Heike Geißler and Sharon Dodua Otoo - "Michaela Kohlhaas" and "So, in etwa, ist es geschehen"

This event takes place as a hybrid event.

Thursday, 17 September 2026 / 7.30 pm
Heike Geißler: "Michaela Kohlhaas" | Sharon Dodua Otoo: "So, in etwa, ist es geschehen"
Moderation: Elena Witzeck
In-person ticket: 12 / 8 euros · Streaming ticket: 5 euros · Streaming subscription: 50 euros

Heike Geißler and Sharon Dodua Otoo read from novels in which women break out of their former lives. In Geißler's "Michaela Kohlhaas" (Suhrkamp), a previously unremarkable deputy cemetery administrator walks away from her old life and becomes a rebel - driven by injustice and arbitrary authority, much like in Kleist's original. In Otoo's "So, in etwa, ist es geschehen" (S. Fischer), Amata murders her boss: on a long car journey to the Baltic Sea, the boss's relentless chatter, the oppressive heat, and the weight of daily life as a Black woman in Germany push the situation to breaking point.

Both novels are deeply rooted in history while speaking to the present. The conversation is led by cultural journalist Elena Witzeck (F.A.Z.).