#22 August 2026
summer doldrums redo
-last update: 10 August-
Hello, my lovely subscribers, especially the new paying and donating members and supporters! I couldn’t continue without you.
This last hot summer month, most of the big institutions are still on holiday break, but there are still courses, workshops, and readings happening. Make the most of the summer and up your writing skills.
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‼️ Please send your first half of September events by the very latest 26 August via the Form App here! I know there will be a lot in September, so I’ll publish two issues.
Events with * were added after initial publication and/or were corrected. So check the Substack post after you receive the email for the latest version.
Thank you 🙏
Your newsletter inoculator, Bettina
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Table of Contents: Calls for Classifieds, Nifty Stuff, Repeating Events, Events, Classes
Visit our sponsored highlight event!
Join us to celebrate the launch of Berlin Babel, the first ever international anthology of stories of our city, from V&Q Books.
Raise a glass or two with us to fourteen short stories by writers originating from Syria, Turkey, China, the UK, the US, the Netherlands, Spain, Russia, Germany, Italy and India. From Arabic to Italian to Yiddish, the stories are beautifully translated from eight different languages. Capturing life in Berlin with all its despairs and joys, this is a night for all those who love reading about the city, and for anyone curious to discover it in writing.
Featuring Leon Craig, Nainy Sahani, Meral Şimşek, LJ Kessels, Natasha Podlyzhnyak, Carla Berges, Jake Schneider, Odai Al Zoubi, Jane Yager and many more!
🗓 Tuesday, 8 September, 19:30📍Ballhaus Berlin, Chausseestr. 102, 10115 Berlin
💶 €11,83. Get your tickets here!
Calls for Submissions
📣 Open calls: stadtsprachen magazine #37 will be published on November 5, 2026. The call for submissions will begin after the summer break so keep an eye on their website and prepare your writing—they accept anything except German—from writers living in Berlin.
📣 The Berlin Literary Review submission window is now open for the fall issue for short stories, flash fiction, poetry, and essays. Guidelines are on the site. There’s no fixed deadline yet, but we’ll post an update about a week before submissions close.
Calls for Classifieds📣 Hello dear creative writers! I’m creating a list of Berlin-based individuals offering writing services. If you would like to be listed here, send me your info via this Forms link.
Visit my sponsor! Feather Insurance - they offer all kinds of necessary for Germany insurance options, from Haftpflicht to Health Insurance:
Feather prides itself on offering simple, honest insurance policies. Boasting reviews of 4.8+/5 on Trustpilot and Google, our clients love how easy it is to sign up and make claims, plus the incredible support they get from our English-speaking team.
Nifty Stuff
Artist recommendation: Jeweler Johanna Gauder; she created a beautiful silver ring for me to showcase a gem from my late father, and I’m so pleased with it! Check her out on Insta.
Museum Exhibition: The Stuff of Narrative: New Perspectives on Literature
🗓 Open until 6 September, 2026
Open Thursdays 14:00-20:00 and Sundays 11:00-18:00. 💶 Free admission
📍Forschungscampus Dahlem, Lansstraße 8, 14195 Berlin
When we think of literature, the printed book usually comes first to mind. The Stuff of Narrative invites visitors to broaden this perspective: using six selected exhibits, including Chinese oracle bones, a pair of Japanese folding screens, and a Syrian graphic novel—the exhibition presents literature as a lived practice and an aesthetic experience.
