Roland Schimmelpfennig to be a guest at the Gothenburg Book Fair’s Drama theme

The Gothenburg Book Fair will take place in Sweden from September 25th to 28th, 2025, with the Estonian Theatre Agency as a main partner in the Drama theme. On the occasion of the International Theatre Day, the first guest of the theme was announced: the German playwright and writer Roland Schimmelpfennig.

With Drama as this year’s theme, the Book Fair brings the performing arts to the exhibition floor and explores how playwrights use their craft to illuminate the pressing issues of our time. Through encounters between novelists, playwrights, and actors, the programme investigates the relationship between plays and novels while tackling life’s big themes: love, existence, and the future.

Roland Schimmelpfennig is one of the most recognised playwrights in Europe, with his plays translated into more than 40 languages. His works are known for their poetic style, fragmented narratives, and exploration of existential and political questions of today. He has written around thirty plays, including The Golden Dragon (2009), The Crack in the World (2019), and the magnificent antique project Anthropolis I-V (Deutsches Schauspielhaus 2023-25). Schimmelpfennig has received several prestigious awards, including the Else Lasker-Schüler Playwright Award and the Nestroy Prize. In 2024 Roland Schimmelpfennig was announced "Playwright of the Year" by the German theatre critics.

At the Book Fair, he will meet an audience that extends far beyond the traditional theatre audience – book lovers, authors, researchers, librarians, and teachers all gather here. Through the theme of Drama and Schimmelpfennig’s participation, more people may discover drama as a literary genre and its unique ability to portray the human experience.

First announced at last year’s closing press conference, the Drama theme has now evolved into a Nordic-Baltic collaboration. All countries from the Nordic and Baltic regions are represented. The theme is organised by Colombine Theatre Agency (Sweden), Dramatikkens hus (Norway), Eesti Teatri Agentuur (Estonia), Theatre Info Finland (TINFO), and Gothenburg Book Fair, in cooperation with Latvian Theatre Workers Union and the Lithuanian Theatre Information Centre, with additional support from Danske Dramatikere (Denmark) and Performing Arts Iceland.

On May 27th, 2025, the full seminar programme and further guests will be presented during the official programme launch.

More information here: https://goteborg-bookfair.com/

In the photo Roland Schimmelpfennig. Photo by Adriana Jacome