The Beauty of Difference - New Stories Celebrating Diversity

Two sisters: one works to tackle all the injustices of our present day, the other strives for the middle-class family...

Two sisters: one works to tackle all the injustices of our present day, the other strives for the middle-class family ideal; for one, being Black is a political category, for the other, it is qbout being a mother. In her debut novel, Yandé Seck explores the ambivalences large and small that have to navigate in a clever, illuminating and subtly witty way.

The children from the high-rise housing estate in Bremen-Nord know exactly where their families come from: Turkey, Russia, Albania. Only...

The children from the high-rise housing estate in Bremen-Nord know exactly where their families come from: Turkey, Russia, Albania. Only Karla is a little different. She knows that her grandmother came to Germany from Istanbul as a guest worker in the 1960s and that the family has Armenian roots, but they don't talk about it. When Karla's grandmother dies, the name of a woman, Lilit, appears, along with an address in Armenia. Karla manages to persuade her father to go on a trip together - to a homeland that neither of them has ever set foot in. Laura Cwiertnia tells an impressive and moving story about what it feels like to be on the margins of society. And what it's like to have no story to share with others.

In the north of the city, hopes hang as low as the November sky. Those who live here should not...

In the north of the city, hopes hang as low as the November sky. Those who live here should not count on a happy ending. Especially not Nene, in her early twenties and a swimming pool attendant, whose misfortune has its own unit of measure. Her survival strategy: swim lengths, try to forget, be pragmatic. Then she gets to know Boris at the swimming pool, afflicted by polio there are no jobs for Boris, only swear words or pity. Suffering pain he treats the world with contempt. Their first date is swiftly a fiasco, but Nene nestles herself into Boris’ heart, and he into hers. In her debut novel, Annika Büsing tells a heartbreaking and intoxicatingly life-affirming story about old scars and the courage to make new ones.

From migrant working-class child to successful academic: Betiel Berhe's childhood among high-rise buildings has sharpened her view of class differences...

From migrant working-class child to successful academic: Betiel Berhe's childhood among high-rise buildings has sharpened her view of class differences and structural discrimination. Today, she works as an economist and anti-racism and classism trainer and co-founded the Institute for Social Justice & Radical Diversity in Munich. Based on her own biography and other life stories, she explains how difficult social advancement is, which subtle differences never disappear - and how a new migrant middle class is growing that stands up against structural classism and racism and is committed to intersectionality. 

An intelligent, inspirational book about one the most important topics of contemporary society.Raúl Krauthausen is Germany’s best-known activist for inclusion...

An intelligent, inspirational book about one the most important topics of contemporary society.Raúl Krauthausen is Germany’s best-known activist for inclusion and barrier-free access – and the loudest voice in the country in matters of rights of people with disabilities. “Just consider disability a feature, like the colour of your hair” is one of his basic tenets. His new book raises fundamental, often uncomfortable, questions on inclusion and prompts his readers to engage with their own ableism, developing an idea of how inclusion could and should be lived on all levels.

"I’m more than other people’s projections. I like being a someone who can’t be defined by cliché."Fikri Anıl Altıntaş grows...

"I’m more than other people’s projections. I like being a someone who can’t be defined by cliché."Fikri Anıl Altıntaş grows up as the son of Turkish migrants in a small German city; his father is a teacher at a comprehensive school, and his mother is a cleaner. It is a childhood in the middle of social housing blocks, marked by the urgent desire to be "German" and the bitter disappointment about the reality for immigrants. The longing to be seen and to find his own way as a Turkish-Muslim man grows constantly. It is above all his relationship with his father that ultimately confronts him with the question: What does masculinity mean at all and how can it be understood and lived beyond the clichés?

„Shida Bazyar is a talented author whose writing will appeal to fans of Elena Ferrante, Zadie Smith and Kamila Shamsie.“...

„Shida Bazyar is a talented author whose writing will appeal to fans of Elena Ferrante, Zadie Smith and Kamila Shamsie.“  New Books in GermanHani, Kasih, and Saya have shared a