African Book Festival Berlin

✨ PANELS on SATURDAY 30 May at the #ABF2026 ✨ These two conversations feel especially urgent right now. Together with moderator @stefhirs , @catullusfan , @dudubusan and @troyonyango_ explore a question many writers know too well: how do we write freely while living precariously? What does artistic freedom mean when survival and itself takes up so much space? In the afternoon, @stellagitano and @fatinabbas are looking at the situation in #Sudan and what it means to be a woman writer in exile and to speak about a country in the midst of violence and displacement. Moderated by @celiaparbey (in co-operation with @boellstiftung Are you already looking forward to these exchanges, to listening, learning, and being in conversation together at the festival? We are! ✨ Get your Festival Pass now! 🎫 #africanbookfestival #AfricanLiterature 📚🌍 📍 Berlin, @tak.berlin (U Moritzplatz) 📅 Saturday, 30 May 2026 Full programme: africanbookfestival.de

✨ SUNDAY BOOK SPECIALS ✨ Join us at the #ABF2026 and meet the authors at our Book Specials on Sunday, 31 May at the African Book Festival 2026 📚🌍 Get your Day Pass now! 🎫 ✍🏾 Hemley Boum @boumhemley ✍🏾 Tete Loeper @tete_loeper ✍🏾 Edna Bonhomme @bonhomme These three powerful literary female voices invite us to explore memory, identity, resistance, and belonging across generations and borders 📚✨💫 📍 Berlin, @tak.berlin (U Moritzplatz) 📅 Sunday, 31 May 2026 Full programme: africanbookfestival.de #AfricanBookFestival #AfricanLiterature #BookSpecials

✨ SATURDAY BOOK SPECIALS ✨ Join us at the #ABF2026 and meet the authors at our Book Specials on Saturday, 30 May at the African Book Festival 2026 📚🌍 Get your Day Pass now! 🎫 ✍🏾 Fatin Abbas @fatinabbas ✍🏾 Stella Gaitano @stellagitano ✍🏾 Nick Makoha @nick.makoha ✍🏾 Nadège Kusanika @nadou_kuss ✍🏾 Troy Onyango ✍🏾 Dudu Busani Dube @dudubusan ✍️🏾 JJ Bola @jj_bola ✍️🏾 Amat Levin From intimate readings to powerful conversations, Saturday’s Book Specials celebrate storytelling across genres, borders, and generations 💫 📍 Berlin, @tak.berlin (U Moritzplatz) 📅 Saturday, 30 May 2026 Full programme: africanbookfestival.de #AfricanBookFestival #AfricanLiterature #BookSpecials

English below ⬇️ 🎉 Das Programm des African Book Festival Berlin 2026 ist da! Unter dem Motto „Welcome to the Club“ feiern wir Literatur, Austausch und Begegnung – mit 23 Autor*innen aus Afrika, der Diaspora und Deutschland sowie Formaten, die gemeinsam mit unserem Publikum entstanden sind. 💛📚 Freut euch auf: ✨ inspirierende Panels & Debatten ✨ neue Literatur & starke Stimmen ✨ Buchclubs ✨ FOOD, BOOKS & MUSIC zur Eröffnung ✨ Film, Diskussionen & Community-Momente Von Gesprächen über Freiheit im Literaturbetrieb, Männlichkeit und Verantwortung bis hin zu bewegenden Perspektiven auf Sudan und Ruanda – das Festival lädt dazu ein, zuzuhören, mitzudenken und mitzufeiern. 📍 tak Theater Berlin @tak.berlin 📅 29.-31. Mai Das vollständige Programm findet ihr auf africanbookfestival.de English 🎉 The African Book Festival Berlin 2026 programme is here! Under the theme “Welcome to the Club”, this year’s festival celebrates literature, exchange, and community — featuring 23 writers from Africa, the diaspora, and Germany, alongside formats co-created with our audience. 💛📚 Expect: ✨ inspiring panels & conversations ✨ powerful new literary voices ✨ book clubs from across Europe ✨ FOOD, BOOKS & MUSIC at the Opening ✨ film screenings, discussions & community moments From debates on artistic freedom and masculinity to urgent conversations about Sudan and Rwanda, the festival invites everyone to listen, connect, and discover new perspectives. 📍 tak Theater Berlin 📅 29-31 May Find the full programme at africanbookfestival.de #AfricanBookFestival #ABF2026 #WelcomeToTheClub #AfricanLiterature #BerlinEvents

Next up in this year's lineup at the #ABF2026 We’re thrilled to welcome Janne Bierwirth ✨ A storyteller since childhood, Janne’s work today spans videography, journalism, and multimedia storytelling shaped by her Afro-German and queer identity. Engaging with postcolonial theory, activism, and history, she brings powerful, layered perspectives to her work. She will join our Poetry Night on Sunday evening. Swipe to read more in German and English 👉 #AfricanBookFestival #ABF2026 #QueerVoices #AfroGerman

