33. Open Mike – Young literature competition – HAUS FÜR POESIE

‘The Open Mike [...] continues to have an effect long after the spotlights at Heimathafen Neukölln have gone out.’
- Deutschlandfunk Kultur

Since 1993, the Open Mike has offered young writers under the age of 35 one of the most important platforms for promoting new voices in German literature.

Each year, around 500 to 800 applications are submitted, and approximately 10 to 15 participants are selected through an anonymous selection process for a competition where publishers discover new voices for the German book market.

7.11.
7:30 pm
Every year on the evening before the competition, former finalists read from their debut books and talk about their journey from the Open Mike stage to publishing their first book. This year: Samuel Kramer and Fiona Sironic.

Samuel Kramer (born 1996 in Gießen) was awarded the poetry prize at the 29th Open Mike in 2021. In his debut collection endlich regen (roughbooks, 2025), we enter a world eerily similar to our own in its existential threat. Kramer writes political poetry with an acute awareness of late times.

Fiona Sironic (born 1995 in Neuss) received an award at the 2019 Open Mike for an excerpt from her text Das ist der Sommer, in dem das Haus einstürzt. Her debut novel Am Samstag gehen die Mädchen in den Wald und jagen Sachen in die Luft (Ecco, 2025) has now been published and was shortlisted for the German Book Prize. In it, Sironic creates a densely atmospheric vision of a near future where late capitalism reaches a dystopian low in overheated summers, extreme forest fires, and mass animal die-offs.

Reading & conversation: Samuel Kramer & Fiona Sironic
Host: Tatjana Vogel

***

8.11.
11:30 am
Twelve finalists present their texts throughout the day. Drop by, catch the Open Mike fever, let yourself be carried away by prose and poetry—and be there live for the awards ceremony at the end!

From over 600 submissions, four poetry texts and eight prose texts have been nominated:

Poetry
Texts by Anastasia Averkova, Julia Blöcher, Dominik Kohl, and Nea Schmidt

Prose
Texts by Hannah Beckmann, Lilli Biller, Minda Deol, Amelie Hermann, Tabea Kroll, Emma Martschinke, Cornelius Müller, and Lea Marie Rauser

Each writer has 15 minutes to win over the audience and jury. Afterwards, the jury – Yevgeniy Breyger, Jackie Thomae, and Dana Vowinckel – will select two winners and award a total of €5,000 in prize money.

In addition, the taz audience jury will select one winning text to be published in taz.

Host: Tatjana Vogel

Schedule
11:30 – 11:45 am: Welcome Address
11:45 am – 12:45 pm: Reading Block I (3 readings)
12:45 – 1:15 pm: Break
1:15 – 2:15 pm: Reading Block II (3 readings)
2:15 – 2:45 pm: Break
2:45 – 3:45 pm: Reading Block III (3 readings)
3:45 – 4:15 pm: Break
4:15 – 5:15 pm: Reading Block IV (3 readings)
7:30 pm: Award Ceremony

The 33rd Open Mike is an event organised by the Haus für Poesie in cooperation with silent green and is funded in 2025 by the German Literature Fund and the Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion. Kindly supported by Buchbox and Leuchtturm1917. Presented by taz, Das Wetter, Literaturport, and Merkur.

Friday and Saturday, November 7.+8.
Kuppelhalle
7.11. Tickets
8.11. Tickets sold out online. Limited remaining tickets may be available at the box office.