Zukiswa Wanner

Category: Events

  • AS Madames launches in Luanda

    AS Madames launches in Luanda

    As Madames, the Portuguese language version of The Madams launched in Luanda, Angola on Friday, May 12, 2023.

    My first novel The Madams abouta Black South African decided to take a white maid, published by Oshun Books in 2006, was a revelation in the South African writing scene. The first translation for this book in Portuguese by Sandra Tamale and is a collaboration between Kiela (Angola) and Ethale Books (Mozambique).

    The first launch for this book was in Luanda on May 12. Here are some images from the launch.

    AS Madames launch in Luanda
  • AS Madames to launch in Luanda, Angola

    AS Madames to launch in Luanda, Angola

    As Madames, the Portuguese language version of The Madams is set to launch in Luanda, Angola on Friday, May 12, 2023.

    My first novel The Madams abouta Black South African decided to take a white maid, published by Oshun Books in 2006, was a revelation in the South African writing scene. The first translation for this book in Portuguese by Sandra Tamale and is a collaboration between Kiela (Angola) and Ethale Books (Mozambique).

    The first launch for this book will be in Luanda on May 12.

  • Artistic Encounters and Strauhof Zurich

    Artistic Encounters and Strauhof Zurich

    Strauhof and the Litar Foundation are dedicating the exhibition trilogy “litafrika” (2022–2024) to literatures from the African continent. The first exhibition “Poetries of a Continent”, based on the anthology “Afrika im Gedicht” (Zurich 2015) by the Swiss literary mediator Al Imfeld, stages a selection of exemplary poems in English, French, Portuguese and Arabic from postcolonial classics to the current slam and spoken word scene.

    The second exhibition came about after I visited “Poetries of a Continent” and wrote “Artistic Encounters” which features eight scenes from contemporary African literatures. In it I stage encounters between current novels and performance, music or visual art. Across national and linguistic borders, the exhibition sheds light on a generation of writers who are well connected and internationally active. As a continuation of “Poetries of a Continent” (2022), I put the emphasis on novels instead of poems, focal points instead of abundance – and above all on the diverse stories of younger authors instead of the postcolonial classics: what topics do contemporary literary figures deal with today? How do artists stage the selected passages?

    The selected artists and texts are;

    • Ishmael Beah (Sierra Leone): Radiance of Tomorrow (2014) x         
      Shaffik Manzi (Rwanda): visual artist
    • Virgília Ferrão (b. 1986, Mozambique): Os Nossos Feitiços (2022) x         
      Jussara Camble (São Tomé and Príncipe): actress
    • Abubakar Adam Ibrahim (Nigeria): Season of Crimson Blossoms (2015) x         
      Zikhona Sodlaka (South Africa): actress
    • Angela Makholwa (South Africa): Critical But Stable (2021) x         
      Michael Soi (Kenya): visual artist
    • Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi (Uganda): The First Woman (2020) x         
      Ntombephi Ntobela (South Africa): visual artist
    • Yara Nakahanda Monteiro (Angola): Essa Dama Bate Bue (2018) x         
      Zubz the Last Letter (Zambia): musician
    • Fiston Mwanza Mujila (DR Congo): Tram 83 (2014) x         
      Prudence Katomeni (Zimbabwe): musician
    • Ondjaki (Angola): Os Transparentes (2012) x         
      Seeretse (Botswana): musician

    The exhibition can be viewed in Zurich from June 16 until September 03, 2023. Please click here for more information.

  • October 8: Virtually Yours with Femi Kayode

    October 8: Virtually Yours with Femi Kayode

    Light Seekers by Femi Kayode is the featured book for the series “Virtually Yours,” which runs on Saturday, October 8, 2022. He will be moderated by Zukiswa Wanner. The event hosted by Goethe-Institut Namibia will run from 4pm GMT, 5pm WAT, 6pm CAT, and 7pm EAT. Click here to register for the session.