Repeating Events
—Workshop: Living Philosophy: a somatic writing club
🗓 Sundays: 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 August, 11:00-12:00📍11 Ohmstr, 10179 Berlin
It's a deep human need to make sense of our experience and tell our stories. And damn, does the world need new stories. We start with a somatic practice to get out of our heads and into our bodies. Then we go into two rounds of solo writing, guided by a weekly philosophical theme. 💶 Urban Sports Club check-in or €16
*—Open Mic: Berlin Spoken Word
🗓 Thursdays: 6, 13, 20, 27 August, Door sign-ups at 19h. Show starts 19:30
📍Hosted at Ä bar, Weserstr. 40, 12045 Berlin 💶 donation 2€-10€
BSW open mic invites, but is not limited to, spoken word artists, poets, musicians, singer-songwriters, rappers and story-tellers. The show is hosted in English, but ALL LANGUAGES ARE WELCOME! :)) The theme is suggested, but not mandatory
—Panel: "Sunday Salons"
🗓 Sundays 2, 9, and 16 August, 18:00-19:00📍Another Country Bookshop, Riemannstraße 7, 10961 Berlin-Bezirk Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg
The Sunday Salon series highlights a different local artist each week, who will talk a bit about their practice before telling us what they're working on, their inspirations for the project, and any obstacles they're experiencing along the way. 💶 Donation-based (suggested donation €5-€10). Register at elizalevinson@gmail.com
—Writing Session: Make Poetry Sexy Again
🗓 Sunday, 2 August, 14:30-15:45📍DNA. HOUSE - Wrangelstraße 25, 10997 Berlin. You will move between writing, reflecting, & connecting. One of DNA’s most popular formats is back: “Make Poetry Sexy Again”—more than an art show, more than an open mic—this weekly format is the most honest and beautiful community experience—for both the artists and the audience. 💶 €15 regular
Check out DNA - they have other literary/writing-related events
Now’s a good time to do a plug for Meetup.com. Even though enshittification of the site continues, they are still the go-to place for meetups of all kinds. Truly, if you want to find someone interested in underwater basket weaving or board games or language buddies, this is where to look. There are many great book clubs and writing sessions meetups for the non-reclusive writers among us. Top of the list are ShutUp&Write groups, which have events all over the city daily, and Berlin Writers: Poetry, Storytelling and More, which hosts regular events by the ReadWedding Collective, listed below.
*—Meetup: Re(a)d Editing (back at Vagabund for one month!)
🗓 Monday, August 10, 19:00-22:00📍Vagabund Brauerei Kesselhaus, Oudenarder Str. 16-20, 13347 BerlinNew location and date! Tuesday, August 11th at 19:00.
📍Kowski in Moabit, located near U9/M10 Turmstr. at Wilhelmshavener Straße 4, 10551
Most events for writers are focused around creation or performance. Much comes between this, yet we do not always hold each other through that phase. Join us for a free, open-format meetup, whether you want independent or collaborative time. Donations are welcome, with zines for sale as well. 💶 free, buy a drink.
Events
Final July opportunities going into August!
—Book launch: after war by Dženana Vucic
🗓 Thursday, 30 July, 19:30–22:00📍Lettrétage, Veteranenstr. 21, 10119 Berlin
The Berlin launch of Dženana Vucic’s debut poetry collection, after war. With readings from the poet and a conversation moderated by Alexander Wells.
Unfurling from the Bosnian war and its traumas, Dženana Vucic’s after war is a searing examination of identity and un/belonging; language and its elisions; history and how we remember it, and violence and how we are implicated in it. 💶 free
—Storytelling: Club Motte
🗓 Thursday, 30 July, doors 19:30📍Wein Salon, Schreinerstraße 59, Berlin, Germany 10247
Come tell us your story—or simply come listen. Storytellers need listeners, too. This month’s theme: Gifts. 💶 Entry is sliding scale €5-10.
—Cool intellectual/academic people to follow and events to attend: The Hopscotch collection continues its exile. Starting this week, find us at 90Mil for fine books and curated events.
🗓Thursdays → Saturdays 16:00–22:00📍90Mil, near Jannowitzbrücke (address via DM on Insta)
—Book Launch: Launch Valerie Hsiung’s THE PEDESTRIAN (Nightboat Books, 2026)
🗓 Thursday, 30 July, doors 19:30📍90Mil, near Jannowitzbrücke (address via DM on Insta) 💶 €5 at door.
—Salon: Literary Atelier: Berlin Writing Salon
🗓 Friday, 31 July, 18:15 (start at 18:30)-20:00📍St. Oberholz, Rosenthaler Str. 72A, 10119 Berlin
We will explore what it means to be a writer in the contemporary world; what it means to be a creative soul making its way through everyday life. We’ll begin with a few gentle writing exercises to tune into our thoughts, and then we’ll move into an open conversation about writing, creativity, and the challenges of building a literary life today. Please bring your laptop or a notebook if you prefer to write by hand. 💶 €15 Euro ticket on Luma, plus please note: the venue has a €10 minimum spend on food and drinks per guest.
