Samuel Fischer Guest Professorship for Literature
The Samuel Fischer Guest Professorship for Literature was instituted at the Freie Universität Berlin in 1998 by publishers S. Fischer in association with the German Academic Exchange Service, the Freie Universität Berlin and the Veranstaltungsforum of the Publishing Group Georg von Holtzbrinck. The guest professorship is intended to promote the dissemination and critical analysis of the literatures of the world.
The professorship is also intended to enrich intellectual and literary life in Berlin through its international dimension and input. It not only adds a practical perspective to the existing teaching of literature at the universities but also promotes interaction between university life and the intellectual life of the city. The personal nature of the guest professor’s mentoring and the personal support provided by the host university are intended to ensure that each professorship tenure is different. Invitations have been extended since the beginning of summer semester 1998 to one author per semester; the guest author is attached to the Institute of General and Comparative Literature of the Freie Universität Berlin for his or her period of tenure. In addition to teaching at the Freie Universität, the guest author holds a special Guest Professorship Lecture in Berlin and reads in further cities at various literary events.
In the winter term 2011/2012 Nedim Gürsel will be the next Samuel-Fischer Guest Professor for Literature. Born 1951 in Gaziantep, Turkey, Nedim Gürsel is living in Paris and teaching at the Sorbonne. Along with Yasir Kemal and Orhan Pamuk he is ranked among the most outstanding present authors in Turkey. During his guestprofessorship Nedim Gürsel will hold two seminars focussing on "Political commitment & poetry" and "Historical novels and Islam".
The guest professors of the summer term 2011 were Daniel Kehlmann and Adam Thirlwell. For the first time two authors worked together as S. Fischer guest professors. Daniel Kehlmann, born 1975, belongs to one of the well-known authors of Germany. His first book titled "Die Vermessung der Welt" (Measuring the World) in 2005 was translated in more than 40 languages. Adam Thirlwell, born 1972, wrote his first book "Strategy" in 2003 and was called a "prodigy of British Literature" (Times). As a result of the seminar titled "Tentative Experiment to Form a Literary Collective" the two authors and their students have written together "The Book of Zinik".
Together with the guest professorship a series of S. Fischer guest of honour-Lectures was established beginning with Antonio Skármeta from Chile and Carlos Fuentes from Mexico. In May 2007 Orhan Pamuk, Nobel-Prize Winner of Literatur 2007 read from his Book "Istanbul". To mark the 10th jubilee of the guest professorship Paul Auster read on 29 September in the Berliner Ensemble and the Nobel-Prize Winner Kenzaburo Oe on 1st November in the Haus der Kulturen der Welt as guests of honour 2008.
The following authors have held the Samuel Fischer Guest Professorship to date:
- Nora Amin, Egypt
- Scott Bradfield, USA
- Amit Chaudhuri, India
- Nuruddin Farah, Somalia
- Robert Hass, USA
- Daniel Kehlmann, Germany and Adam Thirlwell, U.K.
- Etgar Keret, Israel
- László Krasznahorkai, Hungary
- Alberto Manguel, Canada
- Yann Martel, Canada
- Michèle Métail, France
- Valentin Yves Mudimbe, Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Kenzaburo Oê, Japan
- Fernando Pérez, Cuba
- Richard Powers, USA
- Sergio Ramirez, Nicaragua
- Raoul Schrott, Austria
- Sjón, Iceland
- Antonio Skarmeta, Chile
- Vladimir Sorokin, Russia
- Marlene Streeruwitz, Austria
- Sara Stridsberg, Sweden
- Dubravka Ugrešic, Croatia
- Tomas Venclova, Lithuania
- Feridun Zaimoglu, Germany
Nedim Gürsel, Guestprofessor Winter 2011/2012
Partners:
S. Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt a.M./Berlin
German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)
Freie Universität Berlin
Veranstaltungsforum of the Publishing Group Georg von Holtzbrinck
Dates:
Reading
Date: 15 February 2012, 7:00 p.m.,
Location: Institut Français, Kurfürstendamm 211, 10719 Berlin
Nedim Gürsel will read from „Les Filles d’Allah" (French/German)
Seminar
„Analyse intertextuelle: Première partie: Engagement politique et poésie, seconde partie: Roman historique et l'islam
Peter Szondi-Institut für Allgemeine und Vergleichende Literaturwissenschaft, Freie Universität Berlin
