International Brecht Society

1) The Brecht Yearbook / Das Brecht-Jahrbuch 50 will be published in November 2025. Click here for the Table of Contents for vol. 50 and here to order vol. 50.

2) The Brecht Yearbook / Das Brecht-Jahrbuch 51 seeks articles on "Brecht's Gangsters". Deadline for proposals (English / Deutsch) is 30 June 2025. Download the CfP here.

3) Das Brecht-Archiv / The Brecht Archive (Berlin)

http://www.adk.de/de/archiv/archivabteilungen/bertolt-brecht-archiv/ There you have access to the library holdings of the Brecht-Archive (OPAC) as well as the archival holdings (Archivdatenbank):

https://www.adk.de/de/archiv/bibliothek/archivbibliothek-bertolt-brecht-archiv.htm

New Brecht books

Hollander, Katherine, "Artistic Collaboration, Exile, and Brecht: A New Intellectual History, 1900-1950" (London: Bloomsbury Methuen Drama, forthcoming November 2025)

Christian Hippe, "Ein Forum für Brecht. Das Brecht-Zentrum der DDR, fotografiert von Maria Steinfeldt" (Berlin: Verbrecher Verlag, 2025)

Unwin, Stephen, "Brecht and Shakespeare: A Practical Guide for Actors, Directors, Students and Teachers" (London: Bloomsbury, forthcoming October 2025)

Henning, Dieter, "Das Beamten-Sozialistische: Zur politischen Bedeutung von Bertolt Brechts »Chinesischen Gedichten« aus den Jahren 1938 und 1950" (Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann, 2025)

Squiers, Anthony, "Bertolt Brecht’s Adaptations and Anti-capitalist Aesthetics Today" (Leiden: Brill, 2025)

Rothe, Matthias, "Tropen des Kollektiven: Horizonte der Emanzipation im Epischen Theater" (Berlin: Theater der Zeit - Recherchen 170, 2024)

Reimers, Kirsten, Lydia Mühlbach, Torsten Unger, Hrsg., "Bertolt Brecht und Ernst Toller" (Berlin: J.B. Metzler, 2024)

Questions about performance rights of Brecht's plays should be directed to the German Brecht publisher, Suhrkamp Verlag: suhrkamp.de/theater-verlag/vertragsanfragen_898.html

For English-language performance rights, here.

Brecht's Works in English: A Bibliography

Check this website with over 4200 entries if you want to know whether there is an English version of Brecht's plays, poems, songs, stories, or essays.

KURT WEILL FOUNDATION Grants

Financial support worldwide to not-for-profit organizations for performances of musical works by Kurt Weill and Marc Blitzstein, to individuals and not-for-profit organizations for scholarly research pertaining to Kurt Weill, Lotte Lenya, and Marc Blitzstein, and to not-for-profit organizations for relevant educational initiatives. See: https://www.kwf.org/pages/grant-program.html

Announcements

Call for Papers:

The 18th IBS Symposium is scheduled for 22-26 July 2026 at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada. The CfP is posted here in English and German as a Word doc and a pdf-file. Deadline for submissions EXTENDED until 30 September 2025.

Internationale Heiner Müller Gesellschaft (IHMG):

Der 1. Band des Heiner-Müller-Jahrbuchs ist jetzt bei Aisthesis Verlag erschienen. CfP für Band 2.

Vol. 1 of the Heiner Müller Yearbook has now appeared with Aisthesis Verlag.

New Brecht Book series:

On January 1, 2027, the copyright on Brecht’s work will expire, ushering in a new era in Brecht Studies. To mark this watershed in the reception and interpretation of his work, the IBS will inaugurate a new book series entitled Brecht Studies, to be published by Camden House. The series will publish innovative research on Brecht, significant monographs on Brecht not yet available in English, and new translations of both canonical and overlooked works by Brecht. Particular attention will be paid to the use and significance of Brecht's works and ideas in the Global South, as well as to theoretical frameworks and perspectives such as performance and theater studies, literary and media theory, digital humanities, gender studies, ecocriticism, postcolonial theory, political philosophy, and contemporary Marxist theory. By offering fresh perspectives, translations, and theoretical frameworks, this series will not only honor Brecht’s legacy but also ensure its continued relevance in contemporary scholarship and artistic practice. The series editor is Markus Wessendorf, who will be joined on the editorial board by Hunter Bivens, Laura Bradley, Micha Braun, Anthony Squiers, and Noah Willumsen. The series will publish two to three books each year. Please submit proposals to Markus Wessendorf at wessendo[at]hawaii.edu.

IBS Election

Every two years elections for the steering committee of the International Brecht Society take place. The nominees for the two-year term of 2024-2025 have been elected. The next election takes place in November/December 2025.

Alle zwei Jahre findet die Wahl des Vorstands der Internationalen Brecht-Gesellschaft statt. Die Kandidatenliste für den Zweijahreszyklus 2024-20225 wurde gewählt. Die nächste Wahl findet im November/Dezember 2025 statt.

President: Markus Wessendorf (University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa)
Vice President: Micha Braun (Universität Leipzig, BRD)
Co-editors of 'Communications': Joerg Esleben (University of Ottawa,

Canada) and Anthony Squiers (AMDA College of Performing Arts, Los

Angeles)

Secretary / Treasurer: Friedemann Weidauer (University of

Connecticut, Storrs)

[Note: Paula Hanssen stepped down in summer 2025 and the Steering Committee appointed Friedemann Weidauer to replace her]

[Note: Jack Davis stepped down in spring 2024 and the Steering Committee appointed Joerg Esleben to replace him]