Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
Deutsche Übersetzung: youtube.com/live/Ve48LAdr6M4
The festival spirit extends into the fall, as the award-winning Indian author and activist Arundhati Roy ventures into new literary territory with her first memoir. In »Mother Mary Calls to Me«, Roy not only reflects on her eventful life, but also on the political upheavals of her homeland, her special relationship with her mother.
Roy achieved worldwide fame with her debut novel »The God of Small Things«, for which she was awarded the Booker Prize, among other accolades. She has since used her international fame for her political and humanitarian commitment. A fierce critic of the Indian government, she was threatened with imprisonment.
In her impressive opening speech at the ilb in 2009, she warned against the erosion of democratic systems through neoliberal market logic and political oppression. Her move to memoir – a genre that illuminates the personal in the context of social developments – seems only logical. »One can only marvel at her tenacity to rebel and the poetic power with which she does so. Both together give her a unique greatness.« [SPIEGEL]
With Arundhati Roy
Moderated by Priya Basil
Simultaneous translation by Milena Adam and Tuesday Bhambry
The event will be held in English with readings in German.
An event of the international literature festival berlin in coproduction with the Deutsches Theater Berlin.
The anniversary program is made possible by the LOTTO Foundation Berlin.
“Mother Mary Comes to Me” was translated into German by Anette Grube.
Deutsche Übersetzung: youtube.com/live/Ve48LAdr6M4
The festival spirit extends into the fall, as the award-winning Indian author and activist Arundhati Roy ventures into new literary territory with her first memoir. In »Mother Mary Calls to Me«, Roy not only reflects on her eventful life, but also on the political upheavals of her homeland, her special relationship with her mother.
Roy achieved worldwide fame with her debut novel »The God of Small Things«, for which she was awarded the Booker Prize, among other accolades. She has since used her international fame for her political and humanitarian commitment. A fierce critic of the Indian government, she was threatened with imprisonment.
In her impressive opening speech at the ilb in 2009, she warned against the erosion of democratic systems through neoliberal market logic and political oppression. Her move to memoir – a genre that illuminates the personal in the context of social developments – seems only logical. »One can only marvel at her tenacity to rebel and the poetic power with which she does so. Both together give her a unique greatness.« [SPIEGEL]
With Arundhati Roy
Moderated by Priya Basil
Simultaneous translation by Milena Adam and Tuesday Bhambry
The event will be held in English with readings in German.
An event of the international literature festival berlin in coproduction with the Deutsches Theater Berlin.
The anniversary program is made possible by the LOTTO Foundation Berlin.
“Mother Mary Comes to Me” was translated into German by Anette Grube.
![Jalal Barjas: Notizhefte des Buchhändlers | Notebooks of the Bookseller [arab./dt.]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/BVHr-9V3UVU/mqdefault.jpg "Jalal Barjas: Notizhefte des Buchhändlers | Notebooks of the Bookseller [arab./dt.]
Der mit dem International Prize for Arabic Fiction 2021 ausgezeichnete Roman zeigt eine Welt der Armut und Entwurzelung: Ein Buchhändler, der seinen Laden verloren hat, verliert sich in den Identitäten von Romanhelden und begeht einige Verbrechen, bis er eine Frau trifft, die sein Leben verändert. »Doch ist es kein Roman der Verzweiflung. Vielmehr sagt der Autor, dass die Auslotung von Schmerz eine notwendige Voraussetzung ist, um neue Träume zu finden und hoffnungsvoll auf festerem Grund wieder aufzustehen« [Jurybegründung The International Prize for Arabic Fiction].
Sprecher: Roland Schäfer
Winner of the 2021 International Prize for Arabic Fiction, this novel depicts a world of poverty and uprooting: a bookseller who has lost his store gets lost in the identities of characters from novels and commits several crimes until he meets a woman who changes his life. »Despite this, the novel does not call for despair. Rather, through it, the author is saying that reaching the depths of pain is a necessary condition for finding new dreams and standing up once more with hope on firmer ground« [Jury The International Prize for Arabic Fiction].
Speaker: Roland Schäfer")
