Debutant of the Month: Nana Fatou

What's it like to be torn between multiple culture, multiple homes? How do you write about family, love and grief across languages, countries and continents? And what can poetry do when it tries to capture the most complex experiences of globalisation?

Oplevi 'Toubab' writes Nana Fatou about growing up between Denmark and Gambia. She writes about visiting that part of the family that feels familiar and foreign at the same time, and about a special split between cultures, languages and life.

The poems revolve around family, race, migration, love and grief, but also about the small and often wordless moments when people try to reach each other.

With precise and sensuous language, Nana Fatou writes herself into complex emotions, thoughts and social relationships. Expectations and misunderstandings. About shame, care and longing. And about how family can be both a place you come from and something you are constantly trying to find.

Debate-generating poemsWhen 'Toubab' came out, the collection of poems was well received by reviewers. But it also spawned a debate about the forms and possibilities of poetry: What makes a text a poem? What do we expect from poetry? And how do our conceptions of literature change as new voices and experiences emerge?

For Debutant of the Month, you can see Nana Fatou talk about working on 'Toubab', about writing about family, belonging and migration, and about debuting a book that has both moved her readers and sparked an important conversation about what literature is and can be.

It's free, informal and for anyone with a penchant for literature. One does not need to have read the book to get something out of the arrangement. We're talking about it in a way that hopefully makes you want to read it if you haven't gotten around to it yet. And if you've already read it, hopefully the conversation will give you new perspectives on it.

MødnAna Fatou (b. 2000) was born and raised in Sønderborg and attends Forfatterskolen. 'Toubab' is her debut. She is interviewed by literary distributor Mathias Emil Stenrøs.About Debut of the MonthEvery month, the Main Library invites a current debuting author to the stage on the same terms as established writers so often become. Here they talk about what they write, how they write and why they write. We give the debutants the floor because they help move literature and thus our understanding of what literature is and can be.

Practical InfoThe event will take place at LIVE at Copenhagen's Main Library, 4th floor, Store Scene.The event will take place on Monday 24th November, 17:00 — 18.15.The event has free admission with ticket Please note that the view of the stage is restricted from certain seats.Find wayFrom the Main Library's Central Hall 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.