Kalaf Epalanga and Jessemusse Cacinda are the guests of the James Murua Literary LiveStream on Wednesday, August 25, 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, Okechukwu Ofili and Lena Renold in May, and Sharon Dodua Otoo and Dr Joyce Nyairo in June, and Jama Musse Jama and Stefanie Hirsbrunner in July. The guests for July are Kalaf Epalanga and Jessemusse Cacinda and their topic of discussion will be;
Lusophone Literature in Africa and its Diaspora
We shall be discussing Lusophone literature on the continent and some of its challenges and opportunities now and going forward.
Here is more information about the personalities taking part in the livestream;
Kalaf Epalanga
Kalaf Epalanga is a writer and musician born in Benguela, Angola, and based in Berlin. As a musician, he co-founded the record label Enchufada, a creative and dynamic platform that promotes new music styles from Lisbon around the world, and went on to form the MTV Europe Music Award-winning band, Buraka Som Sistema (on hiatus since 2016).
He has written columns for the Portuguese newspaper O Público, GQ Magazine (Portugal), the independent Angolan online magazine REDE Angola and is currently a columnist for the Brazilian literary magazine Quatro Cinco Um.
He published two collections of literary chronicles in Portugal and Angola Estórias de Amor para Meninos de Cor (Love Stories for Colored Kids) and O Angolano que Comprou Lisboa (Por Metade do Preço) (The Angolan who Bought Lisbon (at Half the Price) ).
He curated the 2021 Berlin African Book Festival.
Também os Brancos Sabem Dançar (Whites Can Dance Too), Kalaf’s debut novel will be translated to English by Daniel Hahn and published by Faber in spring 2023.
Jessemusse Cacinda
Jessemusse Cacinda is a philosopher, journalist and cultural activist with over 10 years of experience in Mozambique. He won the Quality award, given by Rádio Moçambique to journalists who stand out at the country level, in the categories of “best chronicle” (2013) and “best thematic report” (2014).
He has experience with his country’s civic movement, having been involved in a number of public campaigns for freedom of the press and expression.
He has published essays, articles, chronicles and stories in literary and philosophical anthologies, journals, press and magazines and coordinated two literary anthologies gathering contemporary Mozambique’s writers.
In 2016, he founded with Alex Macbeth, Ethale Publishing, a publisher focused on promoting African narratives and its diasporas.
The two will join the LiveStream at 18:00 GMT/ 19:00 WAT/ 20:00 CAT/ 21:00 EAT. To interact with them, you can join the stream on Facebook, YouTube, or Twitter.
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