When does The Dark Side: True Crime take place?

The event takes place on November 21, 2026, at the Gallery House Hof.

Where does the literary evening take place?

The venue is the Gallery House at Sophienberg 28 in 95028 Hof.

Which authors will perform?

Announced are Sophie Sumburane, Peter Probst, and Christian Kreis. Roland Spranger will lead the talk.

What music is part of the evening?

Joanna Gemma Auguri accompanies the event with accordion and dark folk.

What is the admission fee?

Admission follows the principle of pay what you think it’s worth. A fixed ticket price is not specified.

Which books will be read?

Sophie Sumburane will read from No Special Anomalies, Peter Probst from In Broad Daylight, and Christian Kreis from Headline Moritaten.

Sophie Sumburane reads in Hof 2026

Name: The Dark Side: True Crime
Start: 2026-11-21
End: 2026-11-21T23:59:00+01:00
Location: Galeriehaus

When true crimes become a literary boundary experience

On November 21, 2026, the gallery house in Hof will transform into a venue for true crime, crime literature, dark comedy, and musical depths. The event The Dark Side: True Crime combines readings by Sophie Sumburane, Peter Probst, and Christian Kreis with a talk by Roland Spranger and Dark Folk music by Joanna Gemma Auguri.

Sophie Sumburane: Forensic Language Art and the Shadows of the Turnaround Time

Sophie Sumburane will read from her crime novel No Special Anomalies. The focus is a Brandenburg village in October 1989: While a few kilometers away the wall falls, a series of murders shakes the region. The novel connects the dramaturgy of true crime with a precise literary examination of fear, memory, and social upheaval.

Sumburane studied German Studies and African Studies in Leipzig and is doing her PhD on forensic linguistics. Her crime novels intertwine research, political awareness, and psychologically nuanced character portrayal. For her socio-political work, she was awarded the Walter Mossmann Prize in 2024 alongside Sookee. Her novel No Special Anomalies has been perceived in literary criticism as a compelling engagement with the consequences of real violence and the last serial killer of East Germany.

Peter Probst: Crime as an Open Wound

Peter Probst presents In Broad Daylight, a crime novel about a confession and the never-resolved disappearance of three children in Pirmasens in the 1960s. The plot leads into the interstices of family history, journalistic research, and repressed memory.

Probst has written more than 100 scripts for formats like Crime Scene and Police Call 110 and has been teaching screenwriting and creative writing since 1988. His experience with cinematic tension also shapes his novels: Scenes are articulated sharply, perspectives change with a confident rhythm, and behind the crime case, the moral question of responsibility emerges.

Christian Kreis: Moritaten between Horror and Black Humor

Christian Kreis reads from his Headline Moritaten. Obscure newspaper reports become rhymed miniatures in which the absurd and the threatening lie closely together. The literary form transforms the sober news content into a linguistically sparkling stage performance.

As the city writer of Halle and operator of the reading stage Kreis mit Berg, Kreis moves skillfully between poetry slam, satire, and literary observation. His performance promises an unusual perspective on the genre: The horror remains recognizable, but the art of language opens space for liberating laughter.

Music by Joanna Gemma Auguri: Sound between Homesickness and Abyss

Joanna Gemma Auguri will accompany the evening with accordion and dark folk. Her instrument does not merely play a supporting role but develops its own dramatic presence, almost like a church organ. The siren-like singing and themes of home, identity, and loss give the reading atmosphere a dark, sensual depth.

Her album Hiraeth refers to a Welsh word for the painful longing for a lost or perhaps never-existing place. This mood of nostalgia, wistfulness, and unrest forms a musical resonance space for the literary texts of the evening.

Talk with Roland Spranger: The Crime Novel in Cultural Discourse

Roland Spranger will guide the evening as a discussion partner. The author, who has won the Friedrich Glauser Prize, writes novels, plays, and short crime stories and stands for an engaged, socially aware crime literature. His moderation combines genre knowledge with a focus on the political and ethical questions behind the stories.

Thus, more than a series of individual readings emerges. The event examines how literature processes real crimes, what responsibility narratives bear towards victims and relatives, and why true crime demands particular attention between enlightenment, fascination, and voyeurism.

Conclusion: A Literary Experience for Crime Fans and Culture Enthusiasts

The Dark Side: True Crime brings together compelling crime literature, black humor, musical atmosphere, and expert exchange. Visitors can expect an author encounter that does not understand tension as an end in itself but as access to memory, social reality, and linguistic artistry. Anyone wanting to experience true crime, readings, and contemporary literature in an unusual connection should attend this evening live at the gallery house in Hof.