Tag: Goethe-Institut

  • November 2: Virtually Yours with Leila Aboulela

    November 2: Virtually Yours with Leila Aboulela

    Leila Aboulela’s River Spirit is the featured book for the series “Virtually Yours,” which runs on November 2, 2023. 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.

    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 Kalaf Epalanga, 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 this event is Leila Aboulela’s River Spirit.

    Leila Aboulela

    Leila Aboulela
    Leila Aboulela

    Leila Aboulela is the inaugural winner of the Caine Prize for African Writing. Her sixth novel, River Spirit, was published in March 2023 and described by the New York Times as ‘dazzling… a novel about war, love, faith, womanhood and, above all, the struggle for truth and public narratives’. Leila’s previous novels include Bird Summons, The Kindness of Enemies, The Translator, Minaret and Lyrics Alley, winner of the Scottish Book Awards for Fiction. Her collection of short stories, Elsewhere, Home, won the Saltire Fiction Book of the Year. Leila’s work has been translated into fifteen languages and she has been shortlisted three times for the Orange Prize (now the Women’s Prize for Fiction). She grew up in Khartoum and moved to Scotland in her mid-twenties, where she now lives. Leila is an Honorary Professor at the WORD Centre, University of Aberdeen, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

    River Spirit

    RIver Spirit by Leila Aboulela

    1890s Sudan. When Akuany and her brother are orphaned in a village raid, they are taken in by a young merchant, Yaseen, who promises to care for them – a vow that tethers him to Akuany throughout their adulthood. As revolution begins to brew, led by the self-proclaimed Mahdi, Sudan begins to prise itself from Ottoman rule, and everyone must choose a side. Yaseen feels beholden to stand against this false Mahdi, a decision that threatens to splinter his family. Meanwhile, Akuany is moved across the country alone, sold and traded from house to house, with only Yaseen as her intermittent lifeline. Their struggle mirrors the increasingly bloody struggle for Sudan itself: for freedom, safety and the possibility of love. River Spirit is the unforgettable story of a people who, against the odds and for a brief time, gained independence from foreign rule through their willpower, subterfuge and sacrifice.

    When: Thursday, November 2nd 2023

    04:00 PM Universal Time (UTC) Accra
    05:00 PM West African Time (WAT) Lagos, Douala
    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.

  • October 5: Virtually Yours with Kalaf Epalanga

    October 5: Virtually Yours with Kalaf Epalanga

    Kalaf Epalanga’s Whites Can Dance Too is the featured book for the series “Virtually Yours,” which runs on October 5, 2023. 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 Angolan musician and writer Kalaf Epalanga best known internationally for fronting the Lisbon-based dance collective Buraka Som Sistema. He is a celebrated columnist in Angola and Portugal. Whites Can Dance Too is his acclaimed debut novel; it was first published in Portugal by Editorial Caminho (2017). It is an exhilarating debut novel told through three different voices, Whites Can Dance Too is Kalaf Epalanga’s reflection on and celebration of the music of his homeland, the intertwining of cultural roots, and freedom and love. The English translation was done by Daniel Hahn and it was published by Faber & Faber (get a copy here).

    To register for this event please click here.

  • September 7: Virtually Yours with Sue Nyathi

    September 7: Virtually Yours with Sue Nyathi

    An Angel’s Demise by Sue Nyathi is the featured book for the series “Virtually Yours,” which runs on Thursday, September 7, 2023. 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.

    Sue Nyathi was born and raised in Bulawayo and lives in Johannesburg and has previously published three bestselling novels to much reader and critical acclaim: The Polygamist (2012), The GoldDiggers (2018) and The Family Affair (2020). Her newest novel is An Angel’s Demise and has the following blurb;

    An Angel’s Demise is an epic saga that explores a contested legacy and the heartrending destiny of a family. The year is 1977 and the story begins on a farm in Somabhula with the birth of Angel.

    The farm is run by Paul Williams, an outwardly harsh and bigoted man who holds the livelihoods of many in his hands. When Angel’s parents join the liberation struggle, she is left in the care of her grandmothers, who have been in service to the Williams family for generations.

    Angel grows up on the farm over three momentous decades that see a convoluted past and inheritance unfold into an equally complicated present. Through her, we see a woman’s quest to unearth her identity and assert her independence. In the process of self-discovery, Angel realises that sometimes you need to be uprooted before you can grow.

    An Angel’s Demise, Sue Nyathi’s fourth novel, is a gripping tale infused with spirituality. It recounts an explosive story of love, war, bloody massacre and betrayal that encompasses a harrowing history, the cruel caprice of politics, gender-based violence and what happens when ordinary people get caught up in lies.

    We will give away five free books to five lucky readers who will join us, wherever in the world they may be.  It could be you. Details on how to join on poster.

  • 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.

  • 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.