-
Frankfurt Book Fair 2022: The Fascination is back//ger_engl
The most recent Frankfurt Book Fair in 2022 lasted just under six days. It was the first face-to-face event in three years. Cultureafrica was at the fair. Talked to African exhibitors, was at readings, discussions and events around the book fair. It was full, it was exhausting, it was: great class! That's how you could describe the exciting days in October, because no matter if it was worth it for each individual. Almost everyone agreed on one thing: The Frankfurt Book Fair is alive!
-
Leïla Slimani: Schaut wie wir tanzen//Look, how we dance // Book Review
With her Morocco trilogy, Leïla Slimani sheds light on a chapter of French and Moroccan history that has still not been dealt with. It is not about black and white painting, because the history, the connections and developments of both countries and their people, are far too complex. Slimani's family comes from the upper middle class of the country. One can therefore speak of profiteers of the colonial era. And she makes no secret of it in her books. It is a global phenomenon of the colonial era that among the many victims and losers, there were also the people who took advantage of the occupation system. Morocco is no exception. The wonderful thing about this trilogy is that it empowers the story, that it is a Moroccan author in France who tells the stories.
-
Diversity in Germany: Raus aus den Schubladen! Florence Brokowski-Shekete Book Review ger/engl
„Raus aus den Schubladen! Meine Gespräche mit Schwarzen Deutschen“ von Florence Brokowski-Shekete ist das zweite Buch der Autorin, die mit dem autobiografischen Band „Mist, die versteht mich Ja!“ einen überraschenden Erfolg hatte. In ihrem neuen Buch portraitiert sie zwölf Schwarze Deutsche, die in meist gewöhnlichen Berufen arbeiten. Von Hans Hofele FOR THE ENGLISH VERSION PLEASE SCROLL DOWN Das mag auf den ersten Blick nicht sehr spannend sein, ist aber genau das Gegenteil davon. Es wäre natürlich einfacher, Musiker:innen, Sportler:innen, Schauspieler:innen nach ihrem aufregenden Leben zu fragen. Über sie wird in den Medien auch häufiger berichtet. Schon in der Einleitung macht Florence Brokowski-Shekete an einem Beispiel deutlich, was von Schwarzen Deutschen erwartet wird, wenn sie sich unter das von weißem Mittelstand oder die akademischen Oberschicht mischen. Florence Brokowski-Shekete ist Schulamtsdirektorin. Vermutlich die einzige Schwarze in dieser Position in Deutschland. So bekommt sie auf einer Fachtagung…
-
Could This Be Love? Essays about Interracial Relations – Interview with Editor Stefanie Hirsbrunner – ger/engl
Im ersten Teil der dreiteiligen Büchervorstellung zum Thema Diversity in Germany geht es um den Essayband Kann das denn Liebe sein. Could This Be Love? Der Band versammelt fünfzehn Essays von verschiedenen Autor:innen aus Deutschland und Afrikanischen Ländern. Allen ist eines gemeinsam: Es geht um die Probleme, Hürden und Chancen von Interracial Relations. Privat, berührend, unterhaltsam, erschütternd . Das Buch ist im August 2022 beim Verlag InterKontinental erschienen und auf dem African Book Festival in Berlin auf zwei Podien vorgestellt worden. Im Interview sprach ich mit der Herausgeberin Stefanie Hirsbrunner, die gleichzeitig auch Teil des InterKontinental Verlags und des African Book Festivals in Berlin ist. The first part of the three-part book presentation on the topic of diversity in Germany is about the essay collection Kann das denn Liebe sein. The volume brings together fifteen essays by various authors from Germany and African countries.…
-
The Woman King – Successfull Hollywood Drama about Dahomey Female Warriors
The Woman King is preparing to inherit the successful film The Black Panther. It has already grossed more than 50 million dollars at the cinemas. And yet the film has only just started. While in Black Panther it was the Wakanda, this time the "real" warrior women of the Agojie are the background for this film. Again it is a cast of American and African actors and actresses. This time, however, in an originally African story that borrows heavily from historical events in 19th century West Africa. In the kingdom of Dahomey at that time, the warrior women of the Agojie, protected by the royal family, brought about a groundbreaking system change in the perception and emancipation of women. These female warriors, who were in no way inferior to their male counterparts with impressive fighting skills and effectiveness, have now been breathtakingly staged by…
