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Anna von Rath

diversity trainer, translator and editor of poco.lit.

Maaza Mengiste
The Shadow King

Maaza Mengiste’s historical novel tells the story of the Italian invasion in Ethiopia in 1935. It focuses on anti-colonial resistance and the role of Ethiopian women, some of whom became soldiers to join the fight against the colonizers.

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Olga Grjasnowa
The Power of Multilingualism

The writer Olga Grjasnowa, whom many readers probably associate with her novel All Russians Love Birch Trees (Der Russe ist einer, der Birken liebt), was born in Baku, Azerbaijan, and came to Germany when she was eleven. In her recently published non-fiction book, The Power of Multilingualism – On Origins and Diversity (which has not […]

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“Everyone shares the responsibility of reducing the unconscious bias in artificial intelligence”: An interview with Kenza Ait Si Abbou

As part of our macht.sprache. / case.sensitive. project, we’re speaking to various experts who deal with language, translation or artificial intelligence. Kenza Ait Si Abbou explains some of the challenges in the field of artificial intelligence to us (e.g. in form of unconscious bias) but always stays solution-oriented.

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Nathacha Appanah
Tropic of Violence

Attempts to flee to Europe don’t only happen via the Mediterranean Sea, but also in the Indian Ocean. There lies the island of Mayotte, an overseas territory of France. Nathacha Appanah’s new book explores flight and the fate of boys on Mayotte.

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Priya Basil
In the we and now: Becoming a feminist

Basil talks about her own politicization and analyses feminist dilemmas in the context of #MeToo and her co-creation of an issue of a leading fashion magazine with numerous other women who form a feminist circle of allies and actually have nothing to do with the fashion world.

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Mohamed Amjahid
Der weisse Fleck

If you’ve read an introduction to antiracist thinking already, Amjahid’s new book provides further insights and possible options for action in order to critically deal with one’s own position – especially as a white person.

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Megha Majumdar
A Burning

Megha Majumdar’s debut novel, A Burning, is a highly political – and at times disturbing – story about the desire for a life worth living, about power and corruption.

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Political Terms and (Un)just Social Structures: An Interview with the Producers of “Erklär mir mal…” (Explain it to me)

As part of our macht.sprache. project, we’re seeking out input from various experts who deal with language, translation or artificial intelligence. With Maja Bogojević and Victoria Jeffries, the producers of the Instagram channel “Erklär mir mal…” (Explain it to me), we discuss the challenges in political work with language.

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Florence Brokowski-Shekete
Damn, she can understand me!

Florence Brokowski-Shekete was arguably the first Black German school district director. In her autobiographical work, Mist, die versteht mich ja! Aus dem Leben einer Schwarzen Deutschen (“Damn, she can understand me! From the Life of a Black German”), she recounts how she came to hold this position.

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