Austria’s contribution to modern German-language literature has been both rich and varied, embracing major novelists (Kafka, Musil), dramatists (Schnitzler, Bernhard), as well as poets (Rilke, Celan) of international repute.
The Ingeborg Bachmann Centre, established at the then Institute of Germanic Studies in 2002 with the support of Erste Bank, the Österreichische Nationalbank, the Austrian Cultural Forum, and the Österreich Kooperation, explores this contribution by means of its writers-in-residence programme and by organising lectures, seminars, workshops and reading groups.
The outcome of an innovative form of cross-institutional cooperation, this exciting academic initiative concentrates on 20th-century Austrian literature, focusing above all on developments from 1945 onwards, and takes as its figurehead Ingeborg Bachmann , whose poem ‘Abschied von England’ encapsulates the challenge presented by other cultures and the difficulties of comprehending them.
All our events are open to anyone interested.
We are indebted to the Austrian Cultural Forum in London and the Bithell Bequest Fund (University of London) for their continued sponsorship.
.jpg)
Zwei Wochen England
A volume of texts by the IBC's Writers-in-Residence compiled to celebrate the first ten years of the Bachmann Centre. Edited by Heide Kunzelmann, with photographs by Valeska Hass, the volume is published by Sonderzahl Verlag.
Ilse Aichinger
On the occasion of International Women’s Day, the ACF London in partnership with Copy Press presents a special evening of literature and performance celebrating the recent re-publication of The Bound Man, and Other Stories, by Austrian writer Ilse Aichinger. Today, Heide Kunzelmann, who is featured at our event translation. friendship – A celebration of the writing of Ilse Aichinger, writes about the author’s life and work.