    Virtually Yours is a regional project of Goethe-Institut Sub Saharan Africa, a series of online discussions with contemporary authors from Africa. “Virtually Yours” aims to create an online platform for avid readers, writers, academics, publishers, agents, and anyone else interested in literature by writers from Africa. The series of online discussions held once a month has featured Abubakar Adam Ibrahim, Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor, Oswalde Lewat, Niq Mhlongo, Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, Tendai Huchu, Natasha Omokhodion-Kalulu Banda, Ondjaki, Ishmael Beah, Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu, Rémy Ngamije, and Nadifa Mohamed.

    Femi Kayode grew up in Lagos, Nigeria. He studied Psychology at the University of Ibadan and has worked in advertising over the last two decades. He was a Packard Fellow in Film and Media at the University of Southern California and a Gates-Packard Fellow in International Health at the University of Washington, Seattle. His writing credits include several award winning work for the stage and screen. He holds an MA in Creative Writing – Crime Fiction at the University of East Anglia, where Lightseekers won the Little, Brown/UEA Crime Fiction Award. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Crime Fiction at Bath Spa University where he is exploring the use of Systems Thinking for plotting the contemporary crime novel. He lives in Namibia with his family.

    In his crime novel Lightseekers, Nigerian author Femi Kayode reconstructs a lynching of three students in Port Harcourt – and tells of a deeply torn country between civil war, corruption and organised violence. Selected as a Best Crime Novel of the Month by The Times, Sunday Times, Independent, Guardian, Observer, Financial Times and Irish Times.

    Join the discussion at the following times;

    05:00 PM West African Time (WAT) Lagos, Luanda, Yaoundé

    06:00 PM Central African Time (CAT) Windhoek, Johannesburg

    07:00 PM East African Time (EAT) Nairobi, Addis Abeba

    To register for this event please click here.

    Virtually Yours, Goethe-Institut,

  • September 9: Virtually Yours with Gauz

    September 9: Virtually Yours with Gauz

    Cocoaïans by Gauz is the featured book for the series “Virtually Yours,” which runs on Saturday, September 9, 2022. He will be moderated by Renee Edwige Dro. The event hosted by Goethe-Institut Namibia will run from 4pm GMT, 5pm WAT, 6pm CAT, and 7pm EAT. Click here to register for the session.

    Virtually Yours is a regional project of Goethe-Institut Sub Saharan Africa, a series of online discussions with contemporary authors from Africa. “Virtually Yours” aims to create an online platform for avid readers, writers, academics, publishers, agents, and anyone else interested in literature by writers from Africa. The series of online discussions held once a month has featured Abubakar Adam Ibrahim, Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor, Oswalde Lewat, Niq Mhlongo, Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, Tendai Huchu, Natasha Omokhodion-Kalulu Banda, Ondjaki, Ishmael Beah, Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu, Rémy Ngamije, and Nadifa Mohamed.

    This month’s guest is Gauz who will be speaking about his newest nonfiction title Cocoaïans which was published by L’ Arche Editions on August 19. The new book has the following blurb;

    An extensive historical fresco through the 20th century, Cocoaïans tells the story of chocolate and the world’s dependence on cocoa powder. From the bean to the processed product, the cultivation and trade of cocoa reflect the relations of domination imposed by the West on the producing countries of Africa. Between the fields of cocoa trees and the chocolate bars of industrial groups, traditions, globalization and neocolonialism intersect.

    From Côte d’Ivoire, from the Gbaka forest to Treichville, from 1908 to 2031, Gauz’ recounts the project of the Cocoaïans, the inhabitants of Cocoaland to emancipate themselves from the processes of capitalist exploitation. Cocoaïans unfolds in several voices and takes us in the footsteps of those who had to transform their country under the pressure of the settlers, betrayals and compromises, and the decisive influence of socialism within these power struggles.

    Gauz’ launches the idea of ​​an Africa that would reclaim the product of its labor and its means of production, to free itself from the alienation induced by post-colonial capitalism.

    Join the discussion at the following times;

    05:00 PM West African Time (WAT) Lagos, Luanda, Yaoundé

    06:00 PM Central African Time (CAT) Windhoek, Johannesburg

    07:00 PM East African Time (EAT) Nairobi, Addis Abeba

    To register for this event please click here.

  • August 13: Virtually Yours with José Luís Mendonça

    August 13: Virtually Yours with José Luís Mendonça

    José Luís Mendonça’s Metamorfoses do Elefante is the featured book for the series “Virtually Yours,” which runs on August 13, 2022. He will be moderated by Ondjaki. The event hosted by Goethe-Institut Namibia will run from 4pm GMT, 5pm WAT, 6pm CAT, and 7pm EAT.

    Virtually Yours is a regional project of Goethe-Institut Sub Saharan Africa, a series of online discussions with contemporary authors from Africa. “Virtually Yours” aims to create an online platform for avid readers, writers, academics, publishers, agents, and anyone else interested in literature by writers from Africa. The series of online discussions held once a month has featured Abubakar Adam Ibrahim, Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor, Oswalde Lewat, Niq Mhlongo, Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, Tendai Huchu, Natasha Omokhodion-Kalulu Banda, Ondjaki, Ishmael Beah, Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu, Rémy Ngamije, and Nadifa Mohamed.

    This month’s guest is José Luís Mendonça who share his public life among literature, university teaching, journalism and cultural activism for the promotion of books and reading. His book as Metamorfoses do Elefante is a literary gem: legends, dreams, nightmares, metaphors and a creative use of language that evoke the art of Mia Couto.

    To register for this event please click here.

  • July 9: Artistic Encounters with Tsitsi Dangarembga

    July 9: Artistic Encounters with Tsitsi Dangarembga

    Artistic Encounters is a project where artists from two different disciplines offered a performance combining their two specialities at the Goethe-Institut Nairobi. Typically, the anchor disciplines were either poetry or prose combining with the visual arts, music instruments, acting, and loads more. The artists came from Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Botswana, Germany, South Africa, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Eritrea, and Sierra Leone.

    This July, another edition of Artistic Encounters is on the books with Hana Kefela and Wandiri Karimi doing their rendition of Tsitsi Dangarembga’s legendary debut Nervous Conditions at Cheche Books, Nairobi. Actress Hana Kefela returns to Artistic Encounters after a successful event doing her rendition of Pede Hollist novel So The Path Does Not Die. Wandiri Karimi who recently ended a role as director of the Kenya Conservatoire of Music and is the founder of the Kenya Conservatoire Women’s Orchestra will be making her debut in the series.

    The event will end with a question-and-answer session with Tsitsi Dangarembga moderated by Zukiswa Wanner.

  • June 11: Virtually Yours with Ibrahim El Khalil Diallo

    June 11: Virtually Yours with Ibrahim El Khalil Diallo

    Ibrahim El Khalil Diallo’s L’Odyssée des Oubliés is the featured book for the series “Virtually Yours,” which runs on June 11, 2022. He hosted by Goethe-Institut Senegal will be moderated by Renee Edwige Dro.

    Virtually Yours is a regional project of Goethe-Institut Sub Saharan Africa, a series of online discussions with contemporary authors from Africa. “Virtually Yours” aims to create an online platform for avid readers, writers, academics, publishers, agents, and anyone else interested in literature by writers from Africa. The series of online discussions held once a month has featured Abubakar Adam Ibrahim, Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor, Oswalde Lewat, Niq Mhlongo, Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, Tendai Huchu, Natasha Omokhodion-Kalulu Banda, Ondjaki, Ishmael Beah, Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu, Rémy Ngamije, Nadifa Mohamed, and Ana Paula Tavares.

    Ibrahim El Khalil Diallo is one of the most promising young writers on the African continent. Born in Mauritania, he lives in Dakar. After being a finalist for the Orange Prize for Books in Africa 2019, the Prix Kourouma 2019 and the Prix Ivory 2019, he is the winner of the Prix Ahmed Baba 2021 and a finalist for the Kourouma Prize 2021.

