Memories
Lily Michaelidou and Nora Hadjisoteriou
Ideogramma, since the beginning of its literary events, in 2007, has had the good fortune to collaborate with the Goethe-Institut Cyprus in the production of consistently high-quality events, inviting to Cyprus very important poets and novelists from Germany. Today we look back on 14 years of constructive, fruitful and progressive cooperation.
Some of our noteworthy German guests were: Ian Wagner, Julian Heun, Nora Gomringer, Alex Burkhard, Alexander Filiuta, Christoph Peters, Sebastian Rapsahl, Ron Winkler, Björn Kuhligk, Tom Bresemann and others.
However, it would be good to focus on some of the events / collaborations – stations – with the Goethe-Institut Cyprus:
In 2008, in our first international event, To Be or Not to Be with the director of the then Goethe-Zentrum Mrs. Ute Woermann - Stylianou.
In 2014, at the event Poetry in Direct Dialogue with music, art, the sounds and smells of the mountain and the city with the director Mr. Björn Luley.
Another interesting occasion was our collaboration with the then director of the institute Mr. Johannes Dahl, with whom we initiated, in 2017, the first Poetry Slam Cyprus competition, which we have continued every year with great success.
In 2021, within the framework of the 5th International Literary Festival, to the land of Cyprus, we are organising an important event, dedicated to the world-famous German writer Bernhard Schlink.
With the current director Mrs. Karin Varga and the cultural department of the institute, we would characterize our cooperation for the last 5 years as not only professionally flawless, but also on a personal level, sympathetic and friendly.
The Goethe-Institut Cyprus plays an important role in the field of culture on our island. It is located at a crossroads of the divided city, which makes it possible to offer programs and bring people together on both sides. We hope to maintain, with the same intensity, this dynamic, interactive relationship with the Goethe-Institut as coordinator!