With Ibtisam Azem, Bora Chung, and Shehan Karunatilaka

Who actually decides where reality ends and the magic begins? Authors Ibtisam Azem, Bora Chung, and Shehan Karunatilaka, whose award-winning texts play with elements of magical realism, discuss the genre’s legacy: Where does the tendency to exoticize the magical come from? In conversation, they sound out what criticism of an often-absurd reality resonates in their stories, what desires are expressed in the supernatural, and how helpful »magical realism« is as a label on the book market today.

Moderation: Ana Rocio Jouli

Language: English


The event is part of the special programme Echo. Echo: Magical Echoes at the international literature festival berlin 2023. The series is a cooperation between the "Temporal Communities" Cluster of Excellence and the ilb.