—Writing workshop: Non creative poetry
🗓 Saturday, 1 August, 15:00-16:45📍Freiluftkino Neue Zukunft, Alt-Stralau 68, 10245 Berlin
What if writing wasn’t about being original? A practical space to explore language from a different angle. What if writing wasn’t about being original? Blinder Passagier brings to Entre Trópicos a workshop on Non-Creative Poetry: a practical space to explore language from a different angle, where cutting, transforming and repurposing texts is the starting point. Led by Abel Perdido and Tito van Battenburg, two Latin American poets based in Berlin. 💶 Cost: 12€ (materials included)
—Open Mic: Make Poetry Sexy Again
🗓 Monday, 3 August, 18:00-22:00📍DNA. Adalbertstraße 98, 10999 Berlin
Come as You are. Bring Your words, Your silence, Your fragments, or Your unfinished ideas. We create a circle where poetry is not only written, but felt. A space where words can be explored, spoken & shared without pressure—only presence. Register prior to read. 💶 free
—Writing Session: The writers’ room
🗓 Tuesday, 4 August, 18:00-20:30📍bUm - Raum für solidarisches Miteinander, Paul-Lincke-Ufer 21, 10999 Berlin
Join us for an evening of creative writing - a time to work on your own ideas alongside other people! Come and join us for a cozy evening of creative writing. We love to be creative and yet struggle to take time to write. So here we are - getting together so that we can co-create and write alongside each other. So much more fun! All levels of experience are welcome. 💶 free
—Book Club: Village Book Club - “Deep House” von Jeremy Atherton Lin (2025)
🗓 Thursday, August 6, 20:00-22:30📍We Are Village, Kurfürstenstraße 31/32
10785 Berlin. Open to everyone, and esp. LGBTQIA+. “In 1996, a cross-border romance forces Jeremy and his British lover into a life on the run across forests, fashion shows, and illicit apartments. Structured like a mixtape, this radically intimate memoir weaves a decades-long transnational love story with a vibrant cultural history of the outsiders, activists, and lovers who built queer sanctuaries long before marriage equality.” 💶 free of charge with registration.
—Book Club: Romantic and Ruinous Book Club
🗓 Monday, 10 August, 19:00📍Chapters Bookshop, Wilsnacker Straße 60, 10559 Berlin 💶 €?
Our August read is The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. A novel about desire and reinvention, about who gets to belong and who pays the price for believing they can. Short enough to read in a sitting, rich enough to argue about for hours.
—Book launch/reading: Hustle & Haunting - Double Book Launch
🗓 Wednesday, 12 August, 19:00-21:00📍Chapters Bookshop, Wilsnackerstraße 60, 10559 Berlin, Moabit
Join us for a celebration of two of the sharpest new voices in British fiction, Anna Maconochie and Leon Craig. Maconochie's poised, bittersweet collection Diamond Life captures the messy ambitions of London millennials, while Craig's The Decadence is a dark and hedonistic queer haunted house novel.
💶 €6.51 incl. Eventbrite fee, otherwise €5
*—Reading Room at Hansabibliothek
🗓 Wednesday, 12 August, Doors: 18:00 Silent Reading: 18:30📍Altonaer Str. 15, 10557 Berlin
Our silent reading will take place in the library’s beautiful garden courtyard, where chairs, blankets, and cushions will be available. And there will be non-alcoholic refreshments waiting for you on a donation basis. We’re looking forward to spending a summer evening reading together. RSVP details will be available soon via our Substack newsletter. Y
—Double Book Launch: Roots & Reinvention
🗓 Thursday, 13 August, 19:00📍Chapters Bookshop, Wilsnacker Straße 60, 10559 Berlin 💶 €?
We are honoured to welcome National Book Award finalist Angela Flournoy to Chapters for an evening exploring her writing life, from her celebrated debut The Turner House to her much-anticipated second novel, The Wilderness.
