Rediscovered: Feminist Classics From Africa — From Aidoo to Adichie

What happens when we shift our gaze away from the canonical center of literature? What literary traditions are emerging? And what can writers from Africa, who have not been widely distributed in the West, show us when we read them today?

Discover this edition of 'Rediscovered' Moussa Mchangama and Ingrid Baraka turn their eyes to a series of feminist classics from the African continent.

In conversation with each other, they explore how African women writers over the decades have written about, among other things, freedom, desire, motherhood, colonialism, education, and belonging. They will also discuss why these books have rarely reached a wide readership in Europe, and then of course we will discuss why we should read them today.

For in works such as Mariama Bâs So Long a Letter (Senegal, 1979), Buchi Emecheta's The Joys of Motherhood (Nigeria, 1979), Ama Ata Aidoo's Our Sister Killjoy (Ghana, 1977) and Tsitsi Dangarembga's Nervous Conditions (Zimbabwe, 1988), we meet women fighting for the right to education and freedom. Mothers trying to find meaning in the roles they have been assigned. Young women looking for love, belonging and identity.

Common to the works is that they are all about what it means to create a life for oneself in a world where others have already decided who to be. They are about insisting on his own voice. And they're about the particular experience of being on the edge -- whether it's on the fringes of family, community or history.

Building Blocks for the Present The conversation will draw threads all the way to the present and touch on how these classics form essential building blocks for contemporary feminist literature from and around Africa.

For the traces of the frontrunners can be found in some of the most prominent African writers of our time, including Imbolo Mbue, Akwaeke Emezi and, of course, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, who all write on issues of gender, power, migration, identity and freedom.

MeetMoussa Mchangama is an author, strategic advisor and debater. He is the co-founder of In futurum, where he advises on diverse, society-changing and caring practices especially in the arts and culture sector.Ingrid Magnifique Baraka is a designer and podcast host. To daily, Ingrid Baraka is co-founder of and host on the award-winning podcast, A Seat At The Table. Here pop culture and women's life, politics, mental health and representation meet, and spaces are created where nuances are not explained away but allowed to live.About RedisIn the Rediscovered series, the Main Library focuses on classics. We have selected a number of authors and works that for various reasons have been overlooked at home or forgotten for a number of years, but which we think deserve a lot of new readers and attention. We ask a number of Danish translators, authors, literati and librarians in their capacity as fans and readers to tell us why these books should be read by everyone today.

Practical InfoThe event takes place at LIVE at Copenhagen's Main Library, 4th floor, Store Scene.The event has free admission with ticket. Please note that the view of the stage is restricted from certain locations.Find wayFrom the Central Hall of the Main Library you will find the stage area on the 4th floor in the following ways:

Take the elevator that you find on your right hand when you step from Krystalgade into Centralsalen. The stage is on the right when you step out of the elevator. Take the stairs that you will find on your right hand when you step from Krystalgade into Centralsalen. Follow the stairs up to fourth. The stage is on the right as you step out onto the floor.Follow the escalators up to the 3rd floor. At the end of the last escalator, a staircase goes on your right side up to the 4th floor. Go right to get to the stage area.