Programme

Ijoma Alexander Mangold is one of Germany’s leading literary critics and this is his reflective and compelling memoir of growing up different – both in terms of his ethnicity and his interests – in 1970s Heidelberg, in the USA as the German Wall fell, and as a young adult in the new Germany. His own story is inextricably linked with that of his mother, an ethnic German from the eastern province of Silesia, forced to escape as a refugee in the expulsions from 1944, and to start afresh in utter poverty in West Germany. His Nigerian father came to Germany as a medical student but returned before Ijoma was old enough to remember him. When he reappears on the scene in Ijoma’s early twenties, it forces a crash collision with an unknown culture, one he has grown up always suspicious of, and a new complex family history to come to terms with. Conversation in German

This landmark anthology celebrates the work of 200 women writers of African descent and charts a literary landscape as never before. A glorious portrayal of the richness, range and diversity of African women’s voices, this major international collection brings together their achievements across a wealth of genres: autobiography, memoir, letters, short stories, novels, poetry, drama, humour, journalism, essays and speeches. From Antigua to Zimbabwe and Angola to the USA, overlooked artists of the past join key figures, popular contemporaries and emerging writers in paying tribute to the heritage that unites them, the strong links that endure from generation to generation, and their common obstacles around issues of race, gender and class. Bold and insightful, brilliant in its intimacy and universality, this landmark anthology honours the talents of African daughters and the inspiring legacy that connects them—and all of us.

Was passiert in romantischen Beziehungen, wenn Race, Herkunft oder Kultur zum Thema werden? Anhand eigener Erfahrungen ergründet dieses Panel, ob wir in einer immer noch tief gespaltenen Welt trotzdem zueinander finden. Conversation in German

At once epic and deeply personal, the second novel from prize-winning author Jennifer Makumbi is an intoxicating mix of Ugandan folklore and modern feminism that will linger in the memory long after the final page. As Kirabo enters her teens, questions begin to gnaw at her - questions which the adults in her life will do anything to ignore. Where is the mother she has never known? And why would she choose to leave her daughter behind? Inquisitive, headstrong, and unwilling to take no for an answer, Kirabo sets out to find the truth for herself. Her search will take her away from the safety of her prosperous Ugandan family, plunging her into a very different world of magic, tradition, and the haunting legend of 'The First Woman', told against the backdrop of Idi Amin’s regime in Uganda in the 1970s.

A short one on one interview with South African writer Lerato Mogoathle. Get to know the artist and her travel memoir "Vagabond. Traveling Through Africa on Faith" about her voyages across the African continent as a Black muslim woman.

'I have more privilege than any person in my family. And I'm still screwed.' From award-winning author Olivia Wenzel comes a captivating and unsettling literary debut about race, politics, feminism, motherhood, nationality and enduring love. A young woman attends a play about the Berlin Wall coming down and is the only Black person in the audience. She is sitting with her boyfriend by a bathing lake and four neo-Nazis show up. In New York, she witnesses Trump's election victory in a strange hotel room and later awakes to panicked messages from friends. Engaging in a witty question and answer with herself, the narrator looks at our rapidly changing times and tells the story of her family: her mother, who was a punk in East Germany and never had the freedom she dreamed of and her absent Angolan father. But in the background of everything is the memory of her twin brother, who died when they were nineteen.

Afrobeats, Amapiano, Hip Hop, RnB & Dancehall infused Club music & Electronic beats…

A short one on one conversation with the South African writer Niq Mhlongo. Get to know the artist who has kindly provided his Berlin-based short story "For You I'd Steal a Goat" to raise donations for the African Book Festival.

Festival authors share which book have influenced their writing, shaped their worlds and answer the most pressing question of all: What shall I read next?

A short one on one conversation with South African writer Fred Khumalo. Get to know the artist and his vast oeuvre of novels and short stories, some of which are absolute classics in South Africa.

Short stories have been part of the fabric of African writing for centuries. They have launched many young writers, and of late, many seasoned writers are also returning to the form, punctuating their long form novels with short story collections. What is it about the form that attracts young and old writers? What was its function then and what is it now?

Cape Town has been a city of injustice and crises for much of its existence. A collective of women who run community kitchens unpack their day to day challenges in short stories and reflective dialogues.

A short one on one conversation with South African writer, editor and lecturer Bongani Kona. Get to know the artist and his work including the most recent short story anthology that he edited: Our Ghosts Were Once People

South African writing adapted for screen. What kind of literature gets adapted for screen and what happens to the book then? Do streaming platforms change literature production and what is the difference between writing for screen and writing for print?

Ruru’s father, Phaks, joined the anti-apartheid struggle in exile before she was born but never returned, preferring to stay in Tanzania. Years later, though he has passed away, Ruru goes in search of signs of his life in his adopted country. She finds it in his widow and his ‘pillow books’ – journals he kept, coming to terms with his mortality. Struck by the parallels with her teenage letters to her late mother, she reads to find answers to her questions: Who was he? Why did he not return?

A Stranger’s Pose is an evocative and mesmerising account of travels across different African cities. With lyrical and absorbing prose, Emmanuel invites the reader to share in his travels, and the encounters he made along the way. Alongside these depictions of new places and people is a compelling, and very personal, meditation on the meaning of home, and the importance of intimacy to a lone traveller. Through these vignettes – an arrest in a market in N’djamena, meeting the famed photographer Malick Sidibe in Bamako, speaking with a migrant in Tangier who says “the sea is the only way,” – Emmanuel showcases the generosity of strangers, the power of language and translation, and much more, accentuated by a curated selection of captivating photographs.