A unique place for contemporary poetry since 1991, currently with this program:
What use is it to me?
Wo bleibt das Licht
An evening with Ilma Rakusa
Reading
Talk
Akademie der Künste
Voicing the Struggle
Spoken-word program accompanying the exhibition
Performance
Reading
Weiter im Text
Schreibwerkstatt bis 18 Jahre
Poetische Bildung
Lyrikklub
Schreibwerkstatt ab 18 Jahren
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/
→
Aga Ujma at the last Vocations evening © Andrea Vollmer
Award Ceremony of the Cave Canem Poetry Prize © Natalia Reich
Brandon Kilbourne at the Award Ceremony of the Cave Canem Poetry Prize © Natalia Reich
Verlagshaus Berlin celebrates their birthday at Haus für Poesie © Natalia Reich
Award Ceremony of this year's Open Mike © Natalia Reich
Workshop Wald pflanzen, Wald schreiben © Andrea Vollmer
This year's winner of the Georg-Büchner-Preis: Ursula Krechel © Natalia Reich
An evening in honour of Emily Dickinson © Natalia Reich
Claudia Rankine at Poesiefestival Berlin 2025 © Natalia Reich
Writing Identities at Poesiefestival Berlin 2025 © Natalia Reich
Performance by Farkhondeh Shahroudi at Poesiefestival Berlin 2025 © Natalia Reich
Zebra Poetry Film Festival took place during Poesiefestival Berlin © Natalia Reich
Abdalrahman Alqalaq at the reading of Lyrik-Empfehlungen 2025 © Natalia Reich
Our series at Deutsche Oper Berlin comes to an end © Natalia Reich
AVRINA at the UNESCO-Welttag der Poesie © Natalia Reich
Jan Wagner bei der Gedenkveranstaltung zu Jürgen Becker © Natalia Reich
Haus für Poesie in Berlin stands for unique, often multilingual poetic event formats. We regard poetry as an independent art form that goes beyond the traditional literary event. Due to its openness and its permeability to other art forms, poetry is not limited to readings, but opens up many exciting possibilities for creatively engaging with spaces and practices.
In addition to our extensive Monthly Program, workshops in Poetry in Education and the globally unique platform Lyrikline are central to our work at Haus für Poesie. We also organize one of Europe’s most renowned and largest poetry festivals, Poesiefestival Berlin, as well as Zebra Poetry Film Festival, one of the oldest international festivals for poetry films.
Since 1993, Haus für Poesie has hosted Open Mike, an important competition for young literature. In addition, since 2023, the series Vocations focuses on all forms of vocal and musical practices rooted in poetry.
These and many other temporary projects have been continuously developed since 1991, when Haus for Poesie was known as literaturWERKstatt berlin. Many of our projects are based on concepts conceived collaboratively with artists and curators in open, participatory, and transdisciplinary processes. We present poetry in all languages, translated into both German and English, and actively promote German-language poetry as well as poets from around the world through our extensive cooperation network and our online platform Lyrikline.
Haus für Poesie is the only publicly funded literary institution in Germany dedicated solely to poetry. It receives funding from the Department of Culture and Social Cohesion of the State of Berlin and is operated by the Non-Profit Association Literaturbrücke Berlin e.V.
News
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Zebra Poetry Film Festival 2026
Open Call for the best Poetry FilmsShort films based on poems, produced after January 1, 2024, and with a maximum length of 12 minutes, can be submitted. All languages are welcome. … Read more
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2025 Cave Canem Poetry Prize Reading in Berlin
Honoring Brandon Kilbourne for his debut collection, Natural HistoryA cornerstone of this mission is the Cave Canem Poetry Prize, awarded annually to Black poets who have not yet published a book. This year’s award … Read more
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33. Open Mike:
Auszeichnungen für Hannah Beckmann und Nea SchmidtDie Jury – bestehend aus Yevgeniy Breyger, Jackie Thomae und Dana Vowinckel – zeichnete zwei Autorinnen aus:Ein Preis für Lyrik ging an Nea Schmidt … Read more
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Vocations – open space
Mit ukrainischer Musik und PoesieDas ukrainische Vokalensemble Alter Ratio zählt zu den spannendsten europäischen Formationen der zeitgenössischen Vokalmusik weltweit. Unter der … Read more
Blog for Poetry
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Poesiefestival-Poster 2025 at Antwerp Poster Festival
Out of 1,896 submissions, 50 posters were selectedWe are delighted that our beautiful poster from last year’s poetry festival — designed by Lennart Lofink and Philip Jursch of AG Grafik — was … Read more
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Die Young und Open Poems
für das Jahr 2026 stehen festDas sind die diesjährigen Young und Open Poems! Read more
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Die Open Mike-Finalist:innen
im InterviewPlease note that the interviews were only conducted in German.Um die Open Mike-Finalist:innen besser kennenzulernen, haben wir Interviews mit ihnen … Read more
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Die Debüts der Open Mike-Finalist:innen
seit 2024Lange Jahre wurden die Debüts der ehemaligen Open Mike-Finalist:innen auf dem damaligen Blog des Open Mike veröffentlicht. Denn wir fiebern nicht nur … Read more
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All information about the program, festivals and news.
Program January / February
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