Books

The book Confidence in Diplomacy – Defending Nigeria at Home and Abroad is an account of the author’s nearly 30 years of service in Nigerian diplomacy. It’s a journey that began in 1982 when Alhaji Abdul Rimdap joined the foreign affairs ministry and ended in 2010 when he retired while serving the country as ambassador to Germany. His distinguished international …

Anteneh Defabachew came to Germany as a refugee from Ethiopia. Today, he has become a star cook, working for one of the prestigeous hotels in Germany. His autobiography of how he overcame his humble beginnings to achieving fame in Germany was launched recently in Nuremberg. Here’s a report of the event by Netsi Berhane Anteneh Defabachew displays his book/Photo: Anteneh …

Tip No. 2BE YOU! YOU are one-of-a-kind. YOU are the most amazing invention of all inventions. In a world where the only constant thing is change, YOU are the only thing that remains unchanged. As for your DNA, the hereditary material that is peculiar to each person and each person alone? Even that is unique. Not even the mother who …

Introduction:Living authentically is the most significant value we can add to our lives. It is akin to celebrating Christmas, or any of your other favourite holidays, every day, complete with a one-of-a-kind, lovingly wrapped present.But authenticity takes courage: the courage to be unapologetically YOU. The 12 Tips in Who are you, if you are not YOU? (If you are an …

African Media Agency today (22 June) announced its creative writing masterclass hosted in partnership with Chigozie Obioma as part of AMA Academy. The partnership aims to upskill journalists on fiction storytelling.  AMA Academy is a free-to-use pan-African online learning platform dedicated to upskilling journalists and media personnel across the continent. The first cohort boasts 200 journalists and has hosted three …

We begin today the serialisation of Vienna, Austria-based writer Sarah Udoh-Grossfurthner’s new book Who are you, if you are not YOU? Over the next 12 weeks, we will publish extracts from the book, her 12 tips on how to become the best version of you. Sarah introduces her book: Sarah Udoh-Grossfurthner, who lives in Vienna, is a writer of thought-provoking …

Award-winning Ugandan author Kakwenza Rukirabashaija, who fled the country after being charged with insulting President Yoweri Museveni, has arrived in Germany to seek medical treatment after being “tortured” in jail, his lawyer said Wednesday. Rukirabashaija’s lawyer, Eron Kiiza, confirmed his client’s arrival in Germany on Wednesday, describing the news as “a big relief”. The Ugandan writer’s arrival was also welcomed …

Cologne-based journalist and contributing editor to The African Courier, Tina Adomako, reviews Lagos – Life in Suburbia. She describes the experience of reading the novel, originally published in 2019 but whose German translation came out just last December, as akin to watching a Nollywood soap opera —– Ajayi Crowther Street in Lagos is home to the established middle class. This …

A new library in honour of Theodor Wonja Michael will be opened on Saturday 19 February in Cologne as part of activities marking this year’s Black History Month. The Theodor Wonja Michael Library was set up by the Afro-Diasporic association Sonnenblumen Community Development Group e. V. Michael, who died in October 2019 at the age of 94, was one of …

The Johannesburg-based writer, filmmaker and photographer Lidudumalingani is the new curator of the African Book Festival in Berlin. Taking place from 19th-21st August 2022, the event will once more bring together the stars of contemporary African literature in the German capital. In 2016, winning the Caine Prize for African Writing propelled Lidudumalingani to literary stardom. Shortly after he was awarded …

InterKontinental, the Berlin-based literary agency and association for the promotion of African and Afro-diasporic literature, has announced the founding of its own publishing house. InterKontinental, which runs a bookshop exclusively stocked with African and Afro-diasporic literature in Berlin, has obviously responded to the difficulties of writers of African descent finding publishers for their work in Germany or German translators for …

Senegalese author Mohamed Mbougar Sarr has been named the winner of the Goncourt Prize, France’s most prestigious literary award, for his novel, “The Most Secret Memory of Men” (La plus secrète mémoire des hommes). Mohamed Mbougar Sarr is only 31 years old but he was the critics’ favourite among the nominees. He is the first sub-Saharan African to win France’s …

The 2021 Nobel prize for literature has been awarded to the Tanzanian-born novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah. The Swedish Academy, which awards the prize, announced the winner on Thursday, praising Gurnah for his “uncompromising and compassionate penetration of the effects of colonialism and the fate of the refugee in the gulf between cultures and continents”. The prize is worth 10 million Swedish …

The 21st international literature festival berlin [ilb] holds on 8-18 September 2021, drawing participants from across the globe. During the 11-day event writers from all over the world gather in Berlin to present their work to lovers of literature. On 8 September, French-Moroccan author Leïla Slimani will give the opening speech entitled “Call for Crime” at the festival. She will …

The international literature festival berlin [ilb] calls on individuals, schools, universities, cultural institutions and media to participate in a Worldwide Reading for the Dead of the Corona Pandemic on September 5, 2021. The reading is intended to commemorate those who died in the pandemic. For more than a year, the world has been in the grip of the pandemic. Nearly …

Ethiopian-American writer Meron Hadero has been awarded the 2021 AKO Caine Prize for African Writing for her short story ‘The Street Sweep’, published in ZYZZYVA (2018). This is the first time an Ethiopian writer has won the Prize since its inception in 2000. The Chair of the AKO Caine Prize Judging Panel, Goretti Kyomuhendo, Founder and Director of the African …

Spurred by the obvious lack of quality children’s books for kids of African descent growing up in the diapora, authors have been striving for several years to fill the yawning gap. Berlin-based Nigerian journalist and writer Lolade Adewuyi has now made a very rich addition to the growing library for African children. His The Lost Little Masquerade is a story …

Lovers of African literature congregated in Berlin for the African Book Festival Berlin on 16 – 17 July 2021 to celebrate writing from the Continent and its Diaspora. The festival, first held in 2017, continues to go from strength to strength. Although this year’s event had a Lusophonic slant to it, celebrating, in the main, Literature and Music from Portugal, …

The annual African Book Festival Berlin holds on 16-17 July. The festival, which was held for the first time in 2018, brings together the best-known authors and artists from Africa and its diaspora for lectures, discussions, readings, interviews, concerts, theatre and spoken word performances. Each year, the festival goes far beyond the mere presentation of new books and authors, as …

The Zimbabwean author and filmmaker Tsitsi Dangarembga has been named the recipient of the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade 2021. The Prize honours personalities who have contributed to the realisation of the idea of peace in literature, science or art. “In her films, she addresses problems that arise from the clash between tradition and modernity,” explained Karin Schmidt-Friderichs, …