Kultur und Kulinarik

Join us for an evening of scary tales just right for this scary time of year! The English literature has a long tradition of telling horrible stories of monsters, ghosts, and murderers, called “Gothic Novels”. This richly illustrated talk in easy English takes you on a journey from the early tales of darkness by Ann Radcliffe and Mary Shelley to the monsters of Victorian age, like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde or Dracula. We will also provide reading lists for all learners of English, from beginners to advanced.

This richly illustrated talk in easy English will introduce you to the royal family that shaped England like no other and brought forth Kings and Queens whose names are legend – sometimes for their greatness, sometimes for their scandals!

Come and hear about King Henry VII and the ‘Tudor Myth’, one of the greatest scandals in English history, accompanied by a cup of tea and scones (included in the fee). Discover why his second son, King Henry VIII had six wives – and why he is still one of the greatest English rulers! Meet Edward VI - who became king when he was only nine years old – and Lady Jane Grey – who was queen for only nine days!

Find out about Queen Mary I and why she became known as “Bloody Mary” and hear about her half-sister, the great Queen Elizabeth I, and how she became the most powerful ruler of the known world – as an unmarried woman!

The last 40 years or so have been a wild and challenging time for the USA. While Germany was reunited and Europe grew closer again after the Fall of the Berlin Wall, the American society drifted further apart – the horrors of AIDS, the shock of September 11, 2001, the differences between the coastal states and the American Hinterland, and, last but not least, the dramatic changes every time a new president took over power - all of this has changed if not destroyed the “American Dream”.

And in the middle of all this, there are young (and not so young) writers trying to make sense of what is happening and explaining it to us – and they do so in fascinating, gripping, heart-warming, and sometimes shocking novels.

In this richly illustrated talk in easy English, we will meet some of the most interesting and well-known modern writers, from T.C. Boyle to Bret Easton Ellis, from Michael Cunningham to Jonathan Safran Foer – and maybe, their works can help us understand what is going on ‘across the pond’!