The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida
It took some time, but in the end, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida won me over with its combination of absurd scenes, magical realism, and critical engagement with the civil war in Sri Lanka.
more...Anna von Rath
diversity trainer, translator and editor of poco.lit.
The Most Distant Memory of Men
The Most Distant Memory of Men is a stirring celebration of literature. The novel mischievously holds up a mirror to the European literary establishment.
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An American Marriage
An American Marriage has been Tayari Jones’ literary breakthrough. She takes her readers to the US-American South and offers detailed insights into an unfortunate turn in the lives of a middle-class African-American couple.
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People Person
With Queenie, Candice Carty-Williams became known for the humour and effortlessness of her tone. She managed to incorporate important issues such as racism and mental health into her novel despite its superficial lightness. People Person, her second novel, is only similar in style and tone.
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The Calcutta Chromosome
If you’re looking for an intelligent novel in which a fascinating subject has been made into a memorable story by way of excellent research, you probably can’t go with Amitav Ghosh. The Calutta Chromosome is an extremely suspenseful medical thriller about malaria research.
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The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois
Honorée Fanonne Jeffer’s first novel The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois is extensive and demanding: The family history of the African American Ailey Pearl Garfield is traced back over several generations and reveals complicated family entanglements that are consequences of settler colonialism and enslavement.
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Nightcrawling
Leila Mottley became the youngest author ever to make the Booker Prize longlist this year. Her novel Nightcrawling follows a protagonist, Kiara, who is only slightly younger and struggles to survive and find shelter in Oakland. This novel is important, but also heavy stuff!
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The Impostor
The Impostor is an exciting book that offers insights into a complex reality. It is set in a time shortly after the end of apartheid; South Africa is in transition.
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Translation and connection: an interview with Marion Kraft
As part of our macht.sprache. project, we organized a workshop at the Literarisches Colloquium Berlin in early September 2022. This gave us the opportunity to speak with German and American studies scholar Marion Kraft about her translation work. We discussed Audre Lorde, linguistic changes, new translations and team translations.
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The Mermaid of Black Conch
In The Mermaid of Black Conch, Monique Roffey takes up the mermaid myth, sets the story in a small Caribbean fishing village, and negotiates not only colonial contexts but also centuries-old patriarchal traditions.
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