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Dani Landolf, Managing Director of the Solothurn Literature Days, resigned after just two editions. Apparently everything was going too slowly for him.
Not again, some might think. It is less than six months since another Solothurn cultural institution with a national reputation made negative headlines because of a prominent personality. At that time, the Solothurn Film Festival parted ways with its director, Anita Hugi. In a fight.
So now Dani Landolf is throwing in the towel as managing director of the Solothurn Literature Days. In contrast to Hugi, however, it is he who is leaving and not the board of directors who are throwing him out. Dani Landolf wants to get the festival scheduled for this spring on stage properly.
2022 edition still under Landolf’s direction
But after 2022 it will be over for him. This after he has just been responsible for two editions of the literature festival. He held his first one last year under Corona conditions largely as an online festival, which earned him applause and respect.
In the justification for his termination, Dani Landolf is tight-lipped. His ideas of “further developing the festival and the structures” would not have “received the support” from the board that he would have liked. end of the announcement.
When asked about the President of the Board Thomas Flückiger, it was said that the departure was “surprised and regretted”. There were differences between Landolf and the board. But not so profound that it should have come to a termination.
The strategy for the future
So what happened? Dani Landolf tried to push the process of change that the Solothurn Literature Days had been in for a long time: closer to the audience, building more bridges between literature, society and politics, getting out of the ivory tower.
Without, however, as he always emphasized, diminishing the quality and thus the «raison d’être» of the festival – namely offering a high-quality retrospective of Swiss literature.
Landolf’s predecessor Reina Gehrig already initiated this process of change. In the seven years that she was in charge of the Literature Days, she increasingly addressed a younger audience in terms of programming, surprising people with literary events in the streets of Solothurn and expanding the spoken word area.
The 2021 edition – under Landolf’s leadership for the first time – continued on the course set by Gehrig. The new director also maintained the classic readings with authors. But he also gave the graphic novel more space and put discussion groups with socio-political claims in the spotlight.
A matter of speed
Apparently, the lively Thurgau wanted to step on the gas pedal more in the future. He, who had previously been managing director of the Swiss Booksellers and Publishers Association for twelve years and had brought a lot of movement into the scene.
“We on the board agreed with Dani Landolf on the goals,” says Thomas Flückiger, “but at his pace we had to step on the brakes.” After two online editions of the festival, it was time to consolidate what had been achieved. Also in order not to overwhelm the team with more and more new things. And in the end not to jeopardize the reputation of the festival.
Accelerated with pace
Apparently, Landolf’s enthusiasm caught on with the cooperative structures at the Literature Days. According to insiders, he also called for more skills and creative freedom on various occasions.
For example, he wanted to have the last word on which international guests were invited to Solothurn. He also wanted to be a member of the jury for the Solothurn Literature Prize, which some found presumptuous.
Landolf ran up. Again and again. The climate cooled off. At some point, the maker Dani Landolf didn’t want to go any further – in the pre-measured steps that he felt were too small for himself.