{"id":162369,"date":"2026-04-15T13:11:41","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T11:11:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.humboldtforum.org\/?post_type=event&#038;p=162369"},"modified":"2026-04-20T10:59:53","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T08:59:53","slug":"reading-and-conversation-with-kiran-desai","status":"publish","type":"event","link":"https:\/\/www.humboldtforum.org\/en\/programm\/termin\/literature\/reading-and-conversation-with-kiran-desai-162369\/","title":{"rendered":"Reading and Conversation with Kiran Desai"},"content":{"rendered":"<section class=\"block block-copy\" >\n    <div class=\"container-fluid\">\n\t\t<div class=\"row \">\n            <div class=\"col-xs-12 col-md-offset-2 col-md-8\">\n                <div class=\"box\">\n                    <div class=\"copy\"><p data-renderer-start-pos=\"4510\" data-local-id=\"76630b6a-2399-4088-b1d4-d591389d847d\">Sonia is a literature student in Vermont, and Sunny works as a journalist in New York. When they meet on a night train through their Indian homeland, they fall in love\u2014unaware that their grandparents once intended to arrange a marriage between them. But Sonia still carries the burden of a difficult relationship, and Sunny struggles with his chaotic family. Twenty years after the great success of her last book, Booker Prize winner Desai tells a moving love story.<\/p>\n<p data-renderer-start-pos=\"4979\" data-local-id=\"ed602d896e26\">The discussion with Kiran Desai and her German translator, Robin Detje, will be held in English. Afterward, there will be an opportunity to purchase <em data-renderer-mark=\"true\">The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny<\/em> and have it signed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n                <\/div>\n            <\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t    <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n<section class=\"block block-standard-image-copy rev2nd\"> \n\t<div class=\"container-fluid\">\n\t\t<div class=\"row middle-sm\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col-xs-10 col-sm-6 margin-bottom-sixth\" data-motion-parallax='{\"child\":\".image-wrapper\",\"mask\":\".lazy-media\",\"tween\":{\"yPercent\": [-15,15]}}'>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t<lazy-media-inline inline-template>\n\t\t<figure itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\" class=\"lazy-media-inline \" role=\"group\" id=\"media_69e67f0bf0f77\" aria-labelledby=\"desc_media_69e67f0bf0f77\">\n\t\t\t<script type=\"application\/json\" ref=\"data\">\n\t\t\t\t{\n\t\t\t\t\"sizes\" : {\"medium\":{\"file\":\"SHF_eb00264930-300x200.jpg\",\"width\":300,\"height\":200,\"mime-type\":\"image\\\/jpeg\",\"filesize\":7980},\"large\":{\"file\":\"SHF_eb00264930-1024x683.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":683,\"mime-type\":\"image\\\/jpeg\",\"filesize\":50778},\"thumbnail\":{\"file\":\"SHF_eb00264930-150x150.jpg\",\"width\":150,\"height\":150,\"mime-type\":\"image\\\/jpeg\",\"filesize\":4399},\"medium_large\":{\"file\":\"SHF_eb00264930-768x512.jpg\",\"width\":768,\"height\":512,\"mime-type\":\"image\\\/jpeg\",\"filesize\":31429},\"small\":{\"file\":\"SHF_eb00264930-440x294.jpg\",\"width\":440,\"height\":294,\"mime-type\":\"image\\\/jpeg\",\"filesize\":13584},\"semi\":{\"file\":\"SHF_eb00264930-580x387.jpg\",\"width\":580,\"height\":387,\"mime-type\":\"image\\\/jpeg\",\"filesize\":20596},\"mobile\":{\"file\":\"SHF_eb00264930-720x480.jpg\",\"width\":720,\"height\":480,\"mime-type\":\"image\\\/jpeg\",\"filesize\":28325},\"original\":{\"file\":\"SHF_eb00264930.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":854}},\n\t\t\t\t\"alt\" : \"Portrait of a woman with dark hair, an elegant outfit, and a thoughtful expression, sitting on a red chair.\",\n\t\t\t\t\"path\" : \"\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/\",\n\t\t\t\t\"video\" : null,\n\t\t\t\t\"autoplay\" : null,\n\t\t\t\t\"youtube\" : null,\n\t\t\t\t\"youtubelabel\" : \"Play video\",\n\t\t\t\t\"brightness\" : 100,\n\t\t\t\t\"crop\" : null,\n\t\t\t\t\"background\" : false,\n\t\t\t\t\"scale\" : 1\t\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t<\/script>\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"height-container\" style=\"padding-bottom:66.71875%;\" v-if=\"sizes\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<lazy-media :inline=\"true\" :alt=\"alt\" :sizes=\"sizes\" :scale=\"scale\" :brightness=\"brightness\" :path=\"path\" :video=\"video\" :autoplay=\"autoplay\" :youtube=\"youtube\" :crop=\"crop\" :youtubelabel=\"youtubelabel\" :background=\"background\" media-id=\"desc_media_69e67f0bf0f77\"><\/lazy-media>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"lazy-media-info-container-fluid\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"lazy-media-info-row end-xs\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"lazy-media-info-col\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"lazy-media-info\" aria-expanded=\"false\" :aria-expanded=\"isOpen ? 'true' : 'false'\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<button class=\"lazy-media-info-head button-tiny\" :class=\"{'button-active': isOpen}\" @click=\"toggle\" ref=\"head\"><span class=\"button-label insignificant\">Image info<\/span><\/button>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figcaption class=\"lazy-media-info-body\" ref=\"body\" id=\"desc_media_69e67f0bf0f77\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"lazy-media-info-body-content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div>Portrait of the author Kiran Desai<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"insignificant\">\u00a9 Michael Sharkey<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"lazy-media-info-head-border\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t<\/lazy-media-inline>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col-xs-10 col-sm-6 col-md-5 copy margin-bottom-half\"><p>Kiran Desai (India, b. 1971) won the Booker Prize in 2006 for <em data-renderer-mark=\"true\">The Inheritance of the Lost Land<\/em> (translated by Robin Detje). Her third novel, <em data-renderer-mark=\"true\">The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny<\/em>, was shortlisted for the 2025 Booker Prize and was named one of the ten best books of the year by <em data-renderer-mark=\"true\">The New York Times<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n<section class=\"block block-gallery\">\n\t<div class=\"container-fluid\">\n\t\t<div class=\"row center-xs\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col-xs-12\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"box text-align-left\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<block-gallery inline-template>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div :class=\"{ firstLoaded: firstLoaded }\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<script type=\"application\/json\" ref=\"data\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t{\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"images\" : [{\"id\":0,\"width\":519,\"height\":760,\"alt\":\"Book cover of &quot;The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny&quot; by Kiran Desai, featuring colorful circles on a blue background.\",\"title\":\"\",\"description\":\"\",\"label\":\"Book cover for &quot;Die Einsamkeit von Sonia und Sunny&quot; by Kiran Desai\",\"copyright\":\"S. FISCHER, 2026\",\"path\":\"\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/\",\"sizes\":{\"medium\":{\"file\":\"SHF_eb00264931-205x300.jpg\",\"width\":205,\"height\":300,\"mime-type\":\"image\\\/jpeg\",\"filesize\":19727},\"thumbnail\":{\"file\":\"SHF_eb00264931-150x150.jpg\",\"width\":150,\"height\":150,\"mime-type\":\"image\\\/jpeg\",\"filesize\":8448},\"small\":{\"file\":\"SHF_eb00264931-300x440.jpg\",\"width\":300,\"height\":440,\"mime-type\":\"image\\\/jpeg\",\"filesize\":38993},\"semi\":{\"file\":\"SHF_eb00264931-396x580.jpg\",\"width\":396,\"height\":580,\"mime-type\":\"image\\\/jpeg\",\"filesize\":64362},\"mobile\":{\"file\":\"SHF_eb00264931-492x720.jpg\",\"width\":492,\"height\":720,\"mime-type\":\"image\\\/jpeg\",\"filesize\":93628},\"original\":{\"file\":\"SHF_eb00264931.jpg\",\"width\":519,\"height\":760}}}]\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/script>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<swiper :options=\"options\" @slide-change=\"track\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"swiper-slide\" :key=\"image.id\" v-for=\"image in images\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<block-gallery-item inline-template :image=\"image\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"swiper-slide-image-wrapper\" ref=\"parent\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"width-container\" ref=\"container\" :style=\"style\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div data-swiper-parallax-x=\"50%\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img :src=\"image.src\" :alt=\"image.alt\" v-if=\"image.id < 2\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img class=\"swiper-lazy\" :data-src=\"image.src\" :alt=\"image.alt\" v-else>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/block-gallery-item>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"lazy-media-info-body-content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div v-html=\"image.label\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div v-html=\"image.description\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"insignificant\" v-if=\"image.copyright\" v-html=\"'\u00a9 '+image.copyright\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"swiper-pagination\"  slot=\"pagination\"><\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<button class=\"icon-round swiper-button-prev\" slot=\"button-prev\" aria-label=\"Last images\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-next\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<button class=\"icon-round swiper-button-next\" slot=\"button-next\" aria-label=\"Next image\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-next\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/swiper>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/block-gallery>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n<section class=\"block block-standard-image-copy rev2nd\"> \n\t<div class=\"container-fluid\">\n\t\t<div class=\"row middle-sm\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col-xs-10 col-sm-6 margin-bottom-sixth\" data-motion-parallax='{\"child\":\".image-wrapper\",\"mask\":\".lazy-media\",\"tween\":{\"yPercent\": [-15,15]}}'>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col-xs-10 col-sm-6 col-md-5 copy margin-bottom-half\"><p>Robin Detje was born in L\u00fcbeck in 1964 and works as an author, director, journalist, and translator in Berlin. He has translated works by authors such as William T. Vollmann, Gary Shteingart, Kiran Desai, and Joshua Cohen, and has been awarded the Leipzig Book Fair Prize and the Heinrich Maria Ledig-Rowohlt Prize.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n<section class=\"block block-headline block-no-margin \" >\n\t<div class=\"container-fluid\">\n\t\t<div class=\"row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"col-xs-12 col-md-offset-2 col-md-8\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"box\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\".h4\">Partners<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n\n<section class=\"block block-copy block-no-margin\" >\n    <div class=\"container-fluid\">\n\t\t<div class=\"row \">\n            <div class=\"col-xs-12 col-md-offset-2 col-md-8\">\n                <div class=\"box\">\n                    <div class=\"copy\"><p><em>An event organized by the Berlin International Literature Festival, in cooperation with the Stiftung Humboldt Forum im Berliner Schloss and S. Fischer Publishers.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n                <\/div>\n            <\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t    <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n<section class=\"block block-logos\" >\n    <div class=\"container-fluid\">\n\t\t<div class=\"row\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col-xs-12 col-sm-8 col-sm-offset-2\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"box\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"row  middle-xs\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"col-xs-4 col-sm-3 col-sm-2\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"box margin-sixth-top\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"internationales literaturfestival berlin (ilb)\" src=\"https:\/\/www.humboldtforum.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/SHF_eb00245749.png\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 100%\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"col-xs-4 col-sm-3 col-sm-2\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"box margin-sixth-top\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"S. Fischer Verlag\" src=\"https:\/\/www.humboldtforum.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/SHF_eb00245751.png\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 100%\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"template":"","genre":[574,1162],"digital":[],"topic":[],"stakeholder":[595],"editorial":[],"editorialfilter":[],"targetgroup":[],"language":[],"accessability":[],"age":[],"school":[],"groupsize":[],"place":[1045,884],"class_list":["post-162369","event","type-event","status-publish","hentry","genre-literature","genre-reading","stakeholder-stiftung-humboldt-forum-im-berliner-schloss-en","place-foyer-en","place-ground-floor-hall-2"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.humboldtforum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/event\/162369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.humboldtforum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/event"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.humboldtforum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/event"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.humboldtforum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/event\/162369\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":163100,"href":"https:\/\/www.humboldtforum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/event\/162369\/revisions\/163100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.humboldtforum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"genre","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.humboldtforum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/genre?post=162369"},{"taxonomy":"digital","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.humboldtforum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/digital?post=162369"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.humboldtforum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=162369"},{"taxonomy":"stakeholder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.humboldtforum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/stakeholder?post=162369"},{"taxonomy":"editorial","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.humboldtforum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/editorial?post=162369"},{"taxonomy":"editorialfilter","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.humboldtforum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/editorialfilter?post=162369"},{"taxonomy":"targetgroup","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.humboldtforum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/targetgroup?post=162369"},{"taxonomy":"language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.humboldtforum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/language?post=162369"},{"taxonomy":"accessability","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.humboldtforum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/accessability?post=162369"},{"taxonomy":"age","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.humboldtforum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/age?post=162369"},{"taxonomy":"school","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.humboldtforum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/school?post=162369"},{"taxonomy":"groupsize","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.humboldtforum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/groupsize?post=162369"},{"taxonomy":"place","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.humboldtforum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/place?post=162369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}