Hans
Hans Hofele, M. A., studierte Theater/Filmwissenschaften, Politik und Geschichte an der Ruhr-Universität Bochum. Zusammenarbeit mit dem Heroe Book Festival in Mombasa, dem African Book Festival in Berlin, den 72 heures de livre in Conakry. Er arbeitet als editor beim Öffentlich Rechtlichen Rundfunk in Frankfurt am Main. Mitarbeit an Dokumentationen, Reportagen, Beiträgen für ARD, arte, hr, und kika. Schreibt außerdem für verschiedene Zeitungen wie Frankfurter Neue Presse, Südwestpresse, Badische Zeitung, Stuttgarter Zeitung.
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Barefoot in Germany – Interview with/mit Rwandan/German author Tete Loeper engl/ger
At the end of 2020, cultureafrica reported on the book Barefoot in Germany, which was published in English. It is written by the Rwandan-German author Tete Loeper. Tete Loeper herself grew up in Rwanda in the 1990s, spending time in Burundi and Congo during the genocide. In Rwanda, she worked in projects with girls at risk and also gathered information there for her later book. Barefoot in Germany is about the (fictional) life of the young Mutoni from Rwanda. Her dramatic life, which begins in the red-light district of Hamburg, soon turns to the southern German province of a small town. There she is met not only by helpfulness but also by a world of prejudice, complacency and ignorance.…
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Not only on Woman’s Day – African Must Read Literature by Shonatiger
IWD 2022: African women writers you absolutely must read (and others on my reading list) To celebrate this year’s International Women’s Day, here’s a non-exhaustive list of some excellent African women writers, and the books that put them on my list. If you click on the name, you will be taken to the author’s Wikipedia page, where available. Where I wrote a review on my blog, I have added the link below. Petina Gappah I’m in awe of Ms Gappah’s writing, which in my opinion is always excellent, with her distinct authorial voice. My post on Out of Darkness, Shining Light. Molara Wood I loved this collection. My post on Indigo. Yvonne Vera Yvonne Vera is one…
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10 African Songs of the last Decade you should know_engl/ger
African secular music has always been evolving with new sounds and genres being birthed on a regular. However, it’s in the past decade (2010-2020) when African music has really come into one with lots of inter-country collaborations. Music is indeed powerful if it can get people dancing even though they do not even understand what is being sung. African music has successfully proven this over time. Nowadays, somebody in Ghana could as well be enjoying music from Uganda and vice versa. With music videos being released on YouTube and music streaming services readily available, the rest of the world too gets to discover African music.
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Akono Publishing and Blog – Spot on Africa: Afrikanische Literaturen und Kultur sichtbar machen – Interview – ger/engl
Akono Publishing and Blog: It was important to me to present African realities of life through literature and to work towards translating these literatures. Historical fiction is a focus in the publishing programme, African perspectives from Africa and not from Europe. Mir war es wichtig, über die Literatur afrikanische Lebensrealitäten darzustellen und daran mitzuwirken, dass diese Literaturen übersetzt werden. Historische Fiktion ist ein Schwerpunkt im Verlagsprogramm, afrikanische Perspektiven aus Afrika und nicht aus Europa.
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“It can’t just be about technology. Much more needs to be changed, especially the mindset.” 3Es4Africa: Interview with Contimi Kenfack Mouafo ger/engl
Education-Empowerment-Ecofriendliness, das sind die drei Es, die Ländern in Afrika bessere Perspektiven geben sollen. Ein gemeinnütziger Verein aus Aachen in Deutschland will diese Perspektiven bieten. Das Besondere ist ist nicht, dass der Verein aus Deutschland kommt. Das Besondere ist, dass es überwiegend in Deutschland lebende afrikanische Studierende sind, die dieses Projekt 2020 aus der Taufe gehoben haben und auch betreiben. Voller Enthusiasmus und mit viel Engagement wollen sie eine Lücke im europäischen Entwicklungsfeld mit Afrika schließen, die es so bisher nicht gab: Zusammenarbeit auf Augenhöhe, Gleichberechtigung und Fairness. Studierende und Promovierende in Kamerun, Ghana und Namibia sind an diesen Projekten beteiligt. Gründungsmitglied des Vereins und Vorstandsvorsitzender ist der gebürtige Kameruner Contimi Kenfack Mouafo. Das Interview führte Hans Hofele für…
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Tsitsi Dangarembga and much more: Orlanda Verlag /Publishing House Berlin- Interview ger/engl
Orlanda Verlag. Das ist ein klingender Name in der Verlagswelt. Vom Namen her gibt es ihn seit 1974 und wurde als engagierter Frauenbuchverlag in Deutschland bekannt. Auch die afro-deutsche Schriftstellerin May Ayim hatte bei Orlanda ihr Zuhause. FOR ENGLISH VERSION PLEASE SCROLL DOWN Der Orlanda Verlag, wie er heute besteht, hat sich ab 2017 strukturell verändert. Personell, strukturell und inhaltlich ist er anders geworden. Erfolgreich obendrein: Die Autobiographie »Mist, die versteht mich ja« von Florence Brokowski-Shekete wurde zum Bestseller, Tstsi Dangarembga, deren deutsche Übersetzungen bei Orlanda erscheinen, wurde der Friedenspreis des Deutschen Buchhandels verliehen. Der Verlag hat außerdem den von der Kulturstaatsministerin verliehenen “Deutschen Verlagspreis 2021” bekommen. Die Bücher spiegeln das Verlagsmotto “Frauen, Weltkultur, Bewegung” wieder. Sachbücher über Afro-Deutsche…
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Softie – Kenya’s Political Documentary Sensation – Interview with Sam Soko and Njeri Mwangi
Boniface “Softie” Mwangi has long fought injustices in his country as a political activist. Now he’s running for office in a regional Kenyan election. Softie follows Boniface from the moment Boniface decides to run, telling his wife, Njeri, in passing with a hesitant laugh, he responds to each challenge with optimism. But running a clean campaign against corrupt opponents becomes increasingly harder to combat with idealism alone. And Boniface soon finds that challenging strong political dynasties is putting his family at risk. Should country really come before family, as he’s always believed?
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ShonaReads -20 relatively short reads to catch up on your reading for 2021 engl/ger
Towards the end of the year, most of us start reviewing the resolutions we made at the start. Sometimes, on that list is a resolution to read more. Below, I have compiled a list of relatively short books (less than 250 pages) of all genres, to help you achieve that goal. I have also supplied links to my own reviews, where available.
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DJ Kampire from Uganda – Girls, don’t be afraid!_ger/engl
She DJs halfway around the world and is a role model in her native Uganda. Dj Kampire, aka Kampire Bahana from the capital Kampala. She has been DJing, mixing and remixing her own tunes for over six years. She is not only successful in Uganda. But there she has mastered the difficult leap from hobby to professional DJ. It all started at the Nyege Nyege Music Festival in Kampala, which is well-known in Africa. There she was a co-founder and is now part of the collective. The Nyege Nyege Festival has made a name for itself worldwide, and even in the West it is considered an insider tip to hang out there. But visitors from there are still the…
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Pwani Tribune – Passion for Coastal Culture and History Interview with/mit Albert Mwamburi engl/ger
I recognize the need of bringing these other Coastal cultures to prominence. The kind of prominence that Swahili culture enjoys. And there’s actually so much to write about them. When you mention that the Swahili historical evidence is readily available, I would like to bring to your attention that there are also some caves in Taita Taveta County that very few Kenyans know about. These are the kinds of things I strive to highlight.
