OPUWO!

Join us for a Friday lecture of poetry and translation with Stefanie-Lahya Aukongo, Black German author and poet, who will speak about her life, growing up between Namibia and Germany, followed by readings in German and English facilitated by Dr. Priscilla Layne, and a Q&A.

Lahya (Stefanie-Lahya Aukongo) is a Black artist, author, poet, curator, multiplicator, singer, teamer, photographer, and activist whose art and work reflect her social realities and identities. Lahya’s life revolves around molecules of reality, (re)arranged lovingly, yet critically, and enveloped in song, painting, collage, performance, photography and_or poetry. Their purpose is healing and/through transformative practices. The Black namibian queer, disabled, neurodiverse, fat Femme intersectionally interwoven and interdisciplinary artist in a dark skinned body who uses poetry and art as a surviving mechanism and a healing communication tool. Every form of Lahyas art has ultimately helped Lahya process the vulnerable experiences as a human at the Center of edge. Lahya knows that the acts of embodying joy and telling the story in their own words is freedom work. It is a way to hold space and take space. Since 2014, Lahya curates and moderates the bimonthly spoken-word event “One World Poetry Night” in Berlin.Lahya’s oeuvre is published in various books and zines. In search of radical social responsibility of the heart and deed, Lahya’s doings are political, collective, and personal. Lahyas works touch upon de:privilege, decolonisation, healing, individual and collective love, softness and vulnerability. Lahya’s pronouns are Lahya and if needed she/her. Lahya’s bed currently resides in Berlin.

This event is part of the “Campus Weeks 2023 – Germany on Campus“ initiative by the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany. Co-sponsored by the Department of Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures.