Where is the ice? A conversation about glacier melting

Description

For a long time, glaciers stood for the sublime, national myths, and the longing for untouched nature. Today, signs in glacier regions mark their unstoppable dying, and elsewhere they are even buried. As the ice melts, the view of the glaciers and the stories told about them change. The recently published books by authors Anne-Sophie Balzer and Simon Probst deal with this change. Both combine their personal experiences in the high mountains with findings from glaciology, literature and cultural history, tracing how the cultural images of the glacier have evolved over the centuries. A discussion about glacier melting, outdated notions of nature, and our relationship with ice in the present day. An event organized by the German Seminar of the University of Basel as part of the workshop "Glacier Protocols. Literature at the Climate Edge." Participants and additional information: ANNE-SOPHIE BALZER, born in 1988, is a literary scholar, author, and journalist. She studied general and comparative literature as well as cultural studies in Erfurt and Berlin and was a research associate at the University of Augsburg until 2025. Her dissertation deals with glaciers in contemporary English-language poetry. As a journalist, she writes for DIE ZEIT, taz, Berliner Zeitung, and Deutschlandfunk Kultur, focusing on literature, Scandinavia, and the Far North. In autumn, her book will be published by Aufbau-Verlag. SIMON PROBST, born in 1993, is a literary scholar and author. He studied German studies and philosophy in Heidelberg and completed his doctorate at the University of Vechta on forms of storytelling in the Anthropocene; his dissertation was awarded the OLB Science Prize and the Vechta University Promotion Prize. He currently researches there in the DFG project "The Natural-Cultural Memory in the Anthropocene" on Environmental Humanities, Ecocriticism, and the relationship between literature, earth history, and climate knowledge. His published works include The Instauration of the Earth (2023), Meaning in the Climate Crisis (2024), and Glacier Burials (2026) published by Matthes & Seitz.

Highlights

• Conversation with Anne-Sophie Balzer and Simon Probst
• Addressing glacier melting
• Event as part of the workshop "Glacier Protocols"

General Information

The event takes place at the Literaturhaus Basel and discusses the changing cultural images of glaciers. Anne-Sophie Balzer and Simon Probst will discuss their experiences and the impact of glacier retreat on our notions of nature.

Location

Barfüssergasse 3, 4051 Basel, Switzerland

Hide Map

Loading map...

How to get there

Get Directions