A Writer's Guide to Vienna

The Hauptbücherei is the main library of Büchereien Wien, the city's public library system, and the U6 stops nearby. It has 326 study and reading seats and free Wi-Fi, and its literature and language section includes a foreign-language library. International newspapers are in the foyer, and there is a roof terrace. It is closed Sundays.

The Wienbibliothek is the City of Vienna's research library, free to anyone with a reader card; apply online and collect the card with photo ID. Its manuscript collection holds about 1,200 estates and archives, among them those of Karl Kraus, H. C. Artmann and Friederike Mayröcker. Order manuscripts through the catalogue and read them in the reading room, where laptops are allowed. It is open weekdays.

The Austrian National Library has five reading rooms with 420 individual workplaces. Anyone 16 or older can use them with a one-day or annual reading-room ticket, sold online or at the service desk. The library closes for about ten days each summer, in late July and early August. It also runs a Literature Museum.

Literaturhaus Wien calls its library the world's largest collection on Austrian literature of the 20th and 21st centuries. About 75,000 books concentrate on writing after 1945, comics and cabaret included, and the Austrian Exile Library is here too. Entry is free. You can work with the collection without registering. It is open Monday to Thursday.

Shakespeare & Company has been Vienna's English-language bookshop since 1982. The shelves run from poetry and plays to academic subjects, and Austrian writers in translation sit beside books on Austrian history. Events go out through the newsletter. It is closed Sundays.

Anna Jeller has run her shop since 1985, with literature, poetry and small-press titles among the stock. The shop has a podcast.

Buchkontor is a neighborhood bookshop in the Nibelungenviertel, and its online shop ships worldwide. The Leseclub book club is free. Register ahead. Its Unterwegs series brings authors to venues such as Bücherei Penzing and rhiz.

Hartliebs stocks fiction and graphic novels, with books for children and young adults as well. It hosts author readings and a reading circle, the Literaturrunde.

Löwenherz specializes in gay and lesbian literature and carries trans and intersex titles too. Authors read in the shop in the evenings, and some of those readings go out as a podcast.

ChickLit is a feminist and queer bookshop. It stocks literature and nonfiction, and it carries feminist magazines too. Besides readings in the shop, it sets up book tables at talks around the city. It is closed weekends.

Since 2004, phil has been a café, a bookshop and a bar in one space, with book presentations and literary evenings. The house keeps it laptop-free, so bring a book or a notebook and pen. It is open daily.

Café Sperl was built in 1880 to plans by the Ringstraße architects Gross and Jelinek, and architects, artists, actors and writers met there early on. Daily papers and international press are on the racks, and there are classic billiard tables. It is open daily, except Sundays in July and August.

Café Prückel has been in business on the Stubenring since 1903. It keeps the main newspapers and is open daily.

Café Landtmann opened in 1873, and Sigmund Freud and Thomas Mann were among its guests. It is close to the Burgtheater and City Hall. It is open daily until late.

Café Schwarzenberg is on the Kärntner Ring and puts on readings and concerts, jazz evenings included. The writer Peter Turrini has written in its guestbook. It is open daily from early morning.

Café Korb opened in 1904, and Susanne Widl has run it since 2000. The basement Art Lounge shows work by Günter Brus and Peter Weibel, among others. The Vienna Storytelling Collective holds its open mic here, and the evening calendar also has readings with music. The kitchen stays open late. It is closed Sundays.

Café Museum opened in 1899 near the Secession, and Gustav Klimt and Adolf Loos were early guests. It runs a reading series, Literatur im Café Museum, with its own newsletter. Breakfast is served daily, and there is a lunch menu on weekdays.

Leopold and Josefine Hawelka opened this café off the Graben about 80 years ago, and the family still runs it. Elias Canetti came here. So did Hundertwasser. The Hawelka calls itself a meeting place for writers and artists then and now, and it is open daily until late.

Literaturhaus Wien is the house for Austrian literature of the 20th and 21st centuries. It runs readings and workshops, and its staff advise writers and translators. The house also hosts the Friederike Mayröcker Residence. For events, use the entrance at Zieglergasse 26A.

The Alte Schmiede is a literature and music venue in the old town. Its reading and discussion series include Literatur im Herbst and the Freitagsgespräche, and it holds the poetry festival dichterloh. Visitors can browse its gallery of literary magazines.

Writers and artists from H. C. Artmann and Gerhard Rühm to Teresa Präauer and Jörg Piringer have led classes at the Schule für Dichtung. Some of its events are in English. The school also keeps a podcast and an archive.

The Österreichische Gesellschaft für Literatur holds readings and literary talks at Palais Wilczek, including the series Neue Literatur aus Österreich. Its programme archive goes back to 1961. The society also gives translation grants and runs residencies. Its rooms are on the second floor, without step-free access.

Buch Wien is Vienna's book fair and festival, held each November at the Messe Wien and at venues across the city. The program has English-language events and a joint stand for antiquarian booksellers.

The IFK is a research center for cultural studies in central Vienna, part of the Kunstuniversität Linz. Its fellowships run from Junior Fellowships up to Senior Fellowships for established scholars, and its Research Fellowships take postdoctoral researchers of any nationality or affiliation. The IFK also funds the Fulbright-ifk Senior Fellow in Cultural Studies, awarded through Fulbright Austria.

The IWM invites more than a hundred fellows to Vienna each year. Its open calls take researchers at various career stages, and journalists and translators have a program of their own. Applications are in English.

Fulbright Austria, the Austrian-American Educational Commission, runs Fulbright exchanges between the United States and Austria. US faculty can apply for visiting professorships that combine teaching and research, including the American Studies lecturing award at the University of Vienna. Some awards are sponsored jointly with hosts such as TU Wien and the Sigmund Freud Museum.

Zsolnay is a Vienna literary publisher in the Hanser group. It publishes fiction and nonfiction by Austrian and international authors, from Hilde Spiel and Paulus Hochgatterer to Claudia Durastanti and Gaea Schoeters.

Kremayr & Scheriau is an independent publisher of nonfiction and literature, and its nonfiction takes in politics and history among other subjects. It also publishes essays.

Picus publishes literature and children's books. Its Lesereisen series is travel writing, and the press also publishes the Wiener Vorlesungen lecture series.

Communication Theory publishes original research on the theoretical development of communication, drawing on sociology, psychology and philosophy along with communication studies. Oxford University Press publishes it for the International Communication Association, and its editor is at the University of Vienna. Preparing an article for Communication Theory

Stadt Wien Kultur gives working grants to writers 18 or older whose main residence has been in Vienna for at least three years, so they can develop or finish a writing project. Applicants need a relevant degree or a professional record in the arts. Applications are in German.

The Elias Canetti stipend gives established authors who have lived in Vienna for at least three years an extended period to complete a larger literary work. Applicants need a representative body of work.

The federal arts ministry offers literature stipends to authors, translators and illustrators. Among them are the Startstipendium and the Robert-Musil-Stipendium, along with a stipend for dramatists and travel stipends. Its Poets-in-Residence-Programm Friederike Mayröcker is for poets from Europe and around the world.

The ministry also awards the national literature prizes. They include the Österreichischer Buchpreis and the Ernst-Jandl-Preis für Lyrik, and translators can win the Staatspreis für literarische Übersetzung.

Each year the city awards prizes to new children's and young-adult books, plus an illustration prize. The book must come from a Vienna publisher, by an author or illustrator living in Austria. Authors and illustrators can apply, and so can the publishers.

The finito copy shop prints and binds bachelor's, master's and doctoral theses. Hardcovers can be embossed in gold, silver or copper, and there are several softcover styles. Express orders placed before noon are ready the same working day. Look for the door on the left in the corridor toward the inner courtyard. It is open weekdays.

Riegelnik prints and binds short runs of books and magazines, self-published books included, from about 10 copies up to 2,000. Photo books start at five copies.