"It's been a long time since a German foreign minister took this much interest in foreign cultural policy," said Robert Bosch Stiftung Director Ingrid Hamm in reference to the enormous dedication of Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Together with the Halma initiators - the Robert Bosch Stiftung and the Literarische Colloquium Berlin - Minister Steinmeier had invited personalities from the worlds of politics and culture to the atrium of the Foreign Office on Werderscher Markt to introduce the Halma network of literary centers.

"Halma", the Greek word for "leap", is both the title and the aim of the program. The network is designed to create an international platform for literary exchange and break down geographic barriers. It already networks 16 literary centers in eleven central and eastern European countries. Halma enables all the players in the literary field – writers, translators and mediators – to discover and experience different cultures on site. Numerous representatives of Halma institutions gathered for a meeting in Berlin on May 11, 2007.

"Halma is an exemplary European initiative," Foreign Minister Steinmeier said. "It allows literary practitioners from different countries to work together at various locations in Europe and discuss and assess their esthetic and ethical opinions through contact with their foreign friends and equal partners in the European project. In other words, it seeks to make European literature possible." Halma was setting the cultural standards of the future, he said. "Differences are necessary, fruitful, and sometimes liberating for our cultures," the minister added.

Robert Bosch Stiftung Director Ingrid Hamm said Europe was polyphonic and colorful, and this was that made Europe special. "Halma wants to move around Europe creating networks, and the more people are involved, the more influential the network will be," she said of the Halma principle. She described Karl Dedecius, the doyen of Polish literary translators and the inspiration for the Karl Dedecius Prize, as an impressive example of the multifaceted nature of European culture. Dedecius provided what could be considered the guiding principle of foreign cultural policy: "Intercultural dialog has always been a necessity, and particularly so today. It's not enough that we talk to each other. We need mutual understanding, and not just superficial. We have to discover and understand one another existentially"

Many of the participating Halma initiatives were still largely unknown beyond their national borders, Ms Hamm added. "Interest in central and eastern European culture has grown enormously since the Iron Curtain came down, and again through the eastward expansion of the EU," she said. "And yet despite greater awareness in German-speaking areas, there is often still a lack of information about suitable contacts and institutions in the relevant countries." That's where Halma comes in. "The 16 institutions that have joined forces with Halma have agreed to provide accommodation for scholarship holders, be they writers, literary translators, or literature mediators, and introduce them to the relevant historical literary scene. They are prepared to present the works of these authors to local audiences at suitable events, bring translators and writers into contact in workshops, and take part in international projects."

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier wants his ministry to be seen as a docking station, as the Halma project has successfully demonstrated. He will therefore put its foreign policy expertise and the network of German foreign missions at the disposal of cultural institutions, artists, and other creative professionals and mediators. There are also plans to expand Halma to include centers in southern and western Europe. The German Foreign Office is providing startup assistance in the form of a scholarship for one writer. Minister Steinmeier expressed his personal wish that the scholarship could be used to strengthen ties with Portugal and Slovenia in view of Germany's current links with these countries through the Trio Presidency. The Halma network will continue to seek sponsors for scholarships to supplement those that are already part of the program. The Swiss Pro Helvetia foundation has agreed to fund three scholarships a year, the S. Fischer Foundation will pay for translators to travel abroad, and the Icelandic embassy will give Icelandic writers an opportunity to take part in Halma events overseas.

Ilya Trojanov, the winner of the Leipzig Book Fair Prize, compares Halma poetically to the Buddhist network of Indra: "When we write, we network. Words with words. Places with places. We string letters together and assemble words, sometimes into fixed paragraphs, sometimes into passing verses. And the written word continues networking with readers. [...] Within these networks of the written, printed, read, considered, and conveyed word we travel from one place to another, and on to many others." The writer and Chamisso Prize-winner welcomed the Halma network. He said he hoped for a leap into reciprocity and communality. "In this ever-shrinking Europe it is particularly important for us to celebrate our diversity, and that on the basis of our existential similarities." Trojanov said networks like Halma could make a substantial contribution towards ensuring we recognized - and never forgot - that although we are not identical, we are jointly involved.

[May 2007, Stephanie Hüther]