In the organizer's words:

It's night in the south of France. Jina sits at her desk, phone in hand. Her Instagram feed updates every second. She reads: "Jina Mahsa Amini was beaten into a coma by the morality police in Tehran." The next moment she realizes: The young woman with the same name as her is dead. The images follow in the feed: the protest march of thousands of people on the streets, girls and women wearing their hair uncovered, including Jina's sister and her niece. Jina has to travel back in time to understand the present. The events shown on Instagram awaken memories in Jina of her own stays in Iran, including of a secret love, but also of a protest in 2009. "With poetic intensity, Jina Khayyer tells of courage, solidarity and responsibility and of the echoes of a homeland that cannot be shaken off"(hr2-Kultur).

Jina Khayyer (*1975) is a German-born writer, poet, painter and journalist of Iranian descent. She has lived and worked in Paris and Provence since 2006. Im Herzen der Katze is her debut novel and was nominated for the German Book Prize in 2025.

The event is being held in cooperation with the Office for Integration, the Office for Women and Equal Rights and the Cultural Office of the University City of Giessen in the Hermann-Levi Saal (concert hall in the town hall, Berliner Platz 1, 35390 Giessen). The event will be moderated by Sabrina Syben and Vera Stelter. Admission is €8, reduced €6 and free for LZG members. Access is wheelchair accessible.

Price information:

Normal ticket: 8 € reduced: 6 € LZG members: free