Guess who’s coming to town.
Mmmhhmm, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o’s very handsome son, Mũkoma will be in Germany from around the 19th to 25th of September for a book tour on his book, “Nairobi Heat”.
Mũkoma like his father is a writer, activist and scholar. Born in the US before his father sent him back to Kenya only to return to the US for his graduate studies. Mũkoma has followed in similar foot steps as his father. Currently an Assistant Professor of English at Cornell University, he’s the author of crime fiction novels Black Star Nairobi (2013) and Nairobi Heat (2009), and an anthology of poetry titled Hurling Words at Consciousness (AWP, 2006). He also doubles as a columnist on This is Africa and other newspapers.
The German translation of his book, Nairobi Heat, awarded the “Der Beste Krimi der Saison 2014” by Buchkultur. His visit this month will be for this book.
IN MADISON, WISCONSIN, it’s a big deal when African peace activist Joshua Hakizimana—who saved hundreds of people from the Rwandan genocide—accepts a position at the university to teach about “genocide and testimony.” Then a young woman is found murdered on his doorstep.
Local police Detective Ishmael—an African-American in an “extremely white” town—suspects the crime is racially motivated; the Ku Klux Klan still holds rallies there, after all. But then he gets a mysterious phone call: “If you want the truth, you must go to its source. The truth is in the past. Come to Nairobi.”
It’s the beginning of a journey that will take him to a place still vibrating from the genocide that happened around its borders, where violence is a part of everyday life, where big-oil money rules and where the local cops shoot first and ask questions later—a place, in short, where knowing the truth about history can get you killed.
Interested in Catching up with Mũkoma on his book tour, below are the dates and venues.
20. September 2104, 9:00 – 11:00 pm (21-23 Uhr)
14th International Literature Festival Berlin (ILB)
Literaturen der Welt
Haus der Berliner Festspiele
Autor: Mukoma Wa Ngugi
Moderation: Jörg Petzold
Sprecher: Frank Arnold
Preis 8 Euro / ermäßigt 6 / Schüler 4
The ILB is currently ongoing having started on the 10th of September and it runs until the 21st. The festival will feature 150 writers from around the world.
21 September, 7:00 pm (19 Uhr)
Bookstore Dante Connection, Berlin
Oranienstraße 165,
10999 Berlin
22 September, 8:00 pm (20 Uhr)
Bayreuth
23 September, 8:00 pm (20 Uhr)
Buchhandlung RavensBuch
24 September, 7:30 pm (19:30 Uhr)
International Crime Novel Festival, Unna
Evangelische Stadtkirche St. Georg,
St.-Georg-Kirchplatz 1,44532 Lünen
Frühbucherpreis: 11,90 € / erm. 9,90 €
Regulärer Eintrittspreis: VVK 14,90 € / erm. 12,90 €; AK 19,00 € / erm. 18,00 €
25 September 8pm (8Uhr)
Bookstore Klaus Bittner, Cologne
Ort: Stadtbibliothek am Neumarkt
Josef-Haubrich-Hof 1,
50676 Köln
Eintritt: VVK (nur über KölnTicket!) 9,90 € / 7,90 €, Abendkasse 11,90 € / 9,90 €
Moderation: Antje Deistler
You may also like:
German Celebrity Reveals Relations to Famous Kenyan Newscaster
Book for Black Artists in Germany – "The Little Book of Big Visions"
Dear Rich White Saviorists, STOP Using African Cultures to Boost Your Demeaning Self Worth
Meet the Somalis in Europe
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie at the Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum in Cologne, Germany
African Architecture at Independence, Symbols of Hope or Failure? KICC Featured