Neue Töchter Afrikas, the German sister of the anthology New Daughters of Africa, edited by Christa Morgenrath and Eva Wernecke launched in Cologne, Germany on June 20, 2023.
New Daughters of Africa (Myriad 2019) is an anthology edited by Margaret Busby that features the writing of over 200 women writers in Africa and its diaspora. It is a sequel to Daughters of Africa, also edited by Busby and published in 1992. It has been launched and had readings in Johannesburg, London, and many other cities.
Neue Töchter Afrikas, the German “little sister” of the publication, with texts from the New Daughters of Africa anthology was recently published by UNRAST Verlag, Münster. Together with a team of Black women from North Rhine-Westphalia, Margaret Busby selected 30 texts (poems, essays, short stories, etc.) written over a period of more than 100 years. All texts were translated into German by Aminata Cissé Schleicher and Eleonore Wiedenroth-Coulibaly.
The new publication was presented by the Cologne-based literary project stimmen afrikas at the Orangerie-Theatre Kölnin June. The event emceed by Aisha Camara included speeches from Dr Andrea Firmenich (Secretary General, Kunststiftung NRW) and hosts and editors Christa Morgenrath and Eva Wernecke. The event was attended by Margaret Busby who spoke about her beginnings as the first Black woman publisher in the UK and author Bridget Minamore who shared her literary beginnings and her excitement to be part of the anthology.
The evening featured actress Linda Elsner reading the foreword by Marion Kraft and Bridget Minamore’s short story and a photographic slideshow projected on a screen of Rachel Eliza Griffiths’ poem Chosen Family (Wahlfamilie) by China Hopson.
Here are some images from the evening courtesy of event organisers. All images were taken by Herby Sachs.
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