A collection of poetic and political essays on borders, colonialism, tourism, and Western violence against the world

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People do not move in the same way. Anyone who has ever stood at an airport border control or a national border knows this: what is a gateway for some is an insurmountable wall for others. Sinthujan Varatharajah writes about travel and modern tourism, this supposedly harmless Western cultural practice that, despite the destruction it causes in many places, is still regarded in many quarters as a promise of life. Varatharajah’s unique observations and analyses reveal, in all their complexity, what is tearing our present apart in every encounter and touch. This book, as political as it is lyrical, cannot reverse this process. But it can show how new knowledge can forever transform entire worldviews.

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சிந்துஜன் வரதராஜா (Sinthujan Varatharajah) is an Eelam Tamil essayist and political geographer. Their writing addresses issues of statelessness, displacement, and colonial modernity, viewed through the lenses of infrastructure, logistics, and the built environment. After years of political work in the field of protecting asylum seekers and prosecuting state crimes, வரதராஜா’s first book, an alle Orte, die hinter uns liegen, was published in German by Hanser Verlag in 2022. Their second collection of conversations with the artist Moshtari Hilal, Hierarchien der Solidarität, was published by Wirklichkeit Books in November 2024.

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Sham Jaff is a freelance journalist based in Berlin. She writes the weekly newsletter What Happened Last Week covering Asia, Africa, and the Americas.

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An event presented by Literatur LIVE in cooperation with Kino International

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For this reading, we are offering 20 Solitickets at a reduced price of €10. If you require a discounted ticket, please email hilfe@yorck.de with the subject line “Sinthujan Varatharajah.” Once your ticket is confirmed, you can pick it up at the International box office on the day of the reading until 7:30 PM.