Festival

Welcome to the European Literature Days 2025!

What is authentic? Is our nutrition real food? Is the news fake? Did real people write the novels we’re reading? What is creativity? Is it being snatched from our grasp? Do machines generate authentic feelings? What do real emotions feel like? What is our real identity? How do people encounter one another authentically? Many aspects, which we regarded as unquestionable, now no longer seem so authentic in the sense that they’re certain. Artificial Intelligence, identity politics, queerness and virtual simulations raise awareness of what is fluid and changeable. The European Literature Days 2025 delve into these questions and launch a debate about ideas of what is authentic and artificial as well as giving insight into their realistic experience.

The European Literature Days welcome an interested audience to Krems an der Donau for a weekend of debate with authors and philosophers. Festivalgoers can also attend readings, book talks, concerts, guided walks and tea ceremonies. The final highlight is the Sunday matinée to celebrate Eva Menasse, this year’s prizewinner of the Austrian Book Trade’s Honorary Award for Tolerance in Thought and Action.

We warmly invite you to join us!