    He will be talking about his book L’Odyssée des Oubliés (English translation: The Odyssey of the Forgotten).The event will run at the following times;

    04:00 PM Universal Time (UTC) Abidjan, Accra, Dakar

    05:00 PM West African Time (WAT) Lagos, Luanda, Yaoundé

    06:00 PM Central African Time (CAT) Windhoek, Johannesburg

    07:00 PM East African Time (EAT) Nairobi, Addis Abeba

    Those who wish to take part in this discussion should click here.

  • May 14: Virtually Yours with Yara Nakahanda Monteiro

    May 14: Virtually Yours with Yara Nakahanda Monteiro

    Yara Nakahanda Monteiro’s Loose Ties is the featured book for the series “Virtually Yours,” which runs on May 14, 2022. She will be moderated by Zukiswa Wanner. The event hosted by Goethe-Institut Namibia will run from 4pm GMT, 5pm WAT, 6pm CAT, and 7pm EAT.

    Virtually Yours is a regional project of Goethe-Institut Sub Saharan Africa, a series of online discussions with contemporary authors from Africa. “Virtually Yours” aims to create an online platform for avid readers, writers, academics, publishers, agents, and anyone else interested in literature by writers from Africa. The series of online discussions held once a month has featured Abubakar Adam Ibrahim, Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor, Oswalde Lewat, Niq Mhlongo, Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, Tendai Huchu, Natasha Omokhodion-Kalulu Banda, Ondjaki, Ishmael Beah, Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu, Rémy Ngamije, and Nadifa Mohamed.

    The featured guest for May is Yara Nakahanda Monteiro featuring here novel Loose Ties an electrifying and colourful story, with shadows of an uncertain and shifting past. Victoria was raised in Portugal by her grandparents and bears the marks of a trauma she can’t get over: she never met her mother who was an Angolan freedom fighter. A few months before her wedding, Victoria flees to Angola in search of her mother and her identity – personal, racial, cultural and even sexual. She lands in Luanda at the dawn of the 21st century – a place of striking social contrasts, where the imported car is displayed alongside the most dreadful scenes of hunger. A place where the boundaries of tragedy and comedy seem blurred, a city where “everything kills”. Loose ties is both a story of love and of war, a contemporary tale that deals with the past, a call for the independence of women as political beings. And of their own bodies in search of freedom.

    Register for this Virtual Gathering at the link below and stand the chance of winning a copy by clicking here and stand the chance of winning a copy.

  • April 9: Virtually Yours with Ana Paula Tavares

    April 9: Virtually Yours with Ana Paula Tavares

    Ana Paula Tavares’ Entries For An Effective Diary is the featured book for the series “Virtually Yours,” which runs on April 9, 2022. She will be moderated by Ondjaki. The event hosted by Goethe-Institut Namibia will run from 4pm GMT, 5pm WAT, 6pm CAT, and 7pm EAT.

    Virtually Yours is a regional project of Goethe-Institut Sub Saharan Africa, a series of online discussions with contemporary authors from Africa. “Virtually Yours” aims to create an online platform for avid readers, writers, academics, publishers, agents, and anyone else interested in literature by writers from Africa. The series of online discussions held once a month has featured Abubakar Adam Ibrahim, Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor, Oswalde Lewat, Niq Mhlongo, Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, Tendai Huchu, Natasha Omokhodion-Kalulu Banda, Ondjaki, Ishmael Beah, Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu, Rémy Ngamije, and Nadifa Mohamed.

    Ana Paula Tavares is an Angolan author, poet and historian. Tavares studied history at the University of Luanda and worked as a history teacher from 1973. At the end of the 1970’s, she moved to Lisbon and studied Afro-Lusitanian Studies and received a PHD in African history. The themes of her work are Angolan traditions and languages, love and war and especially the role of women in African society. She is one of the most prominent representatives of the postcolonial generation of Luso-African women poets.