Circle of authors of the Federal Republic

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The " Circle of Authors of the Federal Republic - Forum for Literature and Politics" is a literary association in Germany.

history

The circle of authors was founded in 1992 by writers from all over Germany to promote literary writing, but also to support debates on contemporary history. The main focus of the political work is on aspects of modern democracy in Germany, but also on historical areas such as coming to terms with GDR injustice. The circle of authors has existed as a registered non-profit association since 1996. The founding board of the association consisted of Burkhart Veigel (chairman), Ekkehart Rudolph (deputy), Helga Schwabe (treasurer) and Christoph Kuhn (protocol). Currently (as of July 2020) Jörg Sader is acting as chairman, Uwe Lehmann-Brauns as deputy and Heinz-Uwe Haus as another board member.

activity

The association's activity consists of half-yearly conferences, which usually take place in Berlin, as well as reading offers, etc. a. for schools. Readings, also with international guest speakers, also take place in bookshops, libraries, literature houses and universities. From 1995 to 2003 the association awarded the Hans Sahl Prize, initially endowed with € 20,000 and later € 10,000, for a complete literary work by politically independent writers who "stand up for the freedom of the word and stand out from ideology".

In the first years of its existence, the association tried to clarify the involvement of GDR writers in the activities of the Ministry for State Security . This research led to heated discussions and extensive reception. The group of authors also clearly positioned itself against the political activities of the Party of Democratic Socialism and its ambitions to participate in government.

The aim of the association was also to "create an archive of literature forbidden in the GDR". This should be created together with the Hannah Arendt Institute for Research on Totalitarianism . It has existed as an “archive of suppressed literature” since 2005, and unpublished texts by GDR authors were published in the series of publications called “Secret Library”.

In 2002 the group of authors criticized the awarding of the Louise Schroeder Medal to Daniela Dahn .

Other political actions included an open letter from the group of authors directed against the supposedly China-friendly, pro-communist reporting by Deutsche Welle . This letter and its aftermath received extensive media coverage. One of the demands of the group of authors was to check all editorial offices of Deutsche Welle that report on totalitarian countries (including Russia) and to re-examine all employees for previous Stasi activities. This was u. a. sharply rejected by a counter-declaration by the Heinrich Böll Foundation .

The group of authors receives funding from the Federal Foundation for the Processing of SED Injustice , the Allianz Kulturstiftung , the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media (BKM), the Senate Department for Science, Research and Culture Berlin, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation , the Kulturstiftung der Deutsche Bank , the Berlin State Commissioner for the Records of the State Security Service of the former GDR, the Prussian Sea Trade Foundation and the Walter de Gruyter Foundation .

Members

The association has around 30 living members, including numerous winners of highly endowed literary prizes. Renowned artists can also be found among the former (now deceased) members. (List as of July 2020, source author's group website)

Inca Bach Arnulf Baring (†) Henryk Bereska (†) Horst Domdey Kurt Drawert
Karsten Dümmel Roland Erb Ruth Freydank Michael G. Fritz Ines Geipel
Heinz-Uwe house Helga Hegewisch-Lasky Günter Holter Jürgen K. Hultenreich Barbara Kerneck
Imre Kertész (†) Thomas Körner Sabine Lange Katja Lange-Müller Melvin J. Lasky (†)
Uwe Lehmann-Brauns Doris Liebermann György Ligeti (†) Radjo Monk Andreas Petersen
Grit Poppe Lea Rosh Ekkehart Rudolph Jörg Sader Ulrich Schacht (†)
Helga Schubert Wolfgang Schuller (†) Thomas B. Schumann Roger David Servais Anja Tuckermann
Helmut Ulrich Burkhart Veigel Michael Wäser Joachim Walther (†)

In 1996 Chaim Noll resigned from the group of authors with great public awareness. Other former members who resigned with criticism of the club's management were Peter Schneider , Hans Christoph Buch , Herta Müller , Richard Wagner , Sigmar Schollak and Hans Joachim Schädlich . Klaus Poche resigned after the CDU donation affair . Christoph Kuhn , Utz Rachowski , Udo Scheer , Lutz Rathenow , Uwe Kolbe and Sarah Kirsch are also no longer members