-
Culture Forecast September October 2022
In this section, I display upcoming events of culture events in Europe dealing with african topics and art events in african countries. If you have information about events, please send to hans_cultureafrica@yahoo.com. A lot, a lot. So much events! We start in Uganda, where the exciting Nyege Nyege Festival will happen from September 15 to 18 nearby spectacular Itanda Falls. This international electronic music highlight in East africa is highlighted by DJ Kampire. We hope, that no one has the idea to jump into the water(fall). If you google Itanda, you know why. In Nairobi, the Macondo Literary Festival is preparing to open its gates at Kenya National Theater. The last time it happened, was 2019. This year it has a strong lusophone direction, handling literary topics from Angola, Brazil and Mozambique but also Francophone and Anglophone writers. The theme is „The Future of…
-
African Book Festival in Berlin 2022. A Report. engl/ger
Yesterday.Today.Tomorrow. That was the leitmotif of this year’s African Book Festival in Berlin. Finally without any restrictions, finally everything live and on the spot. The joy about this could be felt everywhere when you were out and about at the festival. Cultureafrica was media partner this year, but this should not distort the view when reporting about this event. By Hans Hofele/cultureafrica.net FÜR DEUTSCHE VERSION NACH UNTEN SCROLLEN But: Where does one start to report? About a literary event that is more than the sum of its events? Even in retrospect, it was a very intense long weekend. If you count the launch of InterKontinental on Thursday evening, it was four days in which you could get involved with the authors and the whole diversity of African literature. And it was the encounters and conversations with the invited authors that gave you the feeling…
-
Centering Black Literature: An Interview with James Murua- engl/ger
In the run-up to the African Book Festival in Berlin, of which cultureafrica.net is a media partner, there will be a series of interviews with participants and experts in the African literary scene. This time it is James Murua. He is one of the most influential bloggers in the African literary scene. He has attended many literary festivals, both nationally and internationally. His website jamesmurua.com is one of the most successful on the continent. James Murua lives with his wife, the writer Zukiswa Wanner, in Nairobi, Kenya. The interview was conducted during the Heroe Book Fair literary festival in Mombasa.
-
Ugandas First Woman – Author Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi at the African Book Festival – Interview ger/engl
What happens to a book when you address Africa as a readership? Africans should write the way they want to write. In Africa, we were brought up as if we were Europeans too. So when Europeans write, they don't think about Africans and whether we understand them. But when we write as Africans, we think about whether they will understand the way we write." If we Europeans think that we can read and understand Shakespeare, why was it not possible for the Germans, the English to read and understand how I write for Africans....
-
African Book Festival Berlin: Interview with South African curator Lidudumalingani_engl/ger
This year’s edition of the African Book Festival Berlin has an impressive list of authors who will take part in the festival. Margaret Busby will be there, Igoni Barrett, JJ Bola, Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi and many more. Lidudumalingani Mqombothi is this year’s curator of the festival, which takes place from August 26th to 28th in Berlin. The native South African sees himself as a multimedia artist. Writing, photography, filmmaking. In 2016 he won the renowned Caine Prize for African Writing with the short story „Memories We Lost“. Two months before the festival, Hans Hofele didn’t just talk to him about literature. FÜr DEUTSCHE VERSION NACH UNTEN SCROLLEN HH: You once said “photography is like poetry in a picture”. You are not only a writer and photographer, you are also a multimedia artist. Are there connections between these arts? L: When I was a lot…
