Contemporary German-language literature will be showcased at the 31st Budapest Book Festival, with Germany, Austria and Switzerland serving as joint guests of honour at the event from 1–4 October at Hungexpo.
The festival will bring together internationally recognized German-language authors, emerging writers, authors with Hungarian roots, children’s and young adult writers, academic authors and representatives of German-language literature in Hungary, the organizers said in a statement on Tuesday.
The programme will highlight the diversity of contemporary German-language literature, with themes including family and historical memory, migration, minority identity and social inequality. Alongside readings and author events, visitors will be able to attend family programmes, literary therapy sessions and calligraphy workshops.
Swiss author Christian Kracht, one of the best-known figures in contemporary German-language prose, will present his novel Eurotrash. The darkly humorous tragicomedy follows a mother and son travelling through Switzerland as they confront their family’s troubled past.
Austrian writer Dimitré Dinev, who was born in Bulgaria, will present his multigenerational family novel The Age of the Brave, which explores memory, heritage, crossing borders and the courage required to start over. The book won the Austrian Book Prize in 2025.
‘Austrian writer Dimitré Dinev, who was born in Bulgaria, will present his multigenerational family novel The Age of the Brave’
Swiss author Nelio Biedermann, who has Hungarian roots, will introduce Lazarus, a novel tracing the story of a Hungarian aristocratic family across several generations up to 1956.
Eugen Ruge, winner of the 2011 German Book Prize, will appear with Pompeii – Five Discourses by Jovna. Meanwhile, Serbian-born Hungarian Swiss author Melinda Nadj Abonji’s work focuses on migration, multilingualism and the experience of searching for a home.
Ukrainian writer Natalka Sniadanko will attend as a guest of the Austrian delegation and read from her novel The Archduke’s Silk Dressing Gown. Austrian author Johanna Sebauer’s Nincshof, meanwhile, takes readers to a small village on the Austro-Hungarian border.
The festival will also welcome Vienna-born Gábor Fónyad, who has Hungarian ancestry. His Hungarian-language novel When Jesus Was in the Hortobágy examines the boundaries between faith and fanaticism, as well as between truth and madness.
The psychological effects of digitalization will be explored from both literary and scientific perspectives. German author Martina Hefter’s Go Went Gone, which won the German Book Prize in 2024, addresses care, loneliness and digital identity.
Austrian German Book Prize winner Tonio Schachinger will present Real Time, a novel set in an elite boarding school in Vienna that explores growing up, freedom and social expectations. German neuroscientist Martin Korte will discuss the effects of constant digital stimulation on the brain in his book Mind Versus Machine.
The festival will also feature programmes for younger audiences, ranging from discussions of emotional and social issues to new adult fiction. German author Kristina Moninger will appeal to young adults with novels combining emotional themes and suspense.
The festival will also examine German-language literature in minority-language settings, featuring authors from Liechtenstein, German-speaking Belgium and Hungary’s German-speaking community.
A bibliodrama programme based on contemporary children’s and young adult literature will be among the events. Family programmes will explore emotions, family relationships, intergenerational connections, community and history in an accessible way.
The Frankfurt Book Fair will also join the four-day programme. The joint guest-of-honour programme of Germany, Austria and Switzerland is being organized in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut Budapest, the German Foreign Office, the Austrian Cultural Forum and the Embassy of Switzerland.
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