The Walberberg Seminar is the largest and longest running annual Literature seminar held overseas. This year's seminar, the 24th, ran from 22  – 25 January 2009 and was held at Akademie Schmockwitz, Berlin on the theme ‘Changing Literary Climates', chaired by Patricia Duncker and featuring: David Edgar, James Meek, Michael Symmons Roberts, Rachel Seiffert and Simonetta Wenkert. The seminar is attended by approximately 45 participants from Germany and neighbouring countries, including a broad mix of academic critics, professors of English (with many from the younger generation), publishers, journalists and translators.

Last year's seminar, the 23rd, ran from 24  – 27 January 2008 and was also held at Akademie Schmockwitz, Berlin on the theme ‘Rooted Realities and Maps of Migration’. Patricia Duncker chaired and writers represented were: Alice Oswald, Andrew Cowan, Laila Aboulela, E A Markham and Stephen Knight.

The seminar is attended by approximately 45 participants from across Europe, including a broad mix of academic critics, professors of English (with many from the younger generation), publishers, journalists and translators.

The Walberberg Seminar was founded by Malcolm Bradbury, who Chaired the first seminar, in 1986. Since then the Seminar has been held every year and has introduced a large number of contemporary British writers to a German audience. Chairs of the seminar, in succession to Malcolm Bradbury, have been A S Byatt, Valentine Cunningham, Christopher Hope, Andrew Motion, Paul Muldoon, Glenn Patterson, Caryl Phillips, Michele Roberts, Ali Smith, and Marina Warner. In its early years the seminar took the generic theme of Contemporary British Writing, but more recently it has focused on specific themes connected with contemporary literature such as Translation and Teaching Creative Writing.

Writers who have appeared over the years Include: Leila Aboulela, John Agard, Patience Agbabi, Simon Armitage, Paul Bailey, Sebastian Barry, John Burnside, Ciaran Carson, Angela Carter, Amit Chaudhuri, Jonathan Coe, David Constantine, Wendy Cope, Andrew Cowan, Jim Crace, Louis de Bernieres, Marina Carr, Jim Crace, Fred D'Aguiar, Anne Devlin, Jenny Diski, Maura Dooley, Louise Doughty, Margaret Drabble, Helen Dunmore, Douglas Dunn, Geoff Dyer, David Edgar, Anne Enright, Bernardine Evaristo, Alison Fell, James Fenton, Tibor Fischer, John Fuller, Carlo Gebler, Maggie Gee, Lavinia Greenlaw, Romesh Gunesekera, Abdulrazak Gurnah,  Wilson Harris, Philip Hensher, Michael Hofmann, Alan Hollinghurst, Richard Holmes, Robert Irwin, Kazuo Ishiguro, Kathleen Jamie, Amryl Johnson, Jackie Kay, Stephen Knight, Penelope Lively, Liz Lochhead, Moy McCrory, Ian McEwan, Jamie Mackendrick , Bernard McLaverty, E A Markham, Glyn Maxwell, Pauline Melville, Livi Michael, Timothy Mo, Sinead Morrissey, Blake Morrison, Patrick Neate, Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill, Lawrence Norfolk, Alice Oswald, Kathy Page, Tim Parks, Don Paterson, Glenn Patterson, Jonathan Raban, Craig Raine, Jane Rogers, Bernice Rubens, Salman Rushdie, W G Sebald, Jo Shapcott, Helen Simpson, Graham Swift, George Szirtes, Adam Thorpe, Anthony Thwaite, Rose Tremain, Jenny Uglow, Michelene Wandor, Fay Weldon, Timberlake Wertenbaker, Nigel Williams