Thea Mantwill & Enno Stahl: Lokalrunde im Kölner Literaturhaus

Thea Mantwills reads from her novel and KHM project "Gescheiterte Sterne" (Korbinian Verlag). It tells the story of Ariane and Sam, who have been struggling to survive since childhood - between sleeping buses, ID checks and an elite with their own apartments. When Sam disappears underground, Ariane loses her footing and searches between precarious jobs and strange beds for a place where she can stay.

Thea Mantwill talks to Richard Stoiber about a city with no room for its people.

Thea Mantwill (*1990 in Gräfelfing / @tathalja) studied at the art academies in Karlsruhe and Düsseldorf with Keren Cytter, Franka Hörnschemeyer and as a master student with John Morgan. Since 2024 she has been studying at the KHM with a focus on literary writing .

She works multimedia in installations, images, words and music and combines literature with visual art. Her debut "Glühfarbe" was published by MÄRZ Verlag in 2025, followed by "Gescheiterte Sterne" by Korbinian Verlag in spring 2026. She also received a residency scholarship from the Berlin Senate, as part of which she was invited to Food for Thoughts: the house guest banquet III of the Literary Colloquium Berlin on May 27, 2026 .

In Enno Stahl's "Menschmaschinen" (parasitenpresse), Marcos wakes up without a memory in the techno-metropolis RheinRuhr in 2053. In his search for his identity, he is targeted by the market-dominating genetics company TransGen Inc., encounters the seamless control of implanted chips - and discovers a disturbing truth about himself. Moderated by Adrian Kasnitz.