Next up in this year’s lineup at the #ABF2026 ✨ We’re excited to welcome Troy Onyango @troyonyango_ — a Kenyan writer, editor and founder of the pan-African literary platform Lolwe. Based in London, his work explores the nuances of everyday life, identity and belonging, and has been featured in leading literary journals. His debut short story collection For What Are Butterflies Without Their Wings brings together powerful, intimate narratives from across Kenya 🌍📚 Swipe to read more in German and English 👉 #AfricanBookFestival #TroyOnyango #AfricanLiterature #DiasporaVoices

For a long time, Africa was considered a continent without its own history in the field of historiography. Even today, for many people the continent’s history begins only with colonialism. Anthropologists, too, were primarily interested in Africa because they believed they could identify supposedly “primitive” stages of civilization there. While such views are rarely expressed openly today, they persist in the ongoing focus on written historical sources. With Black History, Amat Levin presents a counter-narrative. He puts the history of African peoples and societies at the center, telling their stories - also drawing on the work of African scholars - across four millennia and three continents: from the great civilizations of Nubia and Aksum to the kingdoms of Ethiopia, Mali, and Great Zimbabwe, and on to the eras of subjugation and enslavement, as well as the freedom struggles in the Caribbean, the resistance of Angela Davis, and Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the godmother of rock and roll. Tracing lost cultures and forgotten events, the book moves beyond Africa to the places where countless enslaved people were taken. In doing so, it creates a fascinating mosaic of interconnected Black histories. Welcome: Layla Al-Zubaidi, Head of International Affairs, Heinrich Böll Foundation With: Amat Lewin, author and journalist Karla Kutzner, publisher at InterKontinental Verlag The reading takes place in cooperation with InterKontinental e.V. in the lead-up to the African Book Festival @abfberlin , which will showcase contemporary literature and current literary debates from the African continent from May 29–31. Please note that the event will be held in English without translation. Please register for the event via the link on the Website of @boellstiftung

Next up in this year’s lineup at the #ABF2026 ✨ The novelist, poet, and essayist from Cameroon Hemley Boum @boumhemley . In her novels, she crystalizes urbanity, tradition and history, captured in the daily life of close relationships that gives a thought-provoking insider’s view of an Africa far from clichés. Her books are translated into German by @gudrunhonke at @peter_hammer_verlag . We’re honoured to welcome you! 🌍📚 Swipe to read more in German and English 👉 #AfricanBookFestival #interkontinental #Schlüsselorte

✨ We’re thrilled to welcome another board member to the #ABF2026: Niq Mhlongo @niq.mhlongo — a South African multi-award winning writer, journalist and editor whose work captures the energy and contradictions of post-apartheid society. Born in Soweto, his novels and short stories explore urban life, identity and social change, making him one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary African literature 🌍📚. Based in Berlin, Niq Mhlongo is also part of the @onemorechapterberlin team, where he gave a masterclass for fiction writing last winter. His long-standing commitment to the #AfricanBookFestival was recently featured in @theberlinermag . 📚 Some notable works: Dog Eat Dog (2004) After Tears (2007) Way Back Home (2013) (Dt. bei @daswunderhorn ) Paradise in Gaza (2020) Affluenza (2016) Soweto, Under the Apricot Tree (2018) Hundeleben in Schlüsselorte (2023, @ikontinental ) The City is Mine (2024) #NiqMhlongo #AfricanLiterature

Since 2025, our newly formed advisory board contributes with their professional expertise and passion for literature. One of our valued members is Ifeatu Nnaobi @ifeenomenal , who will join this year's #ABF2026 programme.✨ Ifeatu Nnaobi is a writer, curator and cultural practitioner shaping powerful conversations around literature, identity and community. As part of the festival’s board their work brings together voices from across Africa and the diaspora, creating space for dialogue, connection and new perspectives 🌍📚 Swipe to read more in German and English 👉 #AfricanBookFestival #IfeatuNnaobi #AfricanLiterature #DiasporaVoices

Next up in this year’s lineup at the #ABF2026 ✨ We’re excited to welcome Fikri Anıl Altıntaş @_faanil — a Berlin-based author and activist whose work explores masculinity, identity and the complexities of growing up between cultures. Through his writing, he challenges dominant narratives around gender and migration, opening up space for more nuanced, vulnerable and critical conversations 🌍📚 Swipe to read more in German and English 👉 #AfricanBookFestival #FikriAnilAltintas #Masculinity #DiasporaVoices

Next up in this year’s lineup at the #ABF2026 ✨ We’re honoured to welcome Stella Gaitano @stellagitano — a South Sudanese writer and activist whose work gives voice to stories shaped by war, displacement and resilience. Through her powerful short stories and novels, she captures the lived realities of her people, reflecting on identity, memory and the ongoing impact of conflict 🌍📚 Swipe to read more in German and English 👉 #AfricanBookFestival #StellaGaitano #AfricanLiterature #DiasporaVoices