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.

Writers of the evening

Kathrin Weßling

Kathrin Weßling is an author and social media expert. She has over 30,000 followers on Twitter and Instagram who follow her posts and contributions on topics such as feminism, mental illness and pop culture. Her latest book, "Super, und dir?", was hailed by the press and readers as "the novel of her generation". She also writes regularly for ZEIT ONLINE, SPIEGEL, Bento and many more. She has worked for stern.de, DER SPIEGEL, Mit Vergnügen and Storymachine, among others. Her most recent novel "Nix passiert" was published by Ullstein Verlag. Kathrin Weßling lives in Berlin.

Gijs Wilbrink

Gijs Wilbrink (1984, Netherlands) is an author, musician and podcaster. He grew up in the Achterhoek, the region located in the eastern part of the Dutch province of Gelderland and on the border with North Rhine-Westphalia - this is also the setting for his debut novel "De beesten", which he worked on for eight years. The novel was published in German translation by Ullstein Verlag in February 2024.

Gunther Geltinger

Gunther Geltinger was born in Erlenbach am Main in 1974 and lives as a writer in Cologne. He studied screenwriting and dramaturgy at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna and as a postgraduate at the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne. His debut novel "Mensch Engel" was published by Schöffling & Co in 2008, followed by the novels "Moor" and "Benzin" in 2013 and 2019, both published by Suhrkamp. Geltinger has received numerous prizes and scholarships, including the North Rhine-Westphalia Literature Prize, the August Graf von Platen Literature Prize and a residency scholarship from the International House of Artists Villa Concordia Bamberg. In 2022, he was awarded the Dieter Wellershoff Scholarship of the City of Cologne.

Lin Hierse

Lin Hierse is an editor at wochentaz and a writer. She wrote the poetical correctness column for the taz until 2023. Her first novel "Wovon wir träumen" was published by Piper in 2022. Most recently, she published short stories in 'Das Wetter Buch für Text und Musik' and 'Delfi. Magazine for New Literature'. Her new novel "Das Verschwinden der Welt" will be published in August.

Julia von Lucadou

Julia von Lucadou was born in Heidelberg in 1982 and holds a doctorate in film studies. She has worked as an assistant director, editor in television and as a simulation patient; she lives in Biel, New York and Cologne. Her first novel "Die Hochhausspringerin" (2018) was shortlisted for the Swiss Book Prize and won the Swiss Literature Prize. Her second novel "Tick Tack" was published in 2022.

+++

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