Literaturfestival „Nah und Fern“ im Metropolengarten. Lesung mit Andreas Wilink

Saturday, July 24, 2026 5.30 pm

Andreas Wilink: If it were different

The complex relationship with a younger man becomes the occasion for a self-questioning that goes back to childhood. A broad panorama of encounters and friendships opens up a view of the unalterably recurring patterns of life. What is missing here? And why?

A self-image made up of encounters, relationships and references: In the highs and lows of an intense friendship and love for a younger artist, Andreas Wilink condenses his own character traits. The question of where from and why leads back to the family relationships that forever gave direction to his emotional life, to all the loves that never quite came true and to friendships in which his own self was always reflected - from his school days to his years as a journalist, which brought him very close to famous people and their fates. The result is a linguistically refined and very personally told story of life and mentality against the backdrop of the German and international cultural world.

Andreas Wilink reads from Wenn es anders wäre. Born in Bocholt in 1957, he studied German language and literature, history and art history at Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf. The cultural journalist, theater and film critic, who also lives in Düsseldorf, was editor of the Westdeutsche Zeitung from the 1980s, then moved to the Süddeutsche Zeitung before co-founding the NRW magazine kultur.west in 2003 and managing it until 2018.

Metropolis Garden

Am Dahlbusch, 45884 Gelsenkirchen

Free admission

VA: Metropolengarten Auf Dahlbusch e.V.

https://metropolengarten.de/