reception

The circle of authors and their activities have always been the subject of supraregional reporting. On the one hand, the awareness of the members, especially in connection with award ceremonies, contributes here. On the other hand, the association brought itself into public discussion through political discussions and actions. The content-related focus on the clarification of GDR injustice in writers' circles led to numerous members leaving the association, as a result of which Bernd Wagner ran for election to the board with the aim of dissolving the association. Wagner also criticized the close proximity to the CDU and the CDU-affiliated Konrad Adenauer Foundation. Chaim Noll, a former member of the group of authors, justified his departure with - according to his perception - German national tendencies in the group.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The circle of authors. In: Authors of the Federal Republic. January 16, 2020, accessed on July 10, 2020 (German).
  2. ↑ The circle of authors. In: Authors of the Federal Republic. January 16, 2020, accessed on July 10, 2020 (German).
  3. ↑ The association. In: Authors of the Federal Republic. January 16, 2020, accessed on July 10, 2020 (German).
  4. ↑ Imprint / Contact. In: Authors of the Federal Republic. January 16, 2020, accessed on July 10, 2020 (German).
  5. ↑ Working up the working up. Does the dispute with the GDR have to go into the second round? July 10, 2020, accessed July 10, 2020 .
  6. ↑ Literature must deal with contemporary history. Retrieved July 10, 2020 .
  7. ↑ The circle of authors. In: Authors of the Federal Republic. January 16, 2020, accessed on July 10, 2020 (German).
  8. ↑ ZEIT ONLINE. Retrieved July 10, 2020 .
  9. ↑ Hans Sahl Prize | Literature Prize Winner. Retrieved on July 10, 2020 (German).
  10. ^ Hans Sahl Prize for the Hungarian author Imre Kertesz - derStandard.at. Retrieved July 10, 2020 (Austrian German).
  11. ↑ New Germany editorial team: Authors warn against PDS. In: new Germany. Retrieved July 10, 2020 .
  12. ^ Arendt Institute: Archives for suppressed GDR literature. In: sciencev1.orf.at. January 1, 2010, accessed July 20, 2020 .
  13. ^ Hans-Rüdiger Karutz: Authors want to become a forum for literature and politics . In: THE WORLD . February 8, 2002 ( welt.de [accessed July 10, 2020]).
  14. ↑ 15 years of authors in the Federal Republic. (PDF) In: textkanzlei.de. Retrieved July 20, 2020 .
  15. ↑ Berliner Zeitung: The East German journalist Daniela Dahn is to be awarded the Louise Schroeder Medal by the Berlin Senate - but there is resistance: Between the fronts. Retrieved on July 10, 2020 (German).
  16. ^ Sabine Pamperrien, Jan-Philipp Hein, DER SPIEGEL: China Propaganda: Scandal at Deutsche Welle - DER SPIEGEL - Culture. Retrieved July 10, 2020 .
  17. ↑ Jan-Philipp Hein, Sabine Pamperrien: Deutsche Welle: China's most reliable platform overseas . In: FAZ.NET . ISSN  0174-4909 ( faz.net [accessed July 10, 2020]).
  18. ↑ For value-oriented journalism! - documentation. Retrieved July 10, 2020 .
  19. ↑ Hans Leyendecker: Rusk for the tiger. Retrieved July 10, 2020 .
  20. ↑ Jens Berger: How free can free opinion be? Retrieved July 10, 2020 .
  21. ^ Open letter on the campaign against China reporting by Deutsche Welle. Retrieved July 10, 2020 .
  22. ↑ Federal Foundation: Money for SED processing is not enough. July 19, 2015, accessed July 10, 2020 .
  23. ^ Editing of Neues Deutschland: "Malicious Defamations" (Neues Deutschland). Retrieved July 10, 2020 .
  24. ↑ Bernd Wagner: Anyone who is a party cannot take sides . In: THE WORLD . February 1, 2002 ( welt.de [accessed July 10, 2020]).
  25. ↑ Marko Martin: Close the bow again . In: The daily newspaper: taz . January 25, 1995, ISSN  0931-9085 , p. 18 ( taz.de [accessed on July 10, 2020]).
  26. ↑ Christoph Kuhn. Association of German Writers in ver.di, accessed on July 20, 2020 .
  27. ↑ Edition ERATA | Leipzig literary publisher. Retrieved July 10, 2020 .
  28. ↑ From Penadmin: Udo Scheer. In: PEN Center Abroad. March 29, 2015, accessed on July 10, 2020 (German).
  29. ^ Gallery in the castle. Retrieved July 10, 2020 .
  30. ↑ ■ aside: read books . In: The daily newspaper: taz . September 19, 1997, ISSN  0931-9085 , p. 26 ( taz.de [accessed on July 10, 2020]).
  31. ^ Hans-Rüdiger Karutz: Authors want to become a forum for literature and politics . In: THE WORLD . February 8, 2002 ( welt.de [accessed July 10, 2020]).
  32. ↑ Bernd Wagner: Anyone who is a party cannot take sides . In: THE WORLD . February 1, 2002 ( welt.de [accessed July 10, 2020]).
  33. ^ Editing of Neues Deutschland: "Malicious Defamations" (Neues Deutschland). Retrieved July 10, 2020 .