African Book Festival 2021 –
Music to my Ears

For the first time in a loooong time, I’ve attended a literature event: the African Book Festival in Berlin, run by InterKontinental and curated by Kalaf Epalanga. This year’s festival highlighted the craft of authors and artists from Angola, but the programme also included, among others, authors from Nigeria, South […] Read more

Bookshops & the Literary Field in the Time of Corona

Just when I thought I could write a little something about how bookshops and literary event organisers deal with the current situation, I came across a short article by Clare Thorp who wrote about how bookshops in different countries find ways to still sell books into their communities and beyond […] Read more

“You will always be our brothers and sisters” – Poetry and Indigenous Languages from Ireland, Scotland, and Wales

“Strength lies in Celtic and European unity” – this could have been the motto of Tuesday’s event entitled Muttersprache which took place at the Centre for British Studies and was co-organised by The Literary Field Kaleidoscope, Read more

Transitioning from Migration – Berlin’s African Book Festival 2019

“TRANSITIONING FROM MIGRATION: Africa is often regarded as a continent of migration, of countries described vividly […] as ones that citizens flee from. African literature can contribute to our understanding of the causes, processes and aspirations that perpetuate this trend. In this way African literature invites us to imagine an […] Read more

“Quite groggy and very happy”: An account of the first months in the Literaturhaus under the new dual leadership of Janika Gelinek and Sonja Longolius

Gesa Stedman and Sandra van Lente asked the two new directors of the Literaturhaus in an interview about their experiences with the Literaturhaus’ new concept: whether it has worked so far to engage the whole house in Fasanenstraße in their events, to open up their focus to incorporate European literature […] Read more

Passion and Politics – Ocelot, Not Just Another Bookstore

Our interview partner for today’s Literary Field Kaleidoscope post is Maria-Christina Piwowarski who runs “ocelot, not just another bookstore” with her team. She runs this exceptional bookshop in the heart of Berlin with an infectious passion, an amazing knowledge of all things bookish, and a political compass that I wish […] Read more

Catching up on African literature: WiM in Berlin

WiM stands for “Writing in Migration”, the first African literature festival in Germany. It took place last week at the Babylon in Berlin. It was organised by the literary agency InterKontinental and curated by Olumide Popoola. Sandra van Lente attended two of the events and wrote a short report for […] Read more