Raphaëlle Red was born in Paris in 1997 and grew up in Berlin, where she still lives today. She studied social sciences and most recently conducted research and taught on contemporary literature of the African diaspora. In 2022, she was one of six selected authors at the “Resonanzen”- the Festival of Black German-Language Literature, initiated by Sharon Dodua Otoo.
Red’s debut novel Adikou was published in 2024 in French (Grasset) and in German translation (Rowohlt, trans. Patricia Klobusiczky), for which both were awarded the Prix Première of the Institut Français. Adikou was also selected by DIE ZEIT as one of the “100 Best Books of the Year” in 2024. Additional German-language texts have appeared in anthologies (Resonanzen, 2022; Glückwunsch, 2023) as well as in newspapers and magazines (DELFI Magazin, Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung).
Red’s new novel project follows three young people who grew up together but have drifted apart. During her residency in Kyoto, she plans to write the chapters in which Dana, the youngest of the three, participates in a reality TV show. She is particularly interested in the unique characteristics of Japanese reality television—such as its emphasis on the inner worlds of participants rather than interpersonal conflict—in order to develop a narrative form that can translate this television genre into literary form.
