About this Event
FRIEDRICH DÜRRENMATT – 100 YEAR ANNIVERSARY
The Swiss Embassies in Ottawa and Washington, D.C., as well as the Consulates General of Switzerland in Atlanta, Chicago, Montreal, San Francisco, and Vancouver are celebrating throughout the year the 100th Anniversary of the novelist, playwright, and essayist Friedrich Dürrenmatt.
NORTH AMERICA ESSAY CONTEST – AWARD CEREMONY
Friedrich Dürrenmatt often raised his voice on social concerns with plays, essays, and presentations. He tackled on many matters such as the rise of technology, the church, and even pandemics. Some of the issues Dürrenmatt wrote about, are still relevant today. To dive deeper into finding links between current issues and Dürrenmatt’s concerns, the Swiss Embassies in Washington, D.C., and Ottawa, and the Swiss Consulates General in Atlanta, Chicago, Montreal, and Vancouver organized an essay contest.
German scholars in the US as well as in Canada were asked to write about one of Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s literary works with regards to a current social issue.
Join the event to get to know the winners of the contest and to hear some of their ideas.
PANEL DISCUSSION DÜRRENMATT & TECHNOLOGY
Directly following the award ceremony we host a discussion on Dürrenmatt & Technology where our invitees will focus on Dürrenmatt‘s life, his published books in the US, and his thoughts on technology and science as well as how these affected his writing and stories.
The panelists are:
Peter Blackstock – VP, Deputy Publisher Grove Atlantic Publishing House
Anna von Planta – Editor of Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Diogenes Publishing House
Prof. Dale Adams – Lecturer in German language, literature and culture at the University of Western Australia
The discussion will be hosted by Jale Yoldas, Cultural and Public Diplomacy Officer at the Swiss Consulate General in San Francisco.
ON DÜRRENMATT
Friederich Dürrenmatt, one of Switzerland’s most significant 20th century intellectuals, who was born in a small town close to Bern, didn’t leave traces only in Switzerland. Throughout Dürrenmatt’s life, his works were translated in over 40 languages, which makes him the most translated Swiss writer to date. He wrote plays that were enacted in all parts of the world including New York’s Broadway. Even Hollywood took inspiration from his novels creating the 2001 movie The Pledge, directed by Sean Penn starring Jack Nicholson.
For more information on Dürrenmatt visit the page of the Centre Dürrenmatt in Neuchâtel: https://www.cdn.ch/cdn/en/home/friedrich-duerrenmatt.html