Reading for reading - Summer Reading Festival at the Cologne Tanzbrunnen

Elke Heidenreich, Wladimir Kaminer, Gerd Köster and others, presented by the Kölner Runder Tisch für Integration e.V. (Cologne Roundtable for Integration), organized by Random House Audio

"It was one of those events that should be held more often!" was the view of many of the over 800 people who had gathered on this beautiful late summer evening at Cologne's Tanzbrunnen concert venue.

Everyone benefited from the wonderful evening: an enthusiastic audience, a fantastic lineup on stage, an exhausted but deeply satisfied Random House Audio team, and last but not least two institutions that were thrilled to share the over €5,000 in donations raised by the event.

The organizers’ support for projects that promote young migrants’ reading and writing skills not only brought money into the notoriously empty coffers of these institutions, but almost more importantly gave them enormous publicity. Numerous of media representatives - press, radio and television – took the event as an opportunity to report on this important issue.

Elke Heidenreich was a splendid hostess and the invitation of Wladimir Kaminer and Gerd Köster was the best "advert" for reading, as well as for listening.

WDR recorded the 3-hour event and will broadcast a full-length version at a later date.