Ursula Krechel in Ulm: Reading and conversation for the Ulm Lyriksommer

A poetic start with Ursula Krechel in the Glass Pyramid

The Ulm Lyriksommer begins in 2026 with an author who is one of the most significant voices in contemporary German literature: Ursula Krechel. On May 21, a literary experience unfolds at the Ulm City Library, transforming poetry, prose, and conversation into a dense reading atmosphere. The evening opens the fifth Ulm Lyriksommer under the motto Broad View and immediately sets a cultural signal of high literary quality.

Literature as memory, resistance, and linguistic art

Ursula Krechel has been writing for decades about the devastation of history, about justice, social responsibility, and the delicate, often vulnerable present of the individual. The German Academy for Language and Literature awards her literature the Georg Büchner Prize 2025, particularly highlighting the diversity of her work: poems, novels, plays, radio plays, and essays. Those who experience Krechel live encounter a language that observes precisely, thinks historically, and unfolds an intimate emotional depth.

An evening between poetry and conversation

For the opening of the Lyriksommer, the author will read from the anthology They There and connect her texts with a moderated conversation. This is precisely the allure of this evening: not merely a lecture but an author encounter, not just a reading but a dialogue about poetic techniques, contemporary experience, and literary stance. Moderation will be provided by Thomas Mahr and Christine Langer. Admission is free, making the evening an additional low-threshold invitation to all literature lovers.

The venue: Ulm City Library as an open house for literature

The Ulm City Library at Vestgasse 1 provides an appropriate setting for such a reading. The Glass Pyramid combines urban clarity with cultural openness, and barrier-free accessibility creates good conditions for a relaxed visit. Those arriving by car will find paid parking garages in the vicinity, such as the parking garage at the town hall or the parking garage in the Fishermen's Quarter. Public transport conveniently leads to the Rathaus stop. Thus, the evening is also organizationally a well-reachable encounter with literature.

Why this reading is special

Ursula Krechel belongs to those authors whose work extends far beyond the individual volume in the cultural discourse. Her prose explores exile, memory, and return as historical experiences, her poetry engages in wordplay, seriousness, and lightness, and her essays open perspectives on literature as a form of reflection. This makes the event in Ulm more than a normal reading: it is a literary event with substance, an evening for readers who want to not just consume contemporary literature but experience it in conversation.

The audience can expect a focused, demanding, and yet approachable evening, in which language becomes audible and literature reveals its full intellectual tension. Anyone interested in poetry, contemporary novels, and precise observational art should experience this opening of the Ulm Lyriksommer live.

Official channels of Ursula Krechel:

• Instagram: No official profile found
• Facebook: No official profile found
• Website: No official profile found
• Publisher: No official profile found

Sources:

• Ulm City Library - Event notice reading with Ursula Krechel
• Ulm Lyriksommer 2026 - Program and opening with Ursula Krechel
• Ulm City Library - Accessibility, parking, public transport, and contact
• Ulm City Library - Directions
• Wallstein Verlag - Author Ursula Krechel
• German Academy for Language and Literature - Georg Büchner Prize to Ursula Krechel