BUCHPREMIERE: Şeyda Kurt - "Zeit der Monster" - Moderation: Fatima Khan

manulit x St. Marien Church in Kalk presents:

BOOK LAUNCH: Şeyda Kurt – "Zeit der Monster" – moderated by Fatima Khan

PLEASE NOTE: THE EVENT WILL TAKE PLACE AT ST. MARIEN CATHOLIC CHURCH IN KÖLN KALK (Kalker Hauptstraße 244, 51103 Köln-Kalk)

Join us in celebrating the premiere of Şeyda Kurt’s first novel (official release date: July 21, 2026, published by Hanser Verlag)—in a very special location, featuring a discussion, music, a closing reception, and a book signing in the church garden—plus a champagne reception!

TIME OF MONSTERS: Thesetting is a city neighborhood. The time is the apocalypse. At least, that’s what more and more people believe, spurred on by a prophecy spreading like wildfire across the internet. Meanwhile, young Sanya roams through the wild, dilapidated neighborhood—where people stick together despite everything—with a pistol in her backpack—until one day she encounters a strange figure.
Somewhere between a furious epic and the most colorful pop, between an existential opera and the warmest soap opera, Şeyda Kurt asks what opportunities lie in the collapse of all orders. Sanya and her dazzling chosen family are deeply entangled in the history of their community, which spans borders and eras. Can we live differently? Stirring, intelligent, and transformative, this debut novel proclaims: Yes.

Şeyda Kurt, born in 1992 and raised in Cologne-Kalk, has worked for Zeit Online and Deutschlandfunk Kultur, among others, as well as on podcasts, including the award-winning production “190220 – One Year After Hanau.” She has curated events for the Literarisches Colloquium Berlin and the Goethe-Institut, among others; hosts the “What a Crime” discussion series at the Schauspielhaus Bochum; has written acclaimed theater scripts; and was co-editor of the anthology “Spiel*Kritik. Critical Perspectives on Video Games in Capitalism.” In 2021, her bestseller “Radical Tenderness: Why Love Is Political” was published, followed in 2023 by the bestseller “HATE: On the Power of a Resistant Emotion.” She has over 70,000 followers on Instagram.

Fatima Khan, born in Bhola, Bangladesh, in 1987 and raised in Cologne, is a freelance writer, artist, curator, and host. She studied Ancient Languages and Cultures—Classical Literature and German Studies—at the University of Cologne. In 2018, she was the initiator and co-founder of q[lit]*clgn, Germany’s first feminist literature festival. Since 2022, she has been studying Media Arts/Creative Writing at the Cologne Academy of Media Arts (KHM) and is currently working on her debut novel. On Instagram, under @fatum.khan, she searches for the sacred in the mundane everyday.

We have a limited number of solidarity tickets available. To request one, please email us at bahl@manulit.de

We look forward to seeing you there!