African Book Tour 2026: FOKUS KONGO - Moderierte Lesung mit Nadège Kusanika: „Unter derselben Sonne“

In Lingala, one of the national languages of the Congo, “Lisolo” means “to tell stories.” And Nadège Kusanika has many stories to tell: even as a little girl, she loved telling stories to the neighborhood children gathered around her. And now she does so in her debut novel, *Under the Same Sun*, which she wrote in German.

In her autofictional novel, Nadège Kusanika recounts her happy childhood in Kinshasa, Congo—of sweet potato leaves and mango with pili pili, of impenetrable fog and endless starry skies, of plastic sandals on perpetually dusty earth. And also about what it’s like to grow up in two worlds—including experiences of war and the difficult adjustment to life in Europe. The captivating debut of a young woman who holds her own between two worlds.

Nadège Kusanika was born in 1988 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and came to Germany at the age of 15, where she moved in with her father. She studied law at the University of Würzburg and now lives with her family in the Rhineland.

During the evening, the author will read from her book and offer insights into the storytelling traditions of Central Africa and the Congo, as well as into contemporary voices, classics, and books that are close to her heart. Following the reading, there will be time to chat with her and have books signed.

The evening will be moderated by Georgina Fakunmoju, a TV and radio journalist, book blogger, host, and founder and voice of the literature podcast “Readers Gonna Read” (formerly: My PoC Bookshelf). On her podcast and as a columnist for the radio station Cosmo, she has been discussing—since 2021—primarily non-white literature from Germany, Africa, and the African diaspora, interviewing authors, and contextualizing the literature for a German audience sensitive to issues of racism.

African Book Tour 2026: 5 Countries. 5 Voices. 5 Stories.

This reading is the second event of the AFRICAN BOOK TOUR 2026, which will bring five authors to Berlin’s libraries for public readings this summer from June through October under the motto “Five Countries. Five Voices. Five Stories.” The series focuses on the five major regions of the continent—North Africa, East Africa, West Africa, Central Africa, and South Africa—and dedicates a separate reading event to each region. Additional dates are:

August 5, 7:00 p.m. Bunye Ngene I Pablo Neruda District Central Library, Friedrichshain

September 16, 6:30 p.m.Tete Loeper I Ingeborg Drewitz Library, Steglitz

October 6, 7:00 p.m.Niq Mhlongo I W. Liebknecht / N. Kemal Central Library, Kreuzberg | German / English translation