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“Europeanization” moves inexorably forward, yet we still remain ignorant of our next-door neighbors’ cultures. Many regard the “East” as a looming threat. FLUID BORDERS showed how much we actually have in common.

It’s still there, the terra incognita on people’s mental maps. It’s found wherever there’s a lack of knowledge and understanding. Literature fosters the encounter with a Europe that’s growing closer together and the process of breaking down prejudices. Where the Ranitz, mingling its waters with those of the Greater Rodl, empties into the Danube, FLUID BORDERS keeps a tradition alive that dates back more than 1,100 years. Then, Bavarian and Slavic yeomen held a meeting on a mountain north of Ottensheim to lay the foundations for their peaceful coexistence as neighbors.
In 2009, the same spot was the meeting place of prominent authors from different countries. These men and women of diverse mother tongues had a shared theme: childhood. Lindita Arapi (Tirana), László Márton (Budapest), Ilma Rakusa (Zürich at the moment), Raphael Urweider (Bern) and others gave readings of new texts on this subject and engaged in exchange with one another and guests at the evening banquet. The occasion for this symposium was the 20th anniversary of Edition Thanhäuser, whereby the Capital of Culture Year was a fitting occasion for its launch of a series of publications entitled RanitzDialoge, each volume of which invites two authors from different countries to enter into a dialogue. The focus will remain on culinary matters and (riverine) landscapes.

WHAT // Literary symposium
WHEN // August 29, 2009
WHERE // Ottensheim

IDEA / CONCEPT // Christian Thanhäuser, www.thanhaeuser.at
PARTICIPANTS // Lindita Arapi (Tirana/Bonn), Cemal Ener (Istanbul), Andrea Grill (Vienna), László Márton (Budapest), Ilma Rakusa (Zürich), Christa Rothmeier (Klosterneuburg), Christian Steinbacher (Linz), Raphael Urweider (Bern)