30^th Leukerbad International Literary Festival

Collaborations

Every year, partner institutions from Switzerland and abroad contribute to a rich and high-caliber program at the Leukerbad Literary Festival through joint projects, collaborations, and networking. In 2015, the Odessa Literary Festival was launched as a co-production of the Leukerbad International Literary Festival and the International Literature Festival Berlin.

SLI – Swiss Literature Institute
Swiss Literary Archives (SLA)
Advice for creative professionals: Suisseculture Sociale
Spycher: Literature Prize Leuk
The Centre de traduction littéraire de Lausanne – CTL

Our Network

LCB Literarisches Colloquium Berlin

Künstlerprogramm des DAAD Berlin

Centre de traduction littéraire de Lausanne – CTL

Spycher: Literature Prize Leuk

Schulhausroman / Roman d’école

Palais Valais

Fondation Rilke

Médiathèque Sion

MEEL

Internationales Literaturfestival Berlin

Kultur Wallis / Culture Valais

Reportagen

ZAP Brig / Orell Füssli

Swiss Literature Institute

Swiss Literary Archives (SLA)

Schweizerische Schillerstiftung

Sofalesungen / Lectures Canap / Letture sul Sofà

Suisseculture Sociale

CH Netzwerk, network of swiss literary festivals

SLI – Swiss Literature Institute

This year, the Swiss Literature Institute is celebrating its anniversary. It looks back on twenty years of contributing ideas, shaping and experiencing contemporary literature, and on the diverse texts and voices that began at the Institute or spent part of their journey in Biel.
And even in this anniversary year, “Literary Writing” is not standing still: under the title “unterwegs” (on the move), students are exploring new formats and locations this year and setting literature in motion. They can thus be experienced through texts or workshops at various locations across Switzerland. As part of this new collaboration with the Leukerbad Literature Festival, they will be travelling – together with Peter Stamm – students from the writing workshop “Where does a text begin?” will present excerpts from the workshop context.
The Swiss Literature Institute in Biel offers new literary voices a place where they can develop and deepen their writing practice. Since 2006, it has been possible to study “Literary Writing” as part of a Bachelor’s degree. Through collaboration with other writers and guests, in workshops and critical reading courses, students can explore writing in all its diversity of word, style and genre over the course of three years. Writing takes place in one of the two working languages, French or German. However, the bilingual environment also aims to encourage openness towards other languages.
The program is unique in Switzerland. It provides space for exchange and allows time for working on one’s own text as well as for discussions with other writers, both on campus and beyond. The Literature Institute is part of the Bern University of the Arts (HKB) and, within this diverse environment, also seeks exchange with other arts such as music, fine arts or theatre.

Swiss Literary Archives (SLA)

Dusty, at least somewhat out of touch with reality, or even downright elitist – these prejudices, which were once partly justified, do not apply to the Swiss Literary Archives’ current activities. Even its origins set a different tone: the SLA was founded on the initiative of Friedrich Dürrenmatt, who bequeathed his estate to the Swiss Confederation in 1989, on the condition that a national literary archive be established. Since 1991, the SLA has been part of the Swiss National Library, and today boasts a collection of over 450 archives and estates. It is a national memory institution for the literatures of Switzerland and of authors in exile; it documents literary output in Switzerland and relating to Switzerland. The Swiss Literary Archives thus establishes a representative collection of literary holdings from the 20^th and 21^st centuries and continuously processes them, taking into account current issues such as digitisation, diversity and marginalisation. Outreach through public events, conferences, exhibitions, research projects and publications is a central pillar of its daily work.
The annual readings at the Leukerbad International Literature Festival are, so to speak, blossoms that accumulate over time in the Swiss Literary Archives, in the form of correspondence, photographs, media reports and promotional materials, as well as audio and video recordings. Some examples: a tribute in 1999 to mark Paul Nizon’s 70th birthday; readings and workshops with Ilma Rakusa, Christina Viragh and Pierre Imhasly; correspondence and projects with Rosemarie Pagnard, Peter K. Wehrli, Reto Hänny, Jean-Luc Benoziglio and Christoph Geiser. And in the archive donations from Lukas Bärfuss, Iso Camartin, Daniel de Roulet, Martin R. Dean, Eleonore Frey, Thomas Hürlimann, Birgit Kempker, Jürg Laederach, Helen Meier, Klaus Merz, Isolde Schaad, Mikhail Shishkin, Ruth Schweikert, Jörg Steiner, Aglaja Veteranyi, Urs Widmer and others. Discussions are underway regarding the acquisition of the archive covering the first 30 years of the Literature Festival – a step that would complete the documentation.
At this year’s festival, Lucas Marco Gisi, Director of the Swiss Literary Archives, will, together with Désirée Reynolds and Jonas Lüscher, explore the possibilities, conditions and limitations of archives, and, together with Peter Weber and Christian Döring, bring archival work to life using the example of “The Weathermaker”.

