Books under trees

Lauschig is a literature festival in the countryside. It invites you to the most beautiful and not always publicly accessible gardens of Winterthur and offers, among other things, slam poetry, mystery walks, a trip to the Kiental, foxes, fireflies and always music.

Last week's programme included a reading with Julia Weber and Heinz Helle. I go there because I like readings and have a soft spot for gardens. If both come together, all the better. The location is well chosen: a red-painted villa with white windows, a beautiful private garden, though it is a rather cool evening in this hot summer. The moderator Nina Brunner asks first: "How are you?" and Julia Weber answers: "Very well. Tomorrow Heinz will receive an award and I'll give the laudation," which goes down well, the mood of the 200 or so guests is cozy in keeping with the festival's name. The two present their new novels, which is also interesting because they are a married couple and have written about each other. I imagine what it would be like if I wrote about my wife and she wrote about me. I would rather not like it, it would be too private for me. But the two of them say it's not a problem because they have become characters: A couple with two children who find meaning and livelihood in words like other people in other professions. During the break, people stroll through the park, there is sparkling wine and seltzer, everything very dignified and in keeping with the name of the festival, cosy, idyllic and picturesque. At home, I look up other meanings of cozy in the dictionary and find an astonishing 375 synonyms: cosy, stimulating, charming - it all fits this evening.

In the next garden reading, the author and musician Sarah Elena Müller and the novelist Lukas Bärfuss will present their new novels on 24 August. Both tell the story of a girl. One disappears in Italy, the other seeks refuge with an angel.

With "Lauschig, klar und deutlich", the festival also offers a series of half-hour free readings (with a final collection) in the courtyards of the city library and the Gewerbemuseum. This time the slam poet Florian Wintels, the spoken word author Jule Weber, the author Uta Köbernick and the performer Anna Frey are invited. In addition, various walks are on the programme: a night stroll through Winterthur to foxes, bats and glowworms or a garden walk and an excursion to the birds of the city. The path also leads beyond Winterthur to the Kiental, where the author Silvia invites you to a mystery hike. Which, at least linguistically, might be less cozy.