Buchpräsentation: Das richtige Leben im Halbschatten. Eine unordentliche Palmenrevue mit Judith Schalansky und Jutta Person

Palm trees are places of longing made of leaves—they symbolize vacations, faraway places, and tropical paradises. But behind their iconic silhouettes lies a fascinating cultural and natural history.

Together, Judith Schalansky—writer and editor of the “Naturkunden” series—and author Jutta Person embark on a quest for clues that is as insightful as it is entertaining. In a literary revue, they bring to life the voices of those who have admired, researched, collected, and exploited palm trees. Spanning botany, cultural history, and pop culture, a surprising perspective unfolds on a plant that is far more than mere decoration: from date syrup to photo wallpaper, from Palmin to a fetish plant.

Look forward to an evening that is as informative as it is entertaining, dedicated to one of the world’s most fascinating plants—it doesn’t get any more “palm-y” than this.

The event is a collaboration between the Botanical Garden and Matthes & Seitz Berlin. The book table is provided by Schleicher’s Bookstore in Dahlem-Dorf.

Jutta Person, born in 1971 in South Baden, is an author, journalist, and literary scholar living in Berlin. She writes for the *Süddeutsche Zeitung*, *Die Zeit*, and *Philosophie Magazin*, where she has headed the books section since 2011. In 2023, she received the Alfred Kerr Prize and the Johann Heinrich Merck Prize for literary criticism and essays. Previous titles in the “Naturkunden” series include *Donkeys: A Portrait* (2013), *Corals: A Portrait ( 2019), and Palms: A Portrait ( 2026).

Judith Schalansky, born in Greifswald in 1980, studied art history and communication design. Her work, including the internationally successful bestseller *Atlas of Remote Islands*, the educational novel *The Giraffe’s Neck*, and *A List of Some Losses*—which was nominated for the International Booker Prize—has been translated into more than 30 languages and has received numerous awards. She is the editor of *Naturkunden* and lives in Berlin as a designer and freelance writer.

The meeting point is the Königin-Luise-Platz Visitor Center.