzoni-Federer Foundation, Deutsche Pfandbriefbank
Cooperation partners: Theater im Marienbad, Bookstore jos fritz
Cultural partner: SWR Culture Date: 5.11.2026, 8:00 PM
Location: Historic Kaufhaus, Münsterplatz 24
Admission: 11/7 euros / Combo ticket (including reading with Nadja Küchenmeister): 20/10 euros Literature Talk
Off-site

Highlights

• Reading and conversation with Lutz Seiler and Christoph Schröder
• Presentation of the new novel "The Ticking Heart"
• Part of the 40th Freiburg Literature Talk

General Information

On November 5, 2026, a reading with Lutz Seiler will take place at the Historic Kaufhaus in Freiburg im Breisgau. The author will present his new work and discuss his literary development and themes with Christoph Schröder.

Location

Münsterplatz 24, 79098 Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany

Hide Map

Loading map...

How to get there

Get Directions