Stages

Centre of Words

Literature & Translation Stage

The new Centre of Words is the central meeting point for literature and translation with its own stage and networking area for encounters and exchanges.

For the second year running, the ‘Zentrum Wort’ (Hall 4.1 F21) at the Frankfurt Book Fair is the central meeting place for contemporary literature and translation, with an event stage and a new networking area.

The high-calibre programme brings German-speaking and international guests from the worlds of theory and practice onto the stage and into conversation. The discussions will cover controversial topics from the worlds of literature, translation and cultural policy. The thematic spectrum ranges from the new literary public sphere and its criteria, the current living and working conditions of authors, the aesthetics of artificial intelligence, writing for young readers, literary existence in exile, and literary perspectives on society and the present day. Discussions will cover global inequalities in the literary world, the translatability of violence, copyright in the age of AI, and questions of reception – such as Jane Austen translations on the occasion of her 250th birthday, or how ‘sendstark’ the work of Rolf Dieter Brinkmann is 50 years after his death. The latest German-language prose and poetry, international literature and translation practice can be experienced in all their diversity throughout the programme.

Event highlights on 15 October 2025

Event	Time
On the Unsung Literary Innovations in Marx´s Capital	10:00-10:30
Opening Centre of Words: "Die Demokratie wird siegen!"	12:00-12:50
Was es heißt, vom Schreiben zu leben	15:00-15:50
Übersetzerbarke 2025 to Thomas Hummitzsch	17:00-17:50

Event highlights on 16 October 2025

Event	Time
Übersetzen als politischer Akt	10:00-10:50
Nach der Kritik – neue literarische Öffentlichkeiten und ihre Kriterien	13:00-13:50
Über Arbeit, Erschöpfung und Künstliche Intelligenz - Lecture with WORTMELDUNGEN-Award Winner Josefine Soppa	14:00-14:50
A sea of languages	17:00-17:50

Event highlights on 17 October 2025

Event	Time
Existential questions: Intellectual property in the age of “AI”	10:00-10:50
„Weiter schreiben“ im Exil - Kateryna Mishchenko in discussion with Annika Reich	11:00-11:50
Herrinnen des Mondes - Claudia Ott in discussion with with author Jokha Alharthi	12:00-12:50
„Schreibwege“ – Katerina Poladjan und Anna Prizkau in discussion with Miriam Zeh	15:00-15:50

Event highlights on 18 October 2025

Event	Time
Ins Dunkel, ein großer Roman über Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich und Erika Mann - Angela Steidele in discussion with Thorsten Dönges	13:00-13:50
Patriarchat und Utopie, Wortmeldungen - Awared winner Petra Piuk meets Rebekka Endler	14:00-14:50
Tausendmal so viel Geld wie jetzt - Juan S. Guse und Carolin Amlinger in discussion with Lars Weisbrod	16:00-16:50

Event

Time

Ins Dunkel, ein großer Roman über Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich und Erika Mann -

Angela Steidele in discussion with Thorsten Dönges

13:00-13:50

Patriarchat und Utopie, Wortmeldungen -

Awared winner Petra Piuk meets Rebekka Endler

14:00-14:50

Tausendmal so viel Geld wie jetzt -

Juan S. Guse und Carolin Amlinger in discussion with Lars Weisbrod

16:00-16:50

Event highlights on 19 October 2025

Event	Time
Ganz große Vermissung & Liebe ohne Stereotypen	12:00-12:50
Geschichte und Politik im französischen Gegenwartscomic	13:00-13:50

The programme at the Centre of Words

From readings to cultural policy debates: the Centre of Words brings together numerous discussions and international perspectives on contemporary literature and translation. Don't want to miss a single event? Here you will find a clear overview of all events, complete with all the details.

All events

The ‘Zentrum Wort – Stage for Literature & Translation’ is jointly supported and organised by the German Literature Fund, the Association of German-Language Translators, the German Translators' Fund – with funding from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media – as well as the Kunststiftung NRW and the Crespo Foundation – in cooperation with the Frankfurt Buchmesse.

Impressions of the Centre of Words:

Frankfurter Buchmesse's fellowship and grant programmes

The application deadline has expired

Salon Francfort - A gathering of German and French fiction publishers in Frankfurt am Main

This is a publishers' meeting for selected German and French fiction publishers which will take place at the Haus des Buches in Frankfurt.

The compact programme will focus on the development of a Franco-German book industry network, as well as on the promotion of literature and translation.

The Goldschmidt Programme

The Georges Arthur Goldschmidt Programme is aimed at young literary translators from Switzerland, France, Germany and Austria. Each year, it enables five German speaking and five French speaking translators to meet with publishers from both countries and to work on translation projects under the guidance of experienced translators. The next Goldschmidt programme edition will take place from 5 February to 29 March 2025.