—Meetup: Read and Eat (special edition): Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
🗓 Monday, 17 August, 19:00-21:30📍WaWa Korean Restaurant Berlin, Grunewaldstraße 10, 10823 Berlin
Join us for a special edition of our Read&Eat series as we explore Crying in H Mart, Korean food, and culture! You'll enjoy an exclusive concept menu inspired by the book created especially for us at WaWa Berlin. Drink included. Book discussion will be moderated. FLINTA* only 💶 €30
*—Reading: Archive Fever archivefever_berlin
🗓 Wednesday 19 August, 19:00📍desirelines books, Fraenkelufer 28, 10999 Berlin
Archive Fever will be a monthly reading series. It will feature unpublished writings—either saved drafts or works in progress—and conversations from writers in all stages of their career, in all languages and genres. For the launch of Archive Fever, I am thrilled to hear from Vanessa Onwuemezi, author of Dark Neighbourhood (Fitzcarraldo Editions, 2021), and Ghayath Almadhoun, author of I Have Brought You A Severed Hand (Divided Publishing, UK, & Actions Books, USA, 2025) and numerous other collections. 💶 This event is free and open to all.
—Book Launch: Voice & Visibility
🗓 Thursday, 20 August, 19:00📍Chapters Bookshop, Wilsnacker Straße 60, 10559 Berlin
Book launch: The Othered Woman: How White Feminism Harms Muslim Women by Shahed Ezaydi. Shahed Ezaydi in conversation with Sofio Rukhadze In partnership with Feminist Fiction Berlin. 💶 €6.51 incl. Eventbrite fee, otherwise €5
*—Festival: Flyleaf Festival
🗓 Thursday - Sunday, August 20–23📍Multiple locations in Neukölln
Flyleaf book and zine festival.
*—Book Launch: “The Longest Death” by Kevin Jagernauth
🗓 Tuesday, August 25, Doors at 19:30, event starts at 20:00📍Ivallans Books, Schönleinstr. 32, Berlin, Germany 10967
Join author Kevin Jagernauth at Ivallan’s Books to celebrate the Berlin launch of his debut queer crime novel “The Longest Death.” A reading will be followed by a conversation moderated by writer @corrinaallen Pre-order your book now to ensure you have a copy! It will be available for purchase at the event, along with beer and wine for a 💶 suggested donation of your choice.
*—Reading: Kinky Soul Reading Night #41
🗓 Tuesday, August 25, 20:00📍Mauersegler Bernauer Str. 63–64, 13355 Berlin (depends on weather, check the website).
Open mic for kinky-sexy material. Performers are encouraged to bring original work, personal favorite kinky poems, or short texts. Performances can take many forms—from reading and spoken word to comedy, singer-songwriting, or monologues. Each performer has 3–7 minutes on stage, creating a dynamic and ever-changing flow throughout the night.💶 Reader 10€ / Master 15 / Sugar 20€.
—Magazine Launch: WAYF Journal
🗓 Thursday, 27 August, 19:00📍Chapters Bookshop, Wilsnacker Straße 60, 10559 Berlin 💶 € ?
WAYF, short for Where Are You From, takes a question that lands differently depending on who is asking it and who is answering, nd turns it into a literary journal.
*—Independents Arts Coalition Summer Plenary
🗓 Thursday, 27 August, 18:00📍RAW Gelaende, Revealer Straße 99 in 10245 Berlin
This year’s Independents Arts Coalition Summer Plenary will take place at RAW, Revealer Straße 99 in 10245 Berlin - the exact location will be announced soon.
Our summer party will take place after the plenary meeting. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank and honor two former spokespeople, Julia Schell and Katy Derbyshire, as well as two former representatives of the Raumbüro Freie Szene (Working Space Bureau), Sonja Augart and Matthias Mayer, for their dedication and work. We also ask everyone who would like to attend the plenary meeting to register with us via email: sk@freieszene.berlin
*—Book Swap/Film: Späti Stories Book Swap
🗓 Saturday, 29 August, 10:15📍 Kino International, Karl-Marx-Allee 33, 10178 Berlin
Join Späti Stories and Kino International (Yorck Kinogruppe) for a special community book swap celebrating the connection between books and cinema. Bring a book you believe deserves to become a movie (be prepared to say why!), or one that has already been adapted into a film and you’d love to share. Bring one story you genuinely love, write a dedication for the next person, and swap it for a new favorite to keep. Afterwards, enjoy a discounted €7 cinema ticket or a drink at this historic venue’s bar. Tickets are limited, purchase/register on Luma. 💶 €6
—Open Mic: FRUIT SALON - Readings & Art @ The Hoxton
🗓 Thursday, 27 August, 19:30-22:00📍The Hoxton, Charlottenburg, Meinekestraße 18-19, 10719 Berlin
Ready to share your Creative Fruits? Join us for FRUIT SALON, Berlin’s newest literature and arts event, happening quarterly at The Hoxton, Charlottenburg. Writer/performer Demi Anter hosts, combining the best of poetry open mic, interactive art salon, and quirky community space—all in The Hoxton’s swanky Wintergarden. Eight performance slots, four for Creative Fruits Mornings attendees, available on a first-come, first-served basis. 💶 €6 (Performers) / €10 (Audience)
—Meetup: Creative Fruits Mornings @ The Hoxton
🗓 Saturday, 29 August, 12:00-13:30📍The Hoxton, Charlottenburg, Meinekestraße 18-19, 10719 Berlin.
