5 Independent Bookshops in Berlin
Last year we started the poco.lit. podcast and one thing was very important to us: Give independent bookshops all around Berlin space to recommend books.
more...poco.lit. – Platform for postcolonial literatures in the widest sense.
Reviews
The Edge of Water
Why are there connections between the well-being of the people in New Orleans and Ibadan? How is the destructive hurricane in one place connected to the drying up river in the other? In Olufunke Grace Bankole’s sad and beautiful debut novel The Edge of Water, this is due to a disregarded prophecy.
more...
Rosarita
Rosarita, Desai’s newest novel, is the story of Bonita, a young Indian woman from New Delhi who has come to San Miguel, Mexico for Spanish immersion courses. One day in the Jardín, she is confronted by the woman Vicky who becomes The Stranger and later, The Trickster. The Stranger claims to have known Bonita’s mother, Sunita. Except, The Stranger calls her Rosarita. Rosarita, insists The Stranger, was once a great artist who had travelled from India to learn from the great painters of Mexico.
more...
Trespasses
Louise Kennedy’s story about the primary school teacher Cushla is set in 1975, at the height of the Troubles in Northern Ireland in a deeply divided Belfast.
more...Essays
One Past, Two Futures: Britain’s Conflicted Path to Decolonisation
This essay explores how public responses to the statues of Edward Colston in Bristol and Cecil Rhodes in Oxford expose tensions within Britain’s collective memory.
more...
Remembering African Labor Migration to the Second World
This is a short extract of Marcia C. Schenck’s book Remembering African Labor Migration to the Second World: Socialist Mobilities between Angola, Mozambique, and East Germany.
more...
Postcolonial Approaches in Anti-Discrimination Work: What Incentives Can They Provide?
Based on many years of experience in educational practice and theoretical engagement, Methu Tharavasa asks how postcolonial approaches can contribute to anti-discrimination work in Germany.
more...Interview
Ashok Ferry on writing Sri Lanka and his younger selves
“This society is fragmented – it’s a product of colonialism, but it’s also just a fact of paradise island.”
more...
“It’s the language of the colonizer” – An interview with jarral Boyd about indigeneity and language
jarral Boyd grew up on Turtle Island and is the child of Indigenous and Black parents. Since they have lived in Berlin, jarral has worked in schools, created community structures for diversity and inclusion, given workshops as an allyship trainer at conferences…
more...
“People are read differently depending on where they are”: A conversation with Raphaëlle Red on the principle of the road novel
Raphaëlle Red is an author currently living in Berlin who writes in French, German and English. She is also doing her PhD on literature in the African diaspora. We had the pleasure of speaking with her about her French-language debut novel Adikou, its protagonist’s journey and its context from one language to the next. The German translation of the novel by Patricia Klobusiczky was published in September 2024 by Rowohlt Verlag.
more...Listicle
5 Independent Bookshops in Berlin
Last year we started the poco.lit. podcast and one thing was very important to us: Give independent bookshops all around Berlin space to recommend books.
more...
Black German-Language Fiction
Black German literature has a long history and it ranges from poetry and autobiographies to academic and activist writings. Yet even today, Black German authors are still less visible, especially when it comes to fiction. So, here is a list of our favorite Black German-language fiction.
more...
5 books set in London
London is a favourite setting in literature: a lot has happened there historically, it is a cultural stronghold and numerous social problems can be discussed. Here are 5 excellent London novels to prove it.
more...News
Call for Submissions – Being from
This is our third call for submissions and we are looking for pieces about being from. Please send us your pitch!
more...
Call for Submissions – Ideas That Travel
For our online magazine, we are looking for contributions on the topic of “Ideas that Travel”.
more...
We are publishing a book: Macht Sprache. Ein Manifest für mehr Gerechtigkeit
Anna von Rath and Lucy Gasser co-founded poco.lit. and macht.sprache. These projects involved a lot of research, conversations with experts, workshops and inputs for different target audiences. Many of the discussions and learnings can soon be found in their book Macht Sprache. Ein Manifest für mehr Gerechtigkeit. The book will be published on September 26, 2024.
more...Events
“A radicle reaching for a home in the earth”: collaborative nature writing
Warm invitation to our upcoming event with Jessica J. Lee and Nina Mingya Powles at Spore Initiative in Berlin-Neukölln on May 10, 2025.
more...
Cozy reading and writing workshop: giving gifts
Warm invitation to our cozy online workshop to welcome winter. We’ll read and write with Giuliana Kierz.
more...
Barrio Berlin Festival: poco.lit. Event on Belonging
Join us for an evening with the 2 storytellers and artists, avrina prabala-joslin and Maya Saravia, who will share their approaches to open questions of belonging.
more...