Authors Nakia Hill and Sharon Dodua Otoo in Conversation

We encourage visitors to our special exhibition Made in Germany? Art and Identity in a Global Nation to attend a special conversation between authors Nakia Hill and Sharon Dodua Otoo. This panel is one of seven events organized by the Goethe-Institut Boston that contextualizes the exhibition, which is on view through January 5, 2025.

Authors and activists Nakia Hill and Sharon Dodua Otoo will have a conversation about their approaches to supporting Black authors in Boston and Germany. Hill and Otoo will present from their own experience with creating formats and platforms for Black writers and then invite the audience to join in an open dialogue. The aim is to create an inclusive and welcoming space post-election for reflection and support.

Nakia Hill is a writer, poet, journalist, and educator. She is the author of Water Carrier, a book of poetry; I Still Did It, an intergenerational anthology on resilience; and the newly released anthology How We Take Up Space, focused on spatial justice. A proud native of Roxbury, Hill was named an artist-in-residence by the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture in 2018 and a GrubStreet Teaching Fellow in 2023. She is a recipient of multiple awards and honors for her work. She is committed to using her skills and expertise to inspire, inform, and empower others through the power of storytelling.

Sharon Dodua Otoo is a novelist and political activist. Otoo won the Ingeborg Bachmann Prize in 2016 with her short story “Herr Gröttrup setzt sich hin.” Her first novel, Adas Raum, was published by S. Fischer Verlag in 2021 and has been translated into several languages, including two English-language versions, Ada’s Realm (MacLehose Press, 2023) and Ada’s Room (Riverhead Books, 2023). In collaboration with the Ruhrfestspiele, one of the oldest, largest, and most renowned theater festivals in Europe, Otoo curates the Black German-language literature festival Resonanzen.

This program is free and open to all. For more information, please visit the Goethe-Institut Boston website. For any questions, please contact Karin Oehlenschlaeger at Karin.Oehlenschlaeger@goethe.de at the Goethe-Institut Boston.