Navid Kermani is not only one of Germany’s most distinguished writers and public intellectuals: he is also a brilliant public speaker who mesmerizes audiences with his well-crafted sentences and turns of phrase. Whether he is speaking in St. Paul’s Church in Frankfurt on the occasion of receiving the Peace Prize of the German Publishers’ Association - Germany’s most prestigious literary prize - or delivering a eulogy at his father’s 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.

This volume of Kermani’s speeches raises one of the oldest genres of literature - public oratory - to a new level, demonstrating that the prepared speech with its carefully chosen words retains a special power in our fast-moving world of tweets and clickbaits, challenging us to see the world differently and to break away from familiar patterns of thought.