As part of our ‘Radikal Freindlich’ salon, we invite you to Balmoral on 31 October 2025 at 7 p.m. for a reading and discussion with author, musician and singer Manja Präkels.

Born in Zehdenick/Mark in 1974, Manja Präkels studied philosophy, sociology and Eastern European history after working for several years as a local reporter in Brandenburg. In 2001, she initiated the first Erich Mühsam Festival in Berlin and founded the band DER SINGENDE TRESEN in the same year. In addition to her work as an author, musician and singer, she is responsible for concepts and their musical implementation at WORT & TON.

For the second volume of the ‘haɪ̯maːtn̩ series „Gegen den Wind Atmen“ („Breathing against the Wind”), Manja Präkels travels to Frankfurt an der Oder and thereby reaches further stations in her life to date. Her literary reportage is complemented by photographs by Christian Borchert and was translated by Faith Ann Gibson.

The ‘haɪ̯maːtn̩ publication series understands the German term Heimat(home/homeland) in the plural and as a verb. It is published by Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW) in collaboration with Merve Verlag, with volumes by Rebecca Ajnwojner, Max Czollek & Ibou Coulibaly Diop, Ndey B. Jammeh-Siegel & Diana Ejaita, Björn Kuhligk, Sharon Dodua Otoo, Manja Präkels, and others.

• “I stand on the riverbank of the frozen Oder. Breathe. In. In. In. Can’t get the air pushed out of my lungs again. Instead, a pupil’s question continues circling in my head: ‘Frankfurt was in the GDR?’ With genuine astonishment in his eyes. My body remembers one of those roll calls in winter. Heads bowed. Fear of being reprimanded. And of being commended. The liberating bell. Breath out. Out. Out. The Oder flows into the Baltic Sea. My thoughts follow the fish through space and time.“
  — Manja Präkels, from Breathing Against the Wind