Hit reset on the last Saturday of every month with Creative Fruits Mornings x The Hoxton! Join us for a monthly creative writing kickstart and networking support session for writers hosted by Demi Anter. Open to all kinds of writers / artists, invigorate your routine with writing sprints and networking opportunities. All creatively curious people are welcome (not only writers). Ticket includes teas and fruits. 💶 €8
*—Lange Nacht der Museen
🗓 Saturday, 29 August, 12:00-13:30📍All over Berlin
One ticket. 75 museums. 750 events. Berlin is turning into a cultural playground for one night only. Hundreds of events, including literary readings, are planned. The Long Night of Museums Berlin invites visitors to explore the city’s museums after dark, with special exhibitions, performances, guided tours, and unique events across the city.
💶 Early-bird tickets are available from 3–16 August for €15 (€12 reduced) — after that, prices increase. I love this about Berlin!
—Social Reading Club
🗓 Monday, 31 August 19:00-20:30📍on the big lawn in the Volksgarten
https://rausgegangen.de/en/events/social-reading-club-2/
Of course, you’re welcome to keep reading afterward for as long as you’d like! Important: 💶 No registration, no ticket, and no money required. Just show up on time and join the group.
—Meetup: Re(a)d Wedding: a berlin open mic for poetry and storytelling
🗓 Monday, 31 August, 19:00-22:00📍Hank Chinaski, Koloniestraße 32, 13359 Berlin. The monthly open mic in Berlin’s kiez of Wedding! This is an inclusive space in which all mediums of speech are welcome, in any language. 💶 donations
Writing Courses
—Workshop: Glossaries of the Body - Poetic Scores from Within
🗓 Weekend 15-16 August📍Dock 11 Eden, Breite Straße 43, 13187 Berlin
A weekend workshop to discover the poetry that lives in the body, in sensation, in gesture, and in image. 💶 From €82.15
Creative Writing Weekend Intensive with Alexander Lumans (new!)
August 1st & 2nd, 11:00-16:00
Location: Neukölln
Instructor: Alexander Lumans
Tuition: €175
Poetry I with Tracy Fuad (Hybrid) (new!)
Start Date: August 10th
End date: September 14th
Location: Alt-Treptow/Zoom
Instructor: Tracy Fuad
Tuition: €275
Weekend Intensive: Art Writing
August 8th & 18th, 2026
11:00 - 16:00 with a break for lunch
Location: Alt-Tempelhof, Berlin
Cost: 175€
Instructor: An Paenhuysen
Playground
Course tutor: Celina Baljeet Basra
When: Wednesday evenings, 18:00-20:00
Date: August 26, 2026
Where: in-person, TBA
Number of sessions: 4
Maximum participants: 10
Cost: €100
Reclaim your Writing Brain: from doomscroll to literary permaculture
Course tutor: Susanna Forrest
When: Wednesday evenings, 19:00-21:00
Date: August 19, 2026
Where: Online
Number of sessions: 7
Maximum participants: 10
Cost: €230 euros (184 euros plus 46 euros VAT, which is deductible for businesses)
Please send your first half of September events by the very latest 26 August via the Form App here! I know there will be a lot in September, so I’ll publish two issues.
Join the fun on Instagram! @berlin_literary_events
Have a great summer!
Bettina
P.S. Please check links for last-minute changes to events. I can’t vouch for all events and all links all of the time.