Good Books, Bad Times. Literature Against the Right-Wing Culture War.
In conversation with Verbrecher Verlag.
Christine Listau and Jörg Sundermeier (Verbrecher Verlag) will join Prof. Dr. Jörg Döring (University of Siegen) to discuss the current challenges facing the literary world amid an intensifying culture war. The evening will be moderated by Eve Obier (Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg). Doors open to the small theater (1st floor, LYZ) at 6:30 p.m.
The book industry is in the midst of a deep crisis. Again, still—it doesn’t matter; there’s always something going on. But it’s not just declining sales figures, printing bottlenecks, and changing reading habits that pose challenges for the industry. For about ten years now, right-wing publishers have been professionalizing their operations. They are increasingly targeting a broad audience and, with the tacit approval of the organizers, are making appearances at the major book fairs in Frankfurt and Leipzig. The racist, anti-LGBTQ+, and anti-Semitic content published by right-wing publishers normalizes group-focused hostility. Nevertheless, their books end up on bestseller lists, thereby claiming the attention that socially conscious books lack—books that bring marginalized issues to light and, outside the mainstream, promote ideas that make our society more diverse, respectful, and livable for everyone.
But the effects of the right-wing culture war have also been evident for years in the broader context of the book industry. In 2025, Verbrecher Verlag became the target of a right-wing smear campaign after the publisher received the prestigious German Publishing Prize. The accusation from the right-wing outrage: The federal government is using taxpayer money to subsidize far-left publishers. This year’s scandal surrounding Wolfram Weimers (Minister of State for Culture) and his interference in the jury’s decisions for the German Booksellers’ Prize has also shown that bookstores can no longer take for granted that they can rely on a jury independent of political influence.
In their more than 30 years of publishing history, Die Verbrecher have been through quite a lot—enough to fill a book. On October 27, we’d like to discuss the history of the publishing house and the challenges facing the literary world against the backdrop of an intensifying right-wing culture war.
In cooperation with Bücherkiste Bookstore, AStA University of Siegen, Kultur Siegen
