Auch 2022 haben einige unsere Klassen wieder englische Lesungen besucht. Dabei waren die preisgekrönte britische Autorin Bernarden Evaristo sowie der A. Boules Roman „The Firekeeper’s daughter“, für den gerade Barack und Michelle Obamas Produktionsfirma die Rechte für eine Netflixserie erworben haben. Zwei Schülerinnen aus der 11. sowie 10. Klasse berichten.

I.) Read here Dina’s report: 

On September 13^th, Ms Mayerhofer-Karks year 11 advanced English course went on an excursion to the International Literature Festival at “Haus der Berliner Festspiele”. We were there to participate in a reading of the interesting book “Girl, Woman, Other” by the great British writer Bernadine Evaristo.

We prepared for this event in class by reading an excerpt from the book and talking about its special features, but this great excursion was definitely the icing on the cake.

After being seated in the big event room, the whole audience had the opportunity to get to know the young and coming writer, Berfin Sönmez. As the supporting act of Evaristo, she answered questions about her writing and finished with reading an excerpt from her work “Die Mandarine”.

A few moments later the host introduced Bernadine Evaristo, who was welcomed on stage with a huge applause from the audience. Evaristo talked for an hour – about her childhood, her writing process, the book she was presenting in this reading and the intention of her topic choice for the book. “Girl, Woman, Other” which was released in 2019.

Why it was amazing to listen to Bernadine Evaristo

Before the audience had the chance to ask Bernadine a question, she read a few pages from her novel. It was amazing because we could hear the writer herself read her special writing style out loud – she uses almost no other punctuation than commas.

Bernadine Evaristo ended her reading to a standing ovation and left the stage after recording the applause for her Instagram account. Directly after you could queue for a personalised autograph in one of her books. But as the line was so long it almost reached outside, none of us got one.

                                                                                                   Dina, year 11

II.) Read here Louisa’s report: 

On the 7th of September 2022, our class went on a field trip with two other English courses from year 11 to the literature festival at the “Haus der Berliner Festspiele”.

We attended the reading of the novel “The Firekeepers Daughter” by Angeline Boulley. The author herself is a member of the Sault Ste. Marie tribe of Chippewa Indians and can thus offer an inside perspective on these matters.

First, she gave her key speech about the book and her inspiration for it, which was very interesting. I learned a few new things about tribes, for example that you shouldn’t call native Americans, Americans, because originally America had a different name, so instead, you should call them natives or indigenous.

The book sounded thrilling and also covers the cultural aspect of tribes, which would be the main reason why I would read this book. Also, it is made into a Netflix TV series at the moment.

In conclusion, the literature festival was very fun, the author spoke clearly and it was easy to understand her. The background of the book and the book itself sounded very interesting. I would definitely go to another reading, if I had the chance.

                                                                                                   Louisa, Class 10c