Books

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, …

The AKO Caine Prize for African Writing has announced 153 submissions from 22 African countries via their new online submissions platform this year, including an entry from Burkina Faso, for the first time. Also announced, are the five Judges for the 2021 Prize. Caine is a literature prize awarded to an African writer of a short story published in English. …

A new book, written by the German-Nigerian gospel singer and which dwells on how to overcome difficult phases of life, will be launched on 16 May. Here’s what you should know about the book —– Trapped in the Dark is a real life story book written by the German-Nigerian gospel song writer, recording and performing artist, Joyce Ejiogu-Schmeer. She has …

Starting from the decade of Ghana’s independence until today, the book, by Desmond John Beddy, traces the history of Ghanaian presence in Germany excellently – the motivation for migrating to Germany, the categories of those migrating, and how these changed over the decades, and the reasons for the changes..

Garden City is a new children’s book. It tells the story of Ama Tricie, a Black girl determined to change the world one idea at a time. After a series of ups and downs, she realises that all you need to do is to believe in yourself and everything else will fall in place. Have you heard that saying, “Children …

Award-winning Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie dissects the complexities of race, class and hair in her novel Americanah, writes Michael Nnaji*. Born and bred in the Nigerian university town of Nsukka, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie already has two universally acclaimed novels, Purple Hibiscus and Half of A Yellow Sun, and the collection of short stories The Thing Around Your Neck, as …

Beatrice Onyele’s “Chikwe: es bleibt ein Traum” represents a significant contribution to the growing body of work now known as “Migrant Literature”.

This is a book with the express intention of examining German culture through the eyes of foreign residents. If it was to be authentic and representative, it would have to involve people who had settled, lived, worked and experienced life in Germany in all its possible variations. It would have to talk about how they perceive their new country and …

The book is a compilation of selected inspiring stories of African women living in Europe, from all walks of life, about their experiences migrating from their homelands and settling down in Europe. The contributors to African Women in Europe, compiled by Joy Zenz, range from Jennifer Obaseki, a Nigerian-born British lawyer, and Milkah Muigai, a Kenyan entrepreneur also based in …

Deutsch Sein und Schwarz Dazu” (“To Be German and Black”) is a treasure and a gift for German historiography. It is a treasure because Theodor Michael succeeds in vividly describing and analysing key events of his dramatic life in a historical and political context, covering the period from the Weimar Republic to this day.

Reiseservice Sacco regularly offers its African customers flight tickets at best prices to more than 20 destinations from Senegal to Angola. “I’m personally in contact with the different airlines several times every week, in order to get special prices for the Ethnic Tickets. It’s time consuming and demands negotiating skills, but it pays off for our customers enormously,” says Sandro …

As I write this article, 44 migrants, mostly Africans, who were rescued in the Mediterranean by the humanitarian organisation Sea Eye off the Libyan coast on Monday, are desperately looking for where to be allowed to disembark in Europe. The migrants’ dilemma follows the Sea-Watch 3 controversy in June, when the rescue boat forcibly docked in the Italian port of …

The book Confidence in Diplomacy – Defending Nigeria at Home and Abroad is an account of the author’s nearly 30 years of service in Nigeria’s 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 …