At 00:00 on 21 September 2010 the world’s largest ever live-broadcast online reading started. 80 authors from all over the world read from their work in a gesture of solidarity with those who are oppressed or caught in conflict.

About half the authors read from the House of World Cultures in Berlin, the rest were connected through an online-conference set up by the Event Center Cisco WebEx. The reading could be followed live on the internet for 24 hours. The event was initiated and hosted by the British author Priya Basil, who said: “It was fantastic to see and hear so many authors from all over the world. Everyone who took part was united by the power of stories and the wish for peace, and this made the event feel very personal.”

The reading was approved as a GUINNESS WORLD RECORD.

Authors who participated in the World Peace Day Reading 2010:


Mimoza Ahmeti, Albania/Italy
Fadhil Al-Azzawi, Iraq
Judith Allnatt, UK
Israel Bar-Kohav, Israel
Priya Basil, UK
Azouz Begag, France
Marius Brill, UK
Hans Christoph Buch, Germany
Brian Chikwava, Zimbabwe/UK
Ana Clavel, Mexico
Rana Dasgupta, UK/India
Jane Davis, UK
Isobel Dixon, South Africa/UK
Tishani Doshi, India
Jennifer Egan, USA
Stephen Elliott, USA
Scott Ezell, USA
Jeltje Fanoy, Australia/The Netherlands
Fadia Faqir, UK
Assaf Gavron, Israel
Craig Glenday, UK
Dmitry Golynko, Russia
Julian Gough, Ireland
Joanne Harris, UK
Kevin Hart, UK
Anjoum Hasan, India
Etienne van Heerden, Australia
Ala Hlehel, Israel/Palestine
Sandra Hoffman, Germany
Kate Howarth, Australia
Joe Hurley, USA
Drago Jančar, Slovenia
Gail Jones, Australia
Volker Kaminski, Germany
István Kemény, Hungary
Kim Young-ha, South Korea
Esther Kinsky, Germany
Ko Un, South Korea
Tomas Lieske, The Netherlands
Catherine Lim, Singapore
Colin McAdam, Canada
Eva Menasse, Austria
Lina Meruane, Chile
Alex Miller, Australia
Jennifer Mills, Australia
Rod Moss, Australia
Marie Munkara, Australia
Wilfried N'Sondé, Germany/Congo
Graham Nunn, Australia
Margie Orford, South Africa
Elsa Osorio, Argentina
Hoa Pham, Australia/Vietnam
π. O., Australia
Wena Poon, USA/Singapore
Domnica Radulescu, USA
Henrietta Rose-Innes, South Africa
Preeta Samarasan, Malaysia
Sujit Saraf, USA
Manda Scott, UK
Elke Schmitter, Germany
Kamila Shamsie, UK/Pakistan
Samuel Shimon, UK/Iraq
Philip Sington, UK
Sjón, Iceland
Roland Stelter, Germany
Miguel Syjuco, Philippines
Tanja Stupar-Trifunović, Bosnia
Olga Tokarczuk, Poland
Sreten Ugričić, Serbia
Eliot Weinberger, USA
Tod Wodicka, USA
Fiona Wright, Australia
Arnold Zable, Australia