The trilingual, member-led South Tyrolean authors’ association has been actively and innovatively leading current socially relevant discourses for forty years and is committed to the communication of literature and multilingualism. Its members, authors, publicists and literary translators, have one thing in common: local roots, European spirit and shared socio-political responsibility. This self-image gives rise to the confidence to develop ZeLT as an innovative, grassroots and process-oriented centre of literary competence for authors, translators and a broad public interested in literature, in dialogue with the local and international public.