Somali Writing and Beyond

The second LIFELINES edition focuses on Nuruddin Farah, acclaimed as one of Africa’s greatest contemporary writers and regarded as a likely candidate for the Nobel Prize for Literature. Together with Nuruddin Farah, LIFELINES explores his biographical and literary paths in an exchange with friends and fellow-writers past and present.

What moves young African writers and what subjects and themes do they address? What are their literary influences and models, and which new directions are they taking? The discussion considers roles, self-image and current developments in African writing.

Readings Abdourahman Waberi and Cristina Ali Farah

Followed by talk with Nuruddin Farah and Alessandra di Maio

Moderation: Dirk Naguschewski

Reading of the German translation: Barnaby Metschurat

Abdourahman Waberi wrote his doctorate on Nuruddin Farah’s works. His international breakthrough came with the publication of his satirical novel “In the United States of Africa”. Writer and novelist Cristina Ali Farah is also active in inter-cultural education. She published her first novel “Madre piccola” (Little Mother) in 2007. Alessandra di Maio teaches migrant literature and culture in Italy and the USA. Her publications include a translation of Nuruddin Farah’s “Yesterday, Tomorrow” into Italian (“Rifugiati”). The linguist and cultural scientist Dirk Naguschewski is a research associate at the Zentrum für Literatur- und Kulturforschung Berlin.

In co-operation with Suhrkamp Verlag