The Poetry Project began in autumn 2015 as a small neighborhood initiative and received great support right from the beginning. The director of Freiraum in der Box in Berlin-Friedrichshain, Carolina Mojto, provided the stage for our first reading. The overwhelming response encouraged us to continue. Shortly afterwards, private donors made it possible to make the poems available in print as an anthology. The director of the international literature festival berlin, Ulrich Schreiber, opened the program to our young poets in 2016, making their touching texts accessible to a large audience for the first time. Our sponsors, the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth in the federal program »Demokratie leben!« and the Federal Agency for Civic Education as well as the Postcode Lottery believed in the effectiveness of this initiative and helped to replicate the project dozens of times and nationwide. In this way, we reached thousands of young people with our poetic dialogue workshops. The chairman of the Else Lasker-Schüler Society in Wuppertal, Hajo Jahn, championed our authors as winners of the Else Lasker-Schüler Poetry Prize. This award is a reminder of poetry’s universal significance as a document of human tragedies. Private donations such as those from Annette Baumann from Nuremberg, Prof. Dr. Tilmann Mischkowsky from Kempten and Herbert Grönemeyer from Berlin helped us to keep going, even when our coffers were once again completely empty.

Sponsors and Supporters

Anwar Al-Bunni, Alugha, Gabriele von Arnim, Annette and Georg Baumann, Markus and Andrea Birner, Ilse-Lotte Bohl, Heiner Bontrup, Christina Bracken, Bundesministerium für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend im Bundesprogramm »Demokratie leben!«, Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung, Johannes and Ursula Burkhardt, Josefine Cox, Doris D. Cruz-Grote, Erika Ilse Czopnik-Ouannass, Prof. Dr. Bernhard Dotzler, Michael Dreyer, Dr. Max Erdmann, Denise Feldner, Frauke Glaubitz, Tanja Graf, Herbert Grönemeyer, Dr. Renate Haas, Hauptstadthelfer, Stephanie von Hayek, Thomas Heppener, Volker Honemann, Magdalena Huber-Ruppel, Friederike Huntebrinker mit Thomas Wehlau, Hajo Jahn, Andreas Jödecke, Maria Kathmann, Hamid Karzai, Wolfgang Keil, Daniela Kirchlechner, Herlinde Koelbl, Regina Koelbl, Robert Koelbl, Dr. Thomas Krüger, Swen Lorenz, Lars Machost, Ulrich Maly, Udo Freiherr von Massenbach, Prof. Dr. Ethel Matala de Mazza, Prof. Dr. Tilmann Mischkowsky, Carolina Mojto & Freiraum in der Box, Dr. Jutta Müller-Tamm, Andreas Mucke, Musik bewegt, Christina Nientimp, Edith Offermann, Doris Ostendorf and Josef Ostendorf, Houcine Ouannass, Claudia Palma, Dr. Günter, Irmgard, Anne and Anton Pelzl, Ute Pellmann, Holde Pinnow, Dr. Yvonne Poppek, Eva Quistorp, Thomas Rathnow, Gräfin Verena von Rödern, Susanne Röhrl, Iris and Thomas Ruttig, Joachim Sartorius, Aryana Sayeed, Klaus Schamberger, Ulrich Schreiber, Prof. Dr. Hans-Henning Schröder, Sabine Schülting, Ingo Schulze, Hanna Schygulla, Etta Scollo, Anette Seipp, Gudrun Senger, Anett Shabani, Dr. Rangin Spanta, Christine Thalmann, Anna E. Thiemann, Isabel Nogueira Batista Thiemann, Irene Unland-Schlebes-Brunow, Prof. Dr. Joseph Vogl, Markus Wanzeck, Günter Wallraff.

Contributors

2b4.design, Denis Abrahams, Jette Albrecht, Kyra Becht, Kerim Melik Becker, Stefan Berchtold, Imane Berradi, Susanne Bredehöft, Yevgeniy Breyger, Tristan Brusch, Davide Camplani, Laura Daub, Joe D'Arc, Alexander Deutsch, Selin Dörtkardeş, Stefan Drücke, Carolin Eirich, Steffi Eisenschenk, Cynthia Eka, Dalida El-Sari, Nele Engelbrecht, Thekla Engelin, May Erbel, Fred Ferschke, Lene Glinsky, Florian Goldberg, Lisa Gropengießer, Carrie Hampel, Joachim Helfer, Olaf Heuser, Timo Holzem, Viktor Lee Horre, Julia Huston, John Julian, Luis Kirchlechner, Pipa Kläy, Arnd Klawitter, Susanne Koelbl, Charlotte Kramer, Rabea Langner, Jutta Lehnert, Lars Machost, Konstanze Marth, Zoё Matt-Williams, Oliver Meskendahl, Prof. Dr. Tilman Mischkowsky, Carolina Mojto, Levke Nissen, Emeka Ogboh, Matthias Ohnsmann, Mohammed Othman Mohammed, Babua Pahari, Patricia Pahlke, Svenja Plannerer, Carmen Platonina, Dagmar Posselt, Arash Pourmoradi, Lina Rehbein, Elisabeth Renger, Adrian V. Rey, Max Rocholl, Rottkay, Theresa Rüger, Uta Rügner, Jawad Salkhordeh, Rezwan Samadi, Lydia Schamschula, Lena Scheitz, Marcus Scheller, Matthias Scherwenikas, Birgit Schmitz, Aarash D. Spanta, Agata Szymanska-Medina, Osama Al Talli, Steve Taylor, Anna Thiemann, Ilija Trojanow, Ali Tuzcu, Mai Wegener, Sonja Weissberg, Mira Wichers, Maxmarie Wilmoth, Antonia Witt, Thomas Witte, Leo Zimmermann, Jan Philipp Zymny.

Workshop Leaders

Kefah Ali Deeb, Mohammed Al Attar, Nerges Azizi, Kathrin Bach, Cornelia Becker, Irina Bondas, Julia Dorsch, Anne Genberg, Kathrin Hadba, Timo Hastenpflug, Sara Hauser, Sandra Hetzl, Anna Hetzer, Daniel Heuer, Tim Holland, Elnura Jivazada, Imad Karim, Louise Kenn, Stela Knezevic, Julia König, Niklas Krämer, Louisa Kropp, Bianca Lübbe, Nasir Nadeem, Laura Neumann, Hannah Newbery, Elisabeth Niestroj, Christa Pasch, Jascha Riesselmann, Luise Rist, Sophia Schlette, Meral Şimşek, Tobias Schramm, Jenifa Simon, Burkhard Schwerbrock, Charlotte Steinbock, Jessica Stukenberg, Ute Suter, Kristine Tauch, Irfan Taufik, Davide Torrente, Anna Velhorn, Saskia Warzecha, Marie Wilke.

Translators

Ibrahim Abdou, Sara Afgan, Noushin Afzali, Alireza Akbari, Saria Almarzook, Ferman Alkasari, Huda Alqaisi, Mustafa Al-Slaiman, Nerges Azizi, Nasrin Bassiri, Dr. Hanna Baumann, Alec Carver, Sara Ehsani, Mohamad Hajjar, Mahadi Hassan, Matthias Hänsch, Sozdar Jafarzadeh, Schore Mehrdju, Ahmed Methkal, Shahin Moghadasi, Katrin Nahidi, Razan Nassreddine, Ava Nojoumi, Jwan Othmann, Shabnam Parvaresh, Arash Pourmuradi, Shahrouz Rashid, Bryn Roberts, Gabi Saoumi, Qudsia Scharifi, Babak Shafieian, Lesia Shevtsova, Olena Slobodian, Aarash D. Spanta, John Sykes, Ali Taouil, Maxmarie Wilmoth, Sara Zandinia.

Institutions

Al-Farabi Musikakademie, Albert Gutzmann Schule Berlin, Arabische Buchmesse, Arbeit and Leben Mecklenburg Vorpommern e.V., AWO Fulda, AWO Nürnberg, Freiraum in der BOX, Buchhändlerkeller, Bund der Katholischen Jugend Berlin, Clärchens Ballhaus, Clay-Schule Berlin, Camp­One e.V., DAZ Berlin, Deutsches Historisches Museum, DRK Berlin, Emil-Fischer-Schule Berlin, Encourage e.V. Berlin, Erlanger Poetenfest, Freie Universität Berlin, Friedrich-Ebert-Oberschule Berlin, Friedenskreis Syrien, Fri-X BERG Jugendkunstschule, FU Berlin, Gasteig, Gemeinsam starten, Gemeinschaftsunterkunft Degener Straße Berlin, ­Gemeinschaft­s­unterkunft Straßburger Straße Berlin, Georg-Herwegh-Gymnasium Berlin, Gesamtschule Else Lasker-Schüler Wuppertal, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main, Gostner Hoftheater, Grassi Museum Leipzig, Greenpeace Hamburg, Gymnsaium Wendelstein, Hamburger Bahnhof, Haus für Poesie, Hebebühne Hamburg, Heimathafen Neukölln, Heinrich-Mann-Schule, Helene Lange-Schule Oldenburg, Horizonte Festival Koblenz, Indimaj e.V. Kassel, interkular, Internationaler Bund Halle, internationales literaturfestival berlin, In Via Köln, IsraAid, JUKZ Lahnstein, Kinder- und Jugendhaus, Mariaschutz Berlin, Klunkerkranich, Königin-Luise-Stiftung Dahlem, Kotti e.V., Kreuzberger Himmel, Leipziger Städtische Bibliotheken, Lettrétage, LesArt Berlin, Licht.blicke Festival Nürnberg, Literarisches Colloquium Berlin, Literaturfest München, Literaturhaus Berlin, Literaturhaus Frankfurt, MasterPeace Wiesbaden, Medico Frankfurt, Morgenland Festival, Münchner Bücherschau, Nachbarschafft e.V., Open Books, Opernhaus Wuppertal, OSZ Palmnicken Fürstenwalde, PANDA Platforma, PEN Berlin, Pfefferwerk Stadtkultur gGmbH Berlin, PUMPE Jugendkulturzentrum, RAA Brandenburg, Radialsystem, Radio Omniyat, Rückert-Schule Coburg, Schaubühne Berlin, Schloss Bröllin, Schreibende Schüler, Schwartzsche Villa, SOS-Familienzentrum Grimmen, Stadtmuseum Kassel, Stadthalle Hagen, Stadtteilzentrum Divan, Start ins Deutsche, Stiftung Flucht, Vertreibung und Versöhnung, Stiftung Literaturhaus, Stiftung Telefonseelsorge, St. Marien Osnabrück, talentCAMPus/VHS Berlin, THEO - Berlin-Brandenburgischer Preis für Junge Literatur, TIK e.V. Berlin, Unterwegs und Angekommen Leipzig, VHS Berlin, Was Geht?! Magazine, Werkraum Göttingen, Zazie-Kino Halle/Saale, ZEIK Kiel.

Would you like to support us? Even a small sum will help us to expand the circle of people we reach with our intercultural dialogue.