In the organizer's words:

Five short stories by five authors

Moderation: Mona Ameziane

The Short Story Night combines high-quality literary and exciting short stories with a relaxed atmosphere: Welcome to a special open-air evening in the Rheinauhafen!

Short story is the English term for short story - a special literary form whose main characteristic is that it can be read in one sitting. Emerging with the magazine boom of the 19th century, the short story has since established itself as a narrative form and, due to its brevity, offered many famous authors the opportunity for literary experimentation.

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Writers of the evening

Miku Sophie Kühmel

Miku Sophie Kühmel was born in Gotha in 1992. She studied literature and media studies - briefly in New York and longer in Berlin, where she now lives and works. She is a freelance writer and produces various podcast formats. Following publications in anthologies and magazines, her debut novel "Kintsugi" was published in 2019, for which she was awarded the Jürgen Ponto Foundation Literature Prize 2019 and the "aspekte" Literature Prize 2019. She has received scholarships from the Alfred Döblin-Haus of the Akademie der Künste, the Künstlerhof Schreyahn and the city of Gotha, among others. Her second novel "Triskele" was published in 2022, with which Miku Sophie Kühmel was nominated for the 2023 Clemens Brentano Prize.

Photo: © Olga Blackbird

Tankred Lerch

Tankred Lerch was born in Lübeck in 1970, attended school in Hamburg, studied law and did a radio traineeship in Kiel, has worked as an author and producer for various comedy shows since 1997 (including "extra3", "Stromberg", "Krömer - Late Night Show", "TV total" and many more), and has received several awards as a bestselling author. In 2013, he published a book with Kurt Krömer about their joint trips to Afghanistan, and Lerch has also published a book for young people and various short stories. Tankred Lerch lives in Cologne.

Jacinta Nandi

Jacinta Nandi was born in East London in 1980 and moved to Berlin when she was twenty. She writes the column "Die gute Ausländerin" for the taz and the blog "Riotmama" as well as a blog as Amok-Mama for the English-language city magazine Exberliner. Most recently, "50 Ways to Leave Your Husband" was published in 2022 by Edition Nautilus.

Kaleb Erdmann

Kaleb Erdmann, born in 1991, studied literary writing at the German Literature Institute in Leipzig, as well as political science and political theory in Munich and Frankfurt am Main. He was a finalist in the open mike and was nominated for the Retzhofer Dramapreis for his play "Unten". Trained on the spoken word stages, he writes for various television and entertainment formats. His debut "wir sind pioniere" was published by Ullstein Verlag in February 2024. Kaleb Erdmann lives and works in Düsseldorf.

Grit Krüger

Grit Krüger was born in Erfurt in 1989. Studied comparative literature and film studies in Frankfurt am Main. Member of the 'Salon Fluchtentier', member of the festival team 'Lit.Fest Stuttgart'. Awards from the Young Literature Forum Hessen-Thuringia. Participation in Open Mike 2018 & 2021; Klagenfurt Literature Course 2019. Scholarship from the Darmstädter Textwerkstatt 2020. Scholarship from the Förderkreis deutscher Schriftsteller in Baden-Württemberg 2020, Bavarian Academy of Writing 2020/21. Her debut novel "Tunnel" was published by Kanon Verlag in 2023. She was awarded the Kranichsteiner Literaturförderpreis of the German Literature Fund and the Anna Haag Prize 2023.

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The Short Story Night is organized by LAND IN SICHT e.V., a non-profit cultural association from Cologne that has been working to create publicity for literature since 2014. In addition to readings, the association's projects include Hörspielwiese Köln, the Auftakt Festival für szenische Texte and the Kölner Förderpreis für Literatur. Project management: Kevin Kader, André Patten

Sponsors of Short Story Night: Cultural Office of the City of Cologne, Kunststiftung NRW, State of NRW