International Brecht Society

1) The Brecht Yearbook / Das Brecht-Jahrbuch 49 was published in November 2024 and is now being distributed to individual IBS members. Institutional member copies will be distributed in Feb. 2025. Click here for the Table of Contents.

2) 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

Bertolt Brecht, "Unsere Hoffnung heute ist die Krise": Interviews 1926-1956, Hrsg. von Noah Willumsen (Berlin: Suhrkamp, 2023)

Irina Rastorgueva / Thomas Martin, Hrsg., Russen/Brecht. Ansichten zum politischen Theater in Russland zwischen Stalin und Putin ( Berlin: Verbrecher Verlag, 2023 )

Christian Hippe, Cornelius Puschke, Marianne Streisand, Volker Ißbrücker, Hrsg., Brecht und das Theater der Interventionen (Berlin: Verbrecher Verlag, 2023)

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 IBS is seeking paper suggestions for a panel on "Brecht and the Carnivalesque" at the annual IFTR conference in Cologne, Germany, June 2025. Read the CfP here.

Call for Submissions:

The IBS is seeking submissions for a panel on "Brecht and Hope" at the annual convention of the Modern Language Association planned for Toronto (Canada) 8-11 January 2026. Read the CfP here.

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': Jack Davis (Truman State University, Kirksville, Missouri) and Anthony Squiers (AMDA College of Performing Arts, Los Angeles)
Secretary/Treasurer: Paula Hanssen (St. Louis, Missouri)

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