7–8
2025
33. Open Mike – Competition for Young Literature
What you see here are the graphic representations of the 12 finalist texts from last year’s Open Mike. In the new design, they continue to live on in the poster motif in the following year. They unfold and open doors—just as Open Mike has done since 1993.
It not only opens the first doors of the literary world for the participants, but also opens concrete and imaginary spaces for the audience. In the past, these were the hall of the WABE in Prenzlauer Berg and, for many years, the Heimathafen Neukölln; this year, for the first time, it is the Kuppelhalle of silent green in Wedding.
With great excitement, we’re thrilled to invite you once again to discover new poetry and prose on the first weekend of November and to dive headfirst into the Open Mike experience for a full day. We’ve already celebrated 32 competitions—and as you may have heard, holding a 33rd Open Mike was at one point uncertain. Thanks to support from the German Literature Fund, we’re happy to say it’s happening again. We’re already working on making Open Mike possible next year.
The 12 finalists of 2025 are:
For Poetry:
Anastasia Averkova, Julia Blöcher, Dominik Kohl, Nea Schmidt
For Prose:
Hannah Beckmann, Lilli Biller, Minda Deol, Amelie Hermann, Tabea Kroll, Emma Martschinke, Cornelius Müller, Lea Marie Rauser