Name: Comic Reading and Conversation with Melanie Garanin 'My Friend Rilke'
Start: 2026-11-12T20:00:00+01:00
End: 2026-11-12T22:00:00+01:00
Location: Stadt- und Landesbibliothek Potsdam

Rilke seen anew: Comic reading with Melanie Garanin in Potsdam

With My Friend Rilke, the City and State Library of Potsdam invites you to a comic reading that cleverly combines literature, drawing, and conversation. Melanie Garanin presents Rainer Maria Rilke not as a museal monument but as a living figure between language, emotion, and the present.

An evening for readers who want to see literature too

The event coincides with the 100th anniversary of Rilke's death and focuses precisely on where great literature once again creates connections today: in the exchange about images, biography, and poetic effect. At the center is a poetically condensed comic narrative that brings Rilke into a modern perspective, appealing to both connoisseurs and new discoverers.

Melanie Garanin: Illustrator, storyteller, literary mediator

Born in 1972 and trained in animation in Potsdam-Babelsberg, Melanie Garanin is one of the prominent voices in the German-speaking comic and illustration scene. She became known for the graphic novel NILS. About Death and Rage. And about Courage. as well as Totally Crazy?!. Her work shows how precisely graphic literature transforms emotion, memory, and linguistic art into a multifaceted narrative.

Rilke between love story and contemporary perspective

My Friend Rilke tells of Ellen, who researches for an article about Rilke and suddenly meets the poet in person. From this encounter develops a love story between two times, two worldviews, and two forms of understanding. This is exactly where the literary quality of this evening lies: The work opens a path to Rilke that does not appear academically distant but emotionally and intellectually engaging at the same time.

Reading atmosphere in the Education Forum

The City and State Library of Potsdam at Kanal 47 provides the perfect setting for a literary experience with a conversational character. The venue stands for reading promotion, cultural education, and an intimate atmosphere, where voice, image, and audience come close together. The evening will be moderated by Gesa Ufer, which adds additional orientation and depth to the discussions.

What visitors can expect

Those who attend this event will not experience a classical reading in the strict sense but an author encounter with comic, conversation, and literary context. It is about Rilke, about drawing as a narrative form, and about the question of how contemporary literature engages in new dialogue with a canonical poet. An evening for all who want to not only read literature but also experience it sensually.

It is worth attending for Rilke lovers, comic fans, and anyone looking for literary events with depth. Mark the date now and experience the comic reading live.