Gesa Stedman rounds up the news from the past winter months, with a report on the loss of revenue for the big publishers, successes for the independent alliance, the ongoing and in political terms, rather worrying, BookTok phenomenon, as well as news of prize winners, bestsellers and some hope for […] Read more
The Resonanzen Literature Festival in Recklinghausen in May 2022 was the first festival dedicated to Black writing in German that took place in a mainstream or white institution. It was hosted by Ruhrfestspiele Recklinghausen and curated by the novelist and activist Sharon Dodua Otoo, who published her first German novel […] Read more
Kit de Waal will read at the Centre for British Studies on 1 November 2022 5pm. Please join us on 1 November 2022 at 5pm and come to the Centre for British Studies at Mohrenstr. 60, 10117, room 105, to hear Kit de Waal read from her recently published […] Read more
I had the great pleasure of attending this year’s Birmingham Literature Festival. After a ‘pandemic break’ (that also gave us their fabulous “Birmingham Lit Fest Presents…” podcast) and a one-day festival version last year, the 2022 edition of #BLF took place at the Birmingham REP (Birmingham Repertory Theatre), bang in […] Read more
Gesa Stedman rounds up the news, from defunct as well as new literary prizes to delivery crises, slow successes in the North to the huge impact of TikTok on publishing. Read more
InterKontinental started off as a literary agency and organized the first African Book Festival in Berlin in 2018. Since then, they have also opened a bookshop that specialises in African literatures and literature from the African diaspora. In 2022, the multitalented team launches their new independent press: InterKontinental Publishing House […] Read more
Gesa Stedman takes a look at the main trends of the key pandemic years when shops were closed, readers turned to fiction again, festivals went online and bookfairs were cancelled. Read more
Hannah Pardey, lecturer and researcher at Leibniz-Universität Hanover, is an expert on the digital aspects of the contemporary literary field. She explores in what way digitalisation enables or hinders literary diversity and takes a close look at the intersection of AI, emotion, and diversity. Read more
The war that Russia leads against Ukraine continues to horrify me as do the whole discussion about military spending and armament; and I’ve not been able to write anything helpful or insightful about this topic. This short blog won’t be either. My thoughts and solidarity are with the people who […] Read more
Gesa Stedman explores the complex connections and the colonial legacies which characterise Read more
