Since 1998, the Samuel Fischer Visiting Professorship for Literature has been awarded by the Institute of Comparative Literature. It is funded by Freie Universität Berlin, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), S. Fischer publishers, and the Veranstaltungsforum Holtzbrinck Publishing Group. Writers from different literatures and cultures are invited to facilitate the critical reflection of world literatures. For one academic term, each visiting professor becomes a member of the institute’s faculty and teaches a course for which undergraduate and graduate students can receive credits.

• Sommersemester 2023: Nancy Campbell
• Wintersememster 2022/23: Xiaolu Guo
• Sommersemster 2022: Lina Meruane
• Wintersemester 21/22: Dorothee Elmiger
• Sommersemester 2021: Juan Gabriel Vásquez
• Wintersemester 20/21: Samanta Schweblin
• Sommersemeser 2020: Lina Meruane (postponed due to Covid 19)
• Wintersemester 2019/20: Bernardo Carvalho
• Sommersemester 2019: Rawi Hage and Madeleine Thien
• Wintersemester 2018/19: Louis-Philippe Dalembert
• Sommersemester 2018: Édouard Louis
• Wintersemester 2017/18: Joshua Cohen
• Sommersemester 2017: Lavinia Greenlaw
• Wintersemester 2016/17: Abdouraham Waberi
• Sommersemester 2016: Teresa Präauer
• Wintersemester 2015/16: Alice Oswald
• Sommersemester 2015: Viktor Jerofejew
• Wintersemester 2014/15: Cécile Wajsbrot
• Sommersemester 2014: Héctor Abad
• Wintersemester 2013/2014: David Hinton
• Sommersemester 2013: Andrew Sean Greer
• Wintersemester 2012/2013: Javier Cercas
• Sommersemester 2012: Abdelwahab Meddeb
• Wintersemester 2011/2012: Nedim Gürsel
• Sommersemester 2011: Daniel Kehlmann & Adam Thirlwell
• Wintersemester 2010/2011: Sara Stridsberg
• Sommersemester 2010: Tomas Venclova
• Wintersemester 2009/2010: Mircea Cărtărescu
• Sommersemester 2009: Richard Powers
• Wintersemester 2008/2009: Raoul Schrott
• Sommersemester 2008: László Krasznahorkai
• Wintersemester 2007/2008: Sjón
• Sommersemester 2007: Nuruddin Farah
• Wintersemester 2006/2007: Fernando Pérez
• Sommersemester 2006: Dubravka Ugrešic
• Wintersemester 2005/2006: Amit Chaudhuri
• Sommersemester 2005: Michèle Métail
• Wintersemester 2004/2005: Nora Amin
• Sommersemester 2004: Feridun Zaimoglu
• Wintersemester 2003/2004: Etgar Keret
• Sommersemester 2003: Alberto Manguel
• Wintersemester 2002/2003: Yann Martel
• Sommersemester 2002: Robert Hass
• Wintersemester 2001/2002: Marlene Streeruwitz
• Sommersemester 2001: Sergio Ramírez
• Wintersemester 2000/2001: Scott Bradfield
• Wintersemester 1999/2000: Kenzaburo Oe
• Sommersemester 1999: V. Y. Mudimbe
• Sommersemester 1998: Vladimir Sorokin