Eröffnung der Europäischen Literaturtage

Lena Papasabbas and Robert Menasse adopt differing perspectives to consider the present time of transformation. While the futurist advocates radical confidence in rational thinking, the writer talks about the sombre idealism that he clings to. For Lena Papasabbas, anxiety about the future is the breeding ground for populism, hatred and violence. In her Handbook for Times of Crisis, she proposes “thinking in curves”. In her view, what matters is to alternate between the focus on present crises and looking beyond such crises, so keeping in mind a potentially new society.

In his novella The Life Decision, Robert Menasse tells the story of a European Commission official who quits his job and conceals this from his mother as well as the diagnosis that he has cancer. Menasse’s exploration of the “hopeless” diagnosis leads to a confident resolution: the decision to embrace knowledge and rational action rather than passive acceptance of the prognosis for the future.

Following the discussion, Robert Menasse reads from his novella The Life Decision, published in spring 2026.

***BIOGRAPHIES***

Lena Papasabbas

b. 1987. Cultural anthropologist, philosopher and futurist. She is co-founder of The Future:Project which is dedicated to transformative futures research. Recently published: Radical Confidence: A Handbook for Times of Crisis, 2025.

“Lena Papasabbas has achieved surprising success with her book Radical Confidence. She is confident herself because pessimism is not a good idea anyway and optimism is naive.”
Karin Zauner, Salzburger Nachrichten

Robert Menasse

b. 1954. Writer and cultural critic essayist. He has won numerous awards and international accolades for his work, most recently the Kakehashi Literature Prize 2024 and the European Book Prize 2023. Recently published: The Life Decision, 2026.

“That’s a clever, equally tender