lit.eifel — Pierre Jarawan Reading in Blankenheim

Blankenheim — Source of the Ahr River

Blankenheim, a health resort with around 8,300 inhabitants in the Euskirchen district, is located on the southern edge of the Nordeifel — nestled between high moorland, beech forests, and calcareous grasslands. Famous for the medieval Blankenheim Castle (now a youth hostel), the source of the Ahr river, and its half-timbered old town, the municipality is also a traditional venue for lit.eifel — a festival that showcases literature "in a new form in unusual places.".

Pierre Jarawan Reads from "Frau im Mond"

On Wednesday, June 10, 2026, at 7 PM, the German-Lebanese author Pierre Jarawan will be a guest in Blankenheim. Jarawan, born in Amman in 1985 and raised in southern Germany's Baden-Württemberg, is a novelist and a multiple poetry slam champion. His debut "Am Ende bleiben die Zedern" (2016) brought him international recognition, followed by "Ein Lied für die Vermissten" (2020). His third novel "Frau im Mond", published in 2025, received considerable attention — it tells the story of a young astronomer searching for the history of her missing mother in Berlin and Beirut. Jarawan's style combines family saga, migration history, and political observation of the present.

The lit.eifel — Distributed Literary Festival

For over two decades, lit.eifel has been the most important literary event in the Nordeifel region. Instead of a central festival week, it hosts approximately 20 events between April and November in various Eifel municipalities: Monschau, Blankenheim, Nideggen, Mechernich, Bad Münstereifel, Kall, Heimbach, and others. The 2026 program features prominent names from contemporary German-language literature — including, besides Pierre Jarawan, Carsten Henn, Andreas Schäfer, Dmitrij Kapitelman, Elisabeth Sandmann, Christoph Hein, Frank Goosen, Norbert Scheuer, and Harald Welzer.

13th Eifel Youth Literature Prize — Motto "Hoping & Dreaming"

Parallel to the reading program in 2026, the 13th Eifel Youth Literature Prize will be held under the motto "Hoping & Dreaming." Young authors from the region submit short stories, poems, or novel excerpts — the award ceremony will take place in the autumn.

Funding from the State of NRW

lit.eifel is funded by the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia through funds from Regional Cultural Policy. This keeps the format accessible: tickets typically range from 10 to 15 euros, ensuring access to literature even in a rural region like the Eifel. The festival has established itself as one of North Rhine-Westphalia's most distinctive literary formats.

Blankenheim and the Eifel — A Literary Landscape

The Eifel region has a strong literary tradition — from Heinrich Böll to Jacques Berndorf, whose Eifel crime novels are known far beyond the region. The fact that lit.eifel also brings placeless, international themes like Jarawan's Berlin-Beirut novel to Blankenheim is part of the program: the province as a place for cosmopolitan literature. A walk through the Lampertstal nature reserve or to Blankenheim Castle completes the evening in the Eifel.