When the “Anti-Fascist Protection Rampart”—more commonly known as the Berlin Wall—was torn down in November 1989, many thought it marked the end of ideology. While that prediction quickly imploded, 1989 also sparked another revolution: a creative one. In the past twenty-five years, central European writers have put their stamp on an era marked by continuing upheavals. This special section includes dispatches from a dozen countries shaken by the reverberations of ’89. 

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26 Twenty-five Books That Inspired the World – the results!
28 Jenny Erpenbeck (Germany)
30 Julia Fiedorczuk (Poland)
33 Tomas Venclova (Lithuania) with Ellen Hinsey
37 Nina Kokelj (Slovenia)
38 Ana Blandiana (Romania)
43 Constantin Severin (Romania)
44 Durs Grünbein (Germany)
45 Esther Dischereit (Germany)
45 Raoul Schrott (Austria)
46 Kerstin Hensel (Germany)
46 Kurt Drawert (Germany)
47 Nora Gomringer (Switzerland/Germany)
48 David Williams on Sofi Oksanen (Finland/Estonia)
51 Szilárd Borbély (Hungary)