Dr Joyce Nyairo and Sharon Dodua Otoo are the guests of the James Murua Literary LiveStream on Wednesday, June 30, 2021 at 18:00 GMT/ 19:00 WAT/ 20:00 CAT/ 21:00 EAT. You can join the stream, brought to you in cooperation with Frankfurter Buchmesse with financial support from the German Federal Foreign Office, on Facebook, YouTube, or Twitter.
In 2020, we introduced the James Murua Literary LiveStream to shine a light on the African literary ecosystem and ways to make it better. Previous guests to the stream have been Abubakar Adam Ibrahim, Maaza Mengiste and Antje Rávik Strubel; Ondjaki and Philipp Khabo Koepsell; Mariette Tchamda Mbunpi and Annette Michael; as well as Nyana Kakoma and Mariela Nagle. The latter events were brought to you in cooperation with Frankfurter Buchmesse with financial support from the German Federal Foreign Office.
In 2021, the literary LiveStream returned with Tsitsi Dangarembga, Volha Hapeyeva and Ralf Nestmeyer in March, Chikè Frankie Edozien and Michaela Dudley in April, and Okechukwu Ofili and Lena Renold in May. The guests for June will be Dr Joyce Nyairo and Sharon Dodua Otoo and their topic of discussion will be;
Identity and the writer
The writer is known for weaving worlds that the readers will love and revel in. How does the identity of the writer play into the work they produce? Where does the writers personhood and their histories play into the work that they give to the world?
Here is more information about these personalities;
Dr Joyce Nyairo
Dr Joyce Nyairo is an independent researcher from Nairobi, Kenya – author of Kenya@50: Trends, Identities and the Politics of Belonging (2015) and one of the three editors of the recently released volume, Ten Cities – Clubbing in Nairobi, Cairo, Kyiv, Johannesburg, Naples, Berlin, Luanda, Lagos, Bristol, Lisbon 1960-March 2020.
With over 30 years’ experience teaching Literature and Popular Culture, Dr Nyairo’s publications on a variety of popular and academic platforms examine cultural texts, contexts and their intertextualities. Her experience in funding and project management has contributed to bettering the conditions that are necessary for artistic and cultural creativity to thrive and furthering the work of cultural memory.
Sharon Dodua Otoo
Since winning the Bachmann Prize in 2016, Sharon Dodua Otoo has become a fixture in German-language media, and the charismatic voice of a new generation: Black, self-confident, feminist. Her opening address for the 2020 Ingeborg Bachmann Prize was a sensation.
Born in London, she now lives with both the English and German languages in Berlin. Her first novellas, the things i am thinking while smiling politely and Synchronicity, were written in English; since the publication of her Bachmann Prize-winning short story Herr Gröttrup setzt sich hin, she writes primarily in German.
Her first novel Adas Raum (“Adas Realm”) was published this year in Fischer Verlag.
The two will join the LiveStream at 18:00 GMT/ 19:00 WAT/ 20:00 CAT/ 21:00 EAT. If you want to interact with them, you can join the stream on Facebook, YouTube, or Twitter.
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