As early as the 1630s, the young Greifswald poet Sibylla Schwarz saw her pen, i.e. her individual poetic endeavours, in conflict with the culturally assigned needle work.

Over the centuries, women writers have had to deal with this pattern. At the end of the 19th century, there were around 4600 female writers. Scholarly literary experts spoke of the "power of women". Some of the women writers helped their publishers to become rich. But were they themselves able to make a living from their work? What role did the family play - did the 'writing women' have their own study? Did they have favourite subjects and stories? And most importantly: Who do you (still) know? Which texts are in the 'literary canon' and should perhaps be included in school and publishing programmes? We can explore all these questions in our "reading seminar". At the centre are stories by 6 women writers: Karoline Auguste Fischer (1765-1842): Justine; Anette von Droste-Hülshoff (1797-1848): Ledwina; Louise v. Francois (1817-1893): Fräulein Muthchen und ihr Hausmeier; Eugenie Marlitt (1825-1887): Bluebeard; Marie v. Ebner-Eschenbach (1830-1916): Er lässt die Hand küssen; Hedwig Dohm (1833-1919): Become who you are!

They left traces, legacies for their successors in the 20th century.

The 7-part course starts on Thursday, 29 January 2026 and always takes place from 14:00 to 15:30. The last day of the course will be 12.03.2026.

Registration for the course is mandatory and can be done via the website www.vhs-vg.de or in person at the vhs.
Courses offered by the Vorpommern-Greifswald Adult Education Centre are aimed at people aged 14 and over.