Stimmen afrikas will launch its new series Neue Töchter Afrikas in Cologne, Germany on October 26, 2022.
Stimmen Afrikas, (English: “voices of Africa”) is a short story festival aimed at bringing together writers from the continent with those of Europe first held in Cologne, Germany in 2009. It has since hosted many of the leading names in African letters like Abdulrazak Gurnah, Chimamanda N. Adichie, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, and Tsitsi Dangarembga.
For 2022, they are introducing the new series Neue Töchter Afrikas (English: New Daughters of Africa”) 2022/2023 to exclusively present and promote works by Black women. It will feature readings, discussions, and book presentations at various venues in Cologne and North Rhine-Westphalia. stimmen afrikas aims to open conversations between the BIPOC community in Germany and intercontinental Black women writers as well as foster the discourse and cooperation between literature fans and literary professionals from Cologne and the rest of North Rhine-Westphalia, who are actively involved in the implementation of the international project.
In 2023, Stimmen Afrikas will publish a German-edited collection entitled NEUE TÖCHTER AFRIKAS including texts from the New Daughters of Africa anthology (edited by Margaret Busby and published by Myriad in 2019). Together with a team of Black women from North Rhine-Westphalia, Margaret Busby selected 30 texts (poems, essays, short stories, etc.) written over a period of more than 100 years. All texts will be translated into German by Aminata Cissé Schleicher and Eleonore Wiedenroth-Coulibaly. The foreword to the German collection will be written by author and editor Marion Kraft. The collection will be published by UNRAST Verlag, Münster.
Parallel to the book production as well as after its publication in June 2023, various events are planned which will provide insights into the poetic, combative, empowering, and visionary creativity of Black women writers around the world, addressing gender-sensitive themes from Africa, the Caribbean, and the African diasporas: From Nana Asma’u (Nigeria/Finland; *1793) to Afua Hirsch (UK; *1981), from Nawal El Saadawi (Egypt *1931) to Zadie Smith (UK; *1975), they invoke and celebrate sisterhood, love, and friendship.
Here are the forthcoming events in the series (subject to change);
October 26, 2022: Kick off event at the “Forum VHS” at Museum am Neumarkt, Cologne. There will be a New Daughters of Africa Talk with Glenda Obermuller, Emilene Wopana Mudimu, donna Kukama, and Julienne de Muirier about their selection of the authors and texts for the German collection published in June 2023. The British-Nigerian writer Sarah Ladipo Manyika will moderate the conversation and the theater and film actress Dela Dabulamanzi will present samples of the works by Aminata Cissé Schleicher and Eleonore Wiedenroth-Coulibaly. Azizè Flittner will interpret the conversation in German. More events can be gotten by clicking here.
November 15, 2022: Sisonke Msimang (South Africa) -“Offenbach” – Schauspiel Cologne)
November 16, 2022: Deise Faria Nunes (Brazil) – (school event).
November 29, 2022: “On Translation”, a discussion on literary translation with Eleonore Wiedenroth-Coulibaly (literary translator), Nina Thielicke (German Translators’ Fund), Dr. Vera Gerling (professor at Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, Department of Romance Studies and Literary Translation). The discussion will be moderated by the author and translator Larissa Bender.
December 6, 2022: “Alte Feuerwache,” Cologne
December 7, 2022: (school event).
February 2023: Further author readings and discussions talks as well as school events will take place in February 2023 and in June as part of the ECAS (European Conference of African Studies), which is hosted by the GSSC (Global South Studies Centre) at the University of Cologne.
June 2023: Launch of NEUE TÖCHTER AFRIKAS will be in Cologne in. Among the guests will be Margaret Busby, as well as one of the authors whose text was published in the anthology and one of the literary translators.
The series is sponsored by the German Federal Foreign Office, German Translators’ Fund, Kunststiftung NRW, German Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs, City of Cologne in partnership with the City of Cologne – Amt für Weiterbildung, Literaturbüro Ruhr, Insert Female Artist, Exile Kulturkoordination Essen, Schauspiel Cologne, Global South Studies Centre/ University of Cologne, English Department/Gender and Diversity Studies University of Cologne, Cologne Women’s History Society, Myriad, Unrast, COSMO radio, Macondo Literature Festival Nairobi.
