The writers Kaveh Akbar [Iran/USA], Michel Faber [NL/UK] and Chibundu Onuzo [NGA/UK] share the experience of having moved to another country during their childhood or adolescence, thus growing up in at least two different cultures. The concept of "Third Culture Kids" suggests that such experiences of movement, migration and cultural change evoke a specific intercultural sensitivity, a kind of "third culture" best understood in terms of transculturality. Two of the Cluster’s postdoctoral researchers, Dustin Breitenwischer and Lindsey Drury, will join the authors to discuss their formative trans- and intercultural entanglements. How did socialisation in more than one culture impact the writing of these authors? Do they relate their experience and their literary work to the framework of "Third Culture Kids"? How does one’s biography inform literary production? How can we navigate in and between cultures? Which experiences are shared by the authors, and which rule out a comparative perspective?

Moderated by Toby Ashraf, "Third Culture Kids" – Writing between cultures engages with the issue of transcultural identities at the intersection of literary practice and research in the humanities.

As a part of our partnership with the Internationales Literaturfestival Berlin, EXC Temporal Communities will also be holding an event for local school children, exploring the concept of "Third Culture Kids" with Berlin youth. This event will take place on September 13, 2019 (reserved for school classes).