Epoque Hotels Announces LiteraturRaum – Authors’ Residency at the Bleibtreu Berlin

Boutique hotel invites international writers to stay in the German capital

The Hotel Bleibtreu, a member of the Epoque Hotels Collection in Berlin, welcomes authors from all over the world. Just in time for the opening of the international literature festival Berlin, which started on September 9th, the LiteraturRaum project was launched. The hotel, centrally located in the Western part of Berlin and close to famous Kurfuerstendamm, invites renowned international writers to reside in the Bleibtreu, each for a period of four to six weeks. The idea behind the project, which will stretch over the period of one full year, is to provide the authors with space and time for writing, further support the intercultural exchange of the arts and be inspired by the fresh look of the international authors on the German capital.

In order to let the public take part in this project the writers will regularly record their observations about their stay in Berlin in a blog on www.literaturraum.de. Each author will also leave behind a story, poem or essay as a keepsake, a “literary bedtime story”, for the hotel and guests. No restrictions for the writers regarding their topic guarantees for the artistic freedom of the writers. The collected works will be published as an anthology the following year, illustrated by artist Wilhelm Schlote, whose drawings have been published among others by Insel/Suhrkamp.

The first author to move into the Hotel Bleibtreu Berlin was the Australian poet Robert Gray on September 8^th. He is considered to be among the most important contemporary lyricists of its home country. More authors will be announced in the course of the project.

“Bleibtreu has been an attraction for artists since it opened in 1995. With our LiteraturRaum project, we want to make a statement for sustainable cultural engagement,” says David Weinberger, General Manager of the hotel. “At the same time, we are looking forward to new impetus, insight and attention for Berlin. Inspiration for ourselves, for our guests and everyone with an interest in the national capital.”

With the LiteraturRaum, the Hotel Bleibtreu in Berlin further builds on its reputation of being a property which is embracing the arts. Since its opening, numerous pieces of arts were integrated into the interior and exterior design of the hotel. The Bleibtreu thus turned into a piece of art in itself. The artist, as people say, is always searching for the extraordinary and small details in order to find true inspiration. He both finds them right where he rests his head to sleep – at the Bleibtreu Berlin…