In 2019, Eure Heimat ist unser Albtraum(Your Homeland is Our Nightmare) was published to much acclaim in Germany. The essay collection, edited by Fatma Aydemir and Hengameh Yaghoobifarah, is a manifesto which opposes the idea of “Heimat” – homeland – and an outlet for 14 contemporary authors to comment on how Germany “others” an entire segment of its population.
Eure Heimat ist unser Albtraum was in turn inspired by 2016's The Good Immigrant. This anthology, edited by Nikesh Shukla, explored themes such as race, identity, and immigration in a UK context. An American sequel was published in 2017, edited by Nikesh Shukla and Chimene Suleyman.
While much has happened in Germany and the UK since the publication of these two essay collections, the questions and topics addressed by both sets of authors are as pertinent as ever.
To mark the recent English translation of Eure Heimat... entitled Your Homeland is Our Nightmare, we are bringing together the editors and authors of both anthologies for the first time. The books have always been in dialogue with one another, and now we present an in-person dialogue between Fatma Aydemir, Hengameh Yaghoobifarah, Nikesh Shukla, Musa Okwonga and Chimene Suleyman (tbc). The panel discussion will be moderated by Leila Essa.
Ⓒ Phil Dera
Musa Okwonga is an award-winning author and the co-host of the Stadio football podcast, and he has written seven books. He writes fiction and non-fiction for children and adults on the subjects of politics, sport, race, music and culture. His writing has been published by, among others, The Guardian, British GQ, The Financial Times, The Washington Post and The New York Times. He lives in Berlin.
Fatma Aydemir
Fatma Aydemir is a writer and journalist based in Berlin. Both her novels Ellbogen (Elbow, 2017) and Dschinns (Djinns, 2022) won several literary awards and were adapted as theatre plays. Together with writer Hengameh Yaghoobifarah she co-edited the antifascist essay collection Eure Heimat ist unser Albtraum, which was translated into English and published in 2022 as "Your Homeland is our Nightmare" by Literarische Diverse.