Advice for creative professionals: Suisseculture Sociale

Are AHV contributions due on book sales, and if so, how do I actually pay them? As a self-employed artist, how can I make provisions for my retirement? What do I need to bear in mind if I give up my “day job” to finish my next manuscript? Suisseculture Sociale is here to discuss such questions and, ideally, to answer them. For everyone working in the cultural sector, available at any time and on site at the Leukerbad Literature Festival on the last weekend in June.
Suisseculture Sociale is an umbrella organisation of professional associations that has been addressing issues of social security for cultural professionals since 1999. Since autumn 2025, Suisseculture Sociale has been establishing the National Competence Centre for Work in the Cultural Sector on behalf of the Federal Office of Culture. In this role, Suisseculture Sociale will also be present in Leukerbad: to hold discussions, to connect people, or to provide brief consultations on employment or social insurance matters.

Spycher: Literature Prize Leuk

The Spycher: Literature Prize Leuk is awarded annually by the Leuk Castle Foundation and remains unique in its format: The prize winners are invited back to Leuk time and again over a period of five years. During this time, special bonds form with the town and its people – and it is not uncommon for these to develop into long-lasting friendships.
Felicitas Hoppe, for instance, has been returning to Leuk regularly for years and has paid a lasting literary tribute to the town with her story Der beste Platz der Welt (The Best Place in the World). Thomas Hettche, for his part, sets his novel Sinkende Sterne (Falling Stars) in the Valais. These examples show just how much this special literary prize creates space for encounter, inspiration and mutual appreciation – and many more stories could be added.
In 2026, the Spycher: Leuk Literary Prize will celebrate its 25th anniversary. For a quarter of a century, the prize has honoured significant voices in contemporary literature whilst creating a space for exchange between authors and the public. Among the laureates is the Hungarian writer László Krasznahorkai, who has since been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature – a striking testament to the international reach of the authors honored in Leuk.
To mark the anniversary, the 2026 award ceremony will be accompanied by readings and discussions with former laureates.
The Spycher Prize laureates are: Zsófia Bán, Lukas Bärfuss, Joanna Bator, Marcel Beyer, John Burnside (1955–2024), Mircea Cărtărescu, Radka Denemarková, Ulrike Draesner, Gerhard Falkner, Lavinia Greenlaw, Durs Grünbein, Felicitas Hoppe, Stefan Hertmans, Thomas Hettche, Michael Hofmann, Barbara Honigmann, Helena Janeczek, Abbas Khider, Barbara Köhler (1959–2021), László Krasznahorkai, Thomas Lehr, Sibylle Lewitscharoff (1954–2023), Jonas Lüscher, Martin Mosebach, Marie NDiaye, Ulrich Peltzer, Michael Roes, Daniel de Roulet, Gilles Rozier, Judith Schalansky, Mikhail Shishkin, Aleš Šteger, Katharina Schultens, Alissa Walser, Iris Wolff and Adam Zagajewski (1945–2021).

The jury – comprising Christian Döring, Sabine Dörlemann, Stephan Bader and Thomas Geiger – will select the new winner in June.

The Centre de traduction littéraire de Lausanne – CTL

The Centre de traduction littéraire de Lausanne (CTL) was founded in 1989 with the aim of providing a platform for discussion on literary translation, whilst also fostering dialogue between theory and practice and amongst translators. Its scope of activity is broad and varied: in addition to conferences and academic research projects at the University of Lausanne, the CTL organises public readings featuring authors and translators from all languages. Today more than ever, the CTL is committed to those who write and read translations. Together, we discover the world’s literatures, the languages and voices of writers in all their unique, original and distinctive diversity.
The CTL’s website features up-to-date information on various aspects of literary translation for emerging and professional translators (workshops, readings, news from the profession). As part of the partnership established in 2010, which aims to promote exchange between Switzerland’s linguistic regions, the CTL is inviting author Anna Ruchat and her translator Barbara Sauser to the Leukerbad Literature Festival.