Border Cooperation: Inga Iwasiów and Arno Zillmer - a musical and literary event

June 14, 2025, 7:30 PM — Usedom Grenzenlos / Cross-Border Cooperation, meeting in Heringsdorf: Inga Iwasiów, music by Arno Zillmer, hosted and translated by Dorota Danielewicz and Arno Zillmer, Theaterzelt “Chapeau Rouge,” Strandpromenade 17424 Seebad Heringsdorf, Vorpommersche Landesbühne

Musician, cultural manager and moderator Arno Zillmer, active in Berlin and Heringsdorf since 2024, initiated a Polish-German cross-border cooperation project dedicated to literary and musical events. A central element of this initiative is literary exchange focused on the regions adjacent to Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Just across the border lies Szczecin, and Inga Iwasiów is one of the most prominent writers from that area. Iwasiów, a professor of literary studies and women’s rights activist, has not yet been translated into German.

Her novel “Bambino” tells the story of life after World War II, when new and old residents must adapt to the communist reality of postwar Szczecin. The novel focuses on the lives of three young women—Ula, a German woman who remained in the “Recovered Territories”; Marysia, a Polish girl resettled from the east; and Anna. Marked by war trauma, the women try to rebuild their lives in the new reality. Their paths intersect in a milk bar named “Bambino.”

Szczecin and its history continue to resonate emotionally in both Poland and Germany. In conversation with Arno Zillmer, who will enrich the evening with musical interludes, we will explore Szczecin's past and present, along with its Polish-German history that still echoes today.

Venue: Vorpommersche Landesbühne, Heringsdorf
More information: vorpommersche-landesbuehne.de