Language shapes our reality, from how we express ourselves to how the world expresses itself to us. What happens, though, when one chooses to write outside of their native language?
This discussion explores the creative possibilities of writing in another language and examines the colonial legacies of languages. It convenes Patrice Nganang, whose memoir Scale Boy reflects on his relationship to the Cameroonian indigenous language Medumba, his mother tongue, and his writing in English, German, and French; Swedish-Tunisian author Jonas Hassen Khemiri, whose recent novel The Sisters marks his first book written in English rather than his native Swedish; and Esperanza Hope Snyder, whose novel Orange Wine, written in English rather than her native Spanish, traces a woman’s struggle for artistic and personal freedom in early twentieth-century Colombia, navigating identity, desire, and the constraints placed on women’s lives.
Moderated by translator and poet Nancy Naomi Carlson (Gestuary by Sylvie Kandé), this conversation will explore the cross-cultural and intra-language possibilities of exophonic writing and the historical legacies that shape which languages are heard.
This event is co-presented by the Consulate General of Sweden.
