Topic
Write your way through the nineties!
The participatory project builds on the widespread interest in autobiographical writing to open up new perspectives on life during the period of upheaval that followed 1989. To this end, writers and writing teachers are offering creative writing courses at various locations across eastern Germany.
A course for the creative documentation of experiences of transformation
The 1990s were a time of upheaval and collapse that left its mark on every East German. The participatory project brings together contemporary witnesses, academics, and writers, and approaches the diverse experiences of upheaval through methods of autobiographical writing. In cooperation with public organisations and associations, writing courses are held in Saxony and Brandenburg in which interested individuals can learn about and try out various creative writing techniques. With literary formats, »Write your way through the nineties!« brings forth a special type of source for contemporary historical research. The resulting texts will be presented to the public in readings and pop-up exhibitions and archived for future research on the period of transformation.
The experimental project is being realised together with the Leibniz Institute for Spatial Social Research (IRS) in Erkner. It is funded by the Leibniz Lab ‘Social Upheavals and Transformations’.
Dates
Writing workshop with Constanze John, Altes Gasometer in ZWICKAU:
1.3.2025 - 29.3.2025
Writing workshop with Katharina Bendixen, Historisches Rathaus in GRIMMA:
3.4.2025 - 23.6.2025
Writing workshop with Angelika Nguyen, Lebenszentrum »Thomas Müntzer« in REICHENBERG (MÄRKISCHE HÖHE):
26.4.2025 - 18.5.2025
Writing workshop with Dorothee Riese and Sabine Stach, Volkshochschule in LEIPZIG:
9.4.2025 - 11.6.2025
Writing workshop with Dörte Grimm, Vereinshaus am Gröper Tor in WITTSTOCK/DOSSE:
21.5.2025 - 18.6.2025
Readings
Some texts were presented at public readings in Leipzig and Zwickau.
Texts in the Archive
The texts produced in the writing workshops were included as a special collection in the life-historical Archive (LGA), run by the Institute for Saxon History and Folklore (ISGV) in Dresden, where they are now available for research purposes.
