We missed our family and friends far away and sometimes just a stone’s throw away. We toasted digitally, embraced the other in pixels. The pandemic makes it very clear that humanity must change in order to survive, to look at each other and not to confront each other as ones and zeros. Protests against anti-black racism, anti-Asian racism, against climate change and an ongoing demand for equal rights took roots in cities across the world. These voices are the force leading us towards the change we urgently need. It is important to continue now, in solidarity and with care.

About Read My World

Read My World is a leading platform for the written and spoken word from all over the world. We create spaces of encounter for writers and storytellers, readers and listeners, publishers and translators.

Read My World aims to look for and show the stories that remain beneath the surface of everyday current affairs. In order to track these down, we work closely with international curators and editors, with whom we organise a variety of activities: an annual international literature festival, in-depth workshops, high-profile programmes and other literary productions. Each year we focus on a different region of the world where major social changes are taking place. We make room for writers from far and near, with a mix of unknown and established guests. Read My World disrupts in an inviting atmosphere, always prioritising hospitality and a safe space for all its guests: on the podium, in the audience, backstage, while guiding you around the world through literature and the imagination.

The Power of Literature

Common themes keep emerging in every corner of the world. After all, however different the context may be, we all share many experiences especially when it comes to our urban and metropolitan lives, where subjects such as multiculturalism, multilingualism, identity, urbanisation, the impact of history on the present, gentrification and climate change play an important role. The power of literature is that it can make all the big questions of our time personal. So that we can present different experiences from side by side and on an equal level. Not by taking the form of a polarizing debate, not by manoeuvring our guests into the role of the exotic other, but by giving space to all those personal artistic qualities, to intensive introductions and encounters, challenging the images we have of one another.

Global Connection

Read My World attaches great importance to making these encounters possible: where perspectives can be exchanged in a safe environment. We do this because we believe that the world is more connected than ever: through globalisation, labour migration, growing awareness of our colonial history, through very recent developments on the world stage that affect everyone albeit in many different ways. And in the end, we do this because we believe that everyone has a story, everyone can identify with a personal story and everyone benefits from a greater understanding of each other. Our world can get noisy, chaotic and uncertain at times. We hear sp many talented voices speak up, and they all understand the urgency to meet with one another as well as with their audiences, now.  For beauty and independence, against fear and repression, for more equality and mutual understanding. Read My World aims to be a platform for these voices.

Writers who Cross Disciplines

Read My World invites authors to transcend disciplines, to relate to complex current affairs and be able to tell stories in a way that resonates with our audience. We want to show that literature can take many forms in which a story is told, the world is explained, questioned and researched, and humanity is celebrated.