Talk: Ilija Trojanow – Utopia

When we ask “what spaces are we fighting for,” we mostly conjure ideas of existing spaces in our cities and societies. In this talk, Ilija Trojanow asks us to take a step into the imaginative and inspirational – in both fiction and politics, utopia is the most important space in our democracies. After all, what are we fighting for if we don’t believe a better world is possible?

“We live in times of the apocalypse. We keep dystopias like pets: imagining the end of the world is one of our favorite pastimes and a mass-culture phenomenon. Neoliberal ideology has convinced us that it’s a shitty world but nothing else is possible.”

COVID Policy In an effort to ensure the safety of our staff and audience, we are limiting the capacity for this event to 50 people – please register to attend. Proof of vaccination is required to attend, and we ask that all attendees wear a mask.

Ilija Trojanow was born in Bulgaria in 1965. After fleeing his homeland he was granted political asylum in Germany. He spent ten years in Kenya and five years in Mumbai before returning to Germany where he remains one of the country’s pre-eminent literary novelists. Most recently, his book The Lamentations of Zeno (Eistau), was translated by Philip Boehm and published by Verso Books in 2016.