Navid Kermani is not only one of Germanys most distinguished writers and public intellectuals, he is also an outstanding public speaker who mesmerizes audiences with his well-crafted sentences and turns of phrase. Whether he is speaking about the plight of refugees or delivering a eulogy at his fathers graveside, Kermani finds words that surprise his listeners, enlighten them, provoke them, disturb them or move them to tears.

As a German of Iranian descent whose parents settled in Germany, Kermani is particularly sensitive to the issues raised by migration and the perceived tensions between Islam and the West. His speeches are a powerful demonstration of how much we stand to gain by adhering to the values of openness, tolerance and mutual respect for the beliefs and practices of those from other cultures who live among us.

Navid Kermani is a writer and scholar who lives in Cologne, Germany. He has received numerous accolades for his literary and academic work, including the 2015 Peace Prize of the German Publishers Association, Germanys most prestigious cultural award.

Editorial Note Preface On the Presentation of the Special Award of the Erich Maria Remarque Peace Prize to the Iranian Writers Association On the Death of the Unborn Sofía On the 65th Anniversary of the Promulgation of the German Constitution On Receiving the Joseph Breitbach Prize At the Public Commemoration of the Victims of the Paris Attacks On Receiving the Peace Prize of the German Publishers Association Eulogy for Rupert Neudeck Eulogy for Jaki Liebezeit On the Twentieth Anniversary of the Founding of the Department of Jewish History and Culture On Receiving the State Prize of North Rhine-Westphalia Eulogy for Djavad Kermani Eulogy for Karl Schlamminger On the Seventieth Birthday of FC Cologne In Memory of Egon Ammann Dinner Speech at the Investment Conference of Flossbach von Storch AG Keynote Address to the Congress of the International Association for Analytical Psychology Statement before the Opening Reading of the Harbour Front Literature Festival On Receiving the Hölderlin Prize of the City of Bad Homburg vor der Höhe On a Concert by the WDR Symphony Orchestra in the Broadcast Series Music in Dialogue Epilogue: On My Bookseller, Ömer Özerturgut Notes