Berlin: Also by Mail rehearsed reading June 1st, 2013

Also By Mail

Staged Reading of an Excerpt of a New Play by Nigerian-German Playwright Olumide Popoola (in English)Featuring Dela Dabulamanzi, Clementine Burnley,Noah Hofmann, Mirjam Nuenning, Asad Schwarz-Msesilamba and Thabo Thindi Dramaturgy and text preparation by Sharon Dodua Otoo and T. Vicky Germain

SATURDAY, JUNE 1

9:00 pm - Doors open 20:00Food and drink available* 
Many thanks to AICY & MIMI for the location *

* A fundraising event for the Initiative Schwarze Menschen in Deutschland (ISD Bund) e.V. *

www.witnessed.blogspot.com
www.edition-assemblage.de/also-by-mail

photo from rehearsed reading in Hamburg 29th of March, 2013.
l to rAsad Schwarz-Msesilamba, Dela Dabulamanzi, T Vicky Jones, Thabo Thindi, Noah Hofman, Adekunle Oluwaseunfunmi (hidden), Olumide Popoola and Sharon Dodua Otoo (in front with back to camera) 
(c)jozi.tv 

Out now: Also by Mail!

Also by Mail, the play, is out as a wonderful little book now.
Find inside and between the beautiful covers designed and drawn by Ashai Nicholas: 

• a foreword by series editor Sharon Otoo

• an introduction by ISD activists Jamie Schearer and Hadija Haruna entitled Making the Black experience heard 

• the play with an extended overview of the cast and plot

• a study guide to use in educational settings.

Get your copy:

in Germany: from the publisher edition assemblage or amazon.de

in the UK (and US also for now): amazon.co.uk

want a signed copy? email me: info@olumide.com

Also by Mail is a modern family comedy-drama that follows the experiences of Nigerian German siblings Funke and Wale who fly to Nigeria to bury their suddenly deceased father. Their upbringing clashes with their uncle’s expectations and initial misunderstandings soon come to an éclat. When Wale returns to Germany, frustrated, he is bitterly reminded of how little his father acknowledged and prepared them for racist encounters there. Loss and racism, sibling rivalry and cross-cultural etiquette, the play incorporates and subverses its urban, neo-African elements of story-telling to give a contemporary picture of a family that struggles not only with the legacy of its patriarch but with being racialized within the German context as well.

Where does each stand in a circle of relations and needs? Where does each want to end up? And who is willing to help?
It takes an inside-outside job to lighten the mood and the surprise startles them all.

Praise for Also by Mail

“Also by Mail is a pioneering play by the London-based Nigerian-German novelist, poet and playwright Olumide Popoola – poignantly and authentically representing the lives, the diversity, the struggles and aspirations of people in the Black diaspora, their quest for identity and justice.Generation conflicts, the clash of cultures and language barriers are depicted with warmth and humor whereas racist experiences in Germany are resolutely and realistically conveyed, as well as results of determined resistance, not leading to reconciliation but at least to legal justice. Also by Mail is a powerful play, entertaining and thought-provoking. Having read it with joy, one wishes to see it performed on stage soon.”

Marion Kraft

Author of The African Continuum and African American Women Writers

"A fascinating play that delves into the Nigerian diaspora to tell a moving tale of Nigerian-German history. When Mr Ogunleye returns to Nigeria he leaves his two Afro-German children behind to cope with everyday racism without his guidance or protection. After his death the children travel to Nigeria and meet up with their father’s other family members from Lagos and London.Diverse experiences, expectations and hopes result in frustration, misunderstandings and breakdown. However, in the end it is a profound wisdom which imagines a new future for the family – one that opens up new horizons for their diasporic experiences. Olumide Popoola presents us with another treasure of Afro-German literature in English."

Susan Arndt

Professor of English Studies and Anglophone Literatures,

University of Bayreuth

"I found this to be a slick and captivatingly contemporary Afro-European tale that, like jazz, is also rooted in the folkloric things that animate people. Also an apt story for this day and age of cultural flux and elusive ways of belonging."

Brian Chikwava 

Author of Harare North

2 Hamburg readings this week: 28. & 29. March 2013

HAMBURGERS: 

So looking forward to two events this week with yours truly.

Thursday 28.03.13, 8pm: 
Reading from 'this is not about sadness' at Cafe Timbuktu.
Marktstraße 130, 20357 Hamburg
more info

Friday, March 29th 2013, 8pm:
rehearsed reading of the play 'Also by Mail'
at Westwerk, Admiralitätstr. 74, 20459 Hamburg
Entrance: 3,00 €
participating in the reading are Moses Adekunle, Dela Gakpo, T. Vicky Germain, Noah Hofmann, Asad Schwarz-Msesilamba, Thabo Thindi and Olumide Popoola.
more info

recent & upcoming publications (poetry, theatre, fiction and essay)

Queer Africa Reader

straight to the matter (short story) out April 2013

Dialogues across Diasporas 

January 2013

In Tongues - Imag[e]ing presence (essay)

  

Flicker and Spark Poetry Anthology

water from my mouth (poem)
April 2013

 

Yoyo

My father's house (short story)
Dec 2012

Also by Mail (play)

February 2013

Collective Brightness
2011

mercy killing (poem)

this is not about sadenss (novella)
2010

 

'Also By Mail' staged reading in Berlin Friday, March 1st, 2013

The second staged reading of "Also by Mail" will be in berlin this Friday, March 1st, 2013. It takes place as part of the Expat Expo of events organised by the English Theatre Berlin.

Special thanks to:

Moses Adekunle, Clementine Burnley, T.Vicky Germain, Noah Hofmann, Philipp Khabo Koepsell, Asad Schwarz-Msesilamba and Mirjam Nuenning for their support.

Friday, March 1st 2013

20:00

English Theatre Berlin, Fidicinstr. 40, Berlin-Kreuzberg

"Also By Mail" by Olumide Popoola

Series: Witnessed Edition 2

Publisher: Edition Assemblage

Paperback, 142×205 mm

96 pages, 9.80 EUR [D]

ISBN 978-3-942885-38-6

Out now!

original post: Witnessed: "Also By Mail" Book Presentation on Friday, March ...: The second reading of "Also By Mail" will be in Berlin this Friday. It takes  place as part of the Expat Expo programme of even...

"Also By Mail" in Frankfurt 16 Feb 13 - Staged Reading/Book presentation

From left: A. Schwarz-Msesilamba, S. D. Otoo, M. Nuenning, P. K. Koepsell, M. Adekunle and N. Hofmann
Image © 2013 ISD Frankfurt (Initiative Schwarze Menschen in Deutschland)

The premiere book presentation of "Also By Mail" by Olumide Popoola on Saturday, February 16th was a great success. Well attended (over 80 people) and well received, this was the second of the Black History Month 2013 series of events in Frankfurt, which opened on Saturday, February 2nd with a launch party in Circus.

For the entire BHM 2013 programme visit the ISD website.

Further book presentations are planned in Berlin (Friday, March 1st) and in Hamburg (Friday, March 29th). For more information watch this space!

Copies of the play may be purchased for 9,80 € from edition assemblage.

From left: A. Schwarz-Msesilamba, S. D. Otoo, M. Nuenning, P. K. Koepsell, N. Hofmann, M. Adekunle and T.V. Germain
Image © 2013 ISD Frankfurt (Initiative Schwarze Menschen in Deutschland)

link to original posting on the Witnessed webpage:
Witnessed: Book Presentation "Also By Mail" in Frankfurt - a ...:

"Also By Mail" Book Presentation Saturday, 16th Feb in Frankfurt

The reading will take place as part of the Black History Month programme of events organised by ISD Frankfurt. The reading will be followed by a Spoken Word Performance by Philipp Khabo Koepsell.

Staged Reading: "Also By Mail"
with Moses Adekunle, Clementine Burnley, T.Vicky Germain, Noah Hofmann, Philipp Khabo Koepsell, Asad Schwarz-Msesilamba and Mirjam Nuenning

Saturday, February 16th 2013
20:00
Circus, Bleichstr. 46, Frankfurt am  Main

...

"Also By Mail" by Olumide Popoola
Series: Witnessed Edition 2
Publisher: Edition Assemblage

Paperback, 142×205 mm
96 pages, 9.80 EUR [D]
ISBN 978-3-942885-38-6
to be published 20th February 2013