Books

Nigerian named Curator for the international literature festival in Germany

Starting in 2024, the international literature festival berlin will collaborate with a Curator in Residence. He or she will be responsible for events and invitations and will work together with the festival director and the team to develop a guiding theme for the ilb. Additionally, they will be present in Berlin during the festival. An internationally composed selection committee has …

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Berlin prize for publisher focused on African writing

InterKontinental Verlag has been honoured with the 2023 Berlin Publishing Award (Berliner Verlagspreis). The publishing company is a subsidiary of InterKontinental, the Berlin-based literary agency and association for the promotion of African and Afro-diasporic literature. The Berlin Publishing Prize 2023 was presented to InterKontinental Verlag as well as two others, Edition Tiamat and Lukas Verlag, on 5 November during a …

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Teaching Chinua Achebe to German high school students

School teacher Christine List writes on her experience taking her pupils to the African past in a literature class. The high school students read Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart for the project. List narrates her pupils’ mixed impressions of the literary voyage It had been four weeks since the students have been studying Africa in their geography project. During the …

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Book: Former Nigerian ambassador to Germany gives account of his stewardship

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 …

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How an African refugee became a star chef in Germany

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 …

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Book: Who are you, if you are not YOU? (Series)

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 …

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Award-Winning Chigozie Obioma to Host Masterclass on Creative Writing 

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 …

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New Series: 12 tips on how to become the best version of you by Sarah Udoh-Grossfurthner

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 …

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Ugandan writer arrives in Germany after fleeing torture

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 …

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Book: Life on Ajayi Crowther Street in Lagos

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 …

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New curator of African Book Festival Berlin named

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 …

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New publisher of African books opens for business in Berlin

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 …

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Tanzanian wins 2021 Nobel prize in literature

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 …

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International literature festival holds in Berlin

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 …

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Worldwide reading for the dead of the pandemic

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 …

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Meron Hadero wins 2021 Caine Prize for African Writing

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 …

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New children’s book explores famous Nigerian festival

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 …

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African Books Open Borders in Berlin

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, …

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