“Guest-workers”, mainly from Turkey, began to arrive in Germany in 1960, and by 1968 they numbered over 150,000. A distinctive migrant literature began to emerge significantly as a result of both Schami’s own writing and his role as a facilitator for other writers. In 1980 he co-founded the literary groups Südwind (South Wind) and PoLiKunst (Polynationaler Literatur- und Kunstverein; Polynational Literary and Art Society), which encouraged all forms of migrant cultural production.[2]