Halbzeiten – Burg Hülshoff

Football unites different people with different realities of life in the stadium, in front of screens or at public screenings: Origin, language and class do not seem to matter among football fans. Poetry in the form of fan chants, fan scarf slogans or stadium songs plays an important role in this special get-together.

With ‘HALBZEITEN’, the three literary institutions want to utilise the power of football and create a space to meet each other without making differences invisible. It's about communication, just like football. Because when the language we have learnt no longer knows what to do, it is sport or an artistic language that enables us to express the unspeakable. Poetry workshops for teenagers and young adults will take place at the three project locations and will come together for the project finale in Berlin. There will also be a poetry half-time programme in which poets from different languages will pass the ball to each other. All of the poetry developed as part of the project deals with the phenomenon of half-time - the in-between.

25/26 May: Poetry writing workshop

In the poetry writing workshop at Haus Rüschhaus, you will work on your own texts together with spoken word artist Tanasgol Sabbagh and rapper Teleluke.
You will learn various writing techniques and how to perform your texts around the theme of half-time.
The final part of the writing workshop will take place in Berlin during the summer holidays from 9 to 11 August. Here you will meet other writers from Augsburg and Lübeck.
No prior knowledge is necessary. The writing workshop including the trip to Berlin is free of charge.

You can find the event here.

22/23 June: Poetry writing workshop

In the poetry writing workshop at Haus Rüschhaus, you will work on your own texts together with spoken word artist Tanasgol Sabbagh and rapper Teleluke.
You will learn various writing techniques and how to perform your texts around the theme of half-time.
The final part of the writing workshop will take place in Berlin during the summer holidays from 9 to 11 August. Here you will meet other writers from Augsburg and Lübeck.
No prior knowledge is necessary. The writing workshop including the trip to Berlin is free of charge.

You can find the event here.

23 June: Poetry & Public Screening

A stadium in summer. Bright green pitch and 22 people in constant motion. Surrounded by full stands of football fans, singing and cheering. They hold up fan scarves and banners, expressing their excitement and feelings. The half-time break is a welcome interlude.
Public screening of the European Men's Football Championship in Burgpark. On 23 June, we will be showing the last game of the group stage between Switzerland and Germany, accompanied by poetry. Poets (Meloe Gennai, Odile Kennel, Peter Mackay, Kinga Tóth) have dedicated themselves to the phenomenon of half-time. We hear Hungarian, French, German, English and Scottish Gaelic. Because fan chants and poetry are not far apart.

You can find the event here.

Halbzeiten is a project of Burg Hülshoff - Center for Literature (CfL), Günter Grass-Haus and Brechtfestival Augsburg and is supported by the Stiftung Fußball & Kultur EURO 2024 GmbH with federal funds by decision of the German Bundestag. Halbzeiten is an official contribution to the art and culture programme for UEFA EURO 2024TM.