XXII. European Festival of the First Novel
Events

XXII. European Festival of the First Novel

The festival offers young authors from various European countries the opportunity to present their debut novel to the public and exchange ideas with representatives of publishing houses and other publishing industry experts.
Kiel
Content

    Italy at the European Festival of the First Novel

    Every year, authors from different European countries come together in Kiel to bring their debut novels to the festival, alongside their publishers.

    As every year, the festival opened with a marathon of reading excerpts from the books, in the original language and in their German translation - a fascinating meeting of languages and sounds that accompanied the listeners on a real journey through European literature.

    Italy was represented by writer Sara Marzullo, alongside Federica Principi, a representative of the 66thand2nd publishing house. Sara Marzullo’s debut book is Sad girl. La ragazza come teoria [Sad Girl: the Girl as Theory] 

    The countries present this year were France, Finland, Norway, Slovenia, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Switzerland, Czech Republic and Italy. 

    The festival's special feature is that it also involves editors and publishing house representatives, promoting the meeting and exchange of knowledge between professionals on the European publishing market, facilitating future translation of works, as has already been the case in the past for several books. The festival takes place over four days with an intense programme of workshops and seminars.   

    The main supporters of the festival are the Ministry for General and Professional Education, Science, Research and Culture, the Centre Culturel Français de Kiel, the French Embassy in Berlin, the Schleswig-Holstein Region and the Italian Institute of Culture in Hamburg (with regard to the Italian participation). 

    Sara Marzullo’s Sad Girl raised questions about the social and cultural obsession with young women. This book investigates and breaks down the archetypes and stereotypes that shape girls by influencing their behaviour and emotional and sexual education.  

    66thand2nd is an independent publishing house that offers a curated selection of Italian and foreign literature accompanied by refined and essential graphic designs. 

    Participants at the festival opening

    • Britta Lange (Literaturhaus S-H, Festival Curator) 
    • Guido Weint (State Secretary for Education, Science, Research and Culture of Schleswig-Holstein) 
    • Charlotte Bousquet (Institut Français de Kiel)
    • Sara Marzullo (Italy)  
    • Federica Principi (66thand2nd, Italy)  
    • Jonas Eriksson (Denmark)  
    • Nora Schramm (Germany)  
    • Elli Valtonen (Finland) 
    • Vidya Narine (France)  
    • Nikki Dekker (The Netherlands)  
    • Andrea Nicolaisen Brun (Norway)  
    • Cornelia Hülmbauer (Austria)  
    • Alexandra Tarnowska (Poland)  
    • Sara Wegmann (Switzerland) 
    • Anna Beata Háblová (Slovenia) 
    • Pia Prezelj (Czech Republic) 

    Moderators:  

    • Francesca Bravi (CAU Kiel/Romance Seminar)
    • Thorsten Dönges (Literary Colloquium Berlin)
    • Nils Aulike (reader)
    • Jule Nero (reader)