German book premiere of “The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny”
Sonia is a literature student in Vermont, and Sunny works as a journalist in New York. When they meet on a night train through their Indian homeland, they fall in love—unaware that their grandparents once intended to arrange a marriage between them. But Sonia still carries the burden of a difficult relationship, and Sunny struggles with his chaotic family. Twenty years after the great success of her last book, Booker Prize winner Desai tells a moving love story.
Image gallery
Keyvisual für die Lesung mit Kiran Desai
The discussion with Kiran Desai and her German translator, Robin Detje, will be held in English. Afterward, there will be an opportunity to purchase The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny and have it signed.
Kiran Desai (India, b. 1971) won the Booker Prize in 2006 for The Inheritance of the Lost Land (translated by Robin Detje). Her third novel, The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny, was shortlisted for the 2025 Booker Prize and was named one of the ten best books of the year by The New York Times.
Robin Detje was born in Lübeck in 1964 and works as an author, director, journalist, and translator in Berlin. He has translated works by authors such as William T. Vollmann, Gary Steingart, Kiran Desai, and Joshua Cohen, and has been awarded the Leipzig Book Fair Prize and the Heinrich Maria Ledig-Rowohlt Prize.
- 16 EUR / 8 EUR
- Sprache: English with passages in German
- Duration: 90 min
- Ort: Foyer, Ground Floor, Hall 2
Additional information
Accessibility
The Humboldt Forum and all exhibition rooms can be reached barrier-free with a wheelchair. A tactile floor guidance system facilitates orientation for blind and visually impaired visitors. Educational formats are tailored to the different needs of visitors with disabilities. These include tactile tours, guided tours and workshops.
Barrier-free parking is available south of the Humboldt Forum on Schlossplatz. Barrier-free parking is available south of the Humboldt Forum on Schlossplatz. For more information, click here.
Bus bays are available in Rathausstraße: Stopping time from 9 - 22.30
By underground and suburban railway
U Museumsinsel (U5): 1 min walk
S/U Alexanderplatz: 15 min walk
S Hackescher Markt: 10 min walk
By bus
Lustgarten: 100, 300, N5; 1 min walk
Berlin Palace: 147; 1 min walk
Dates
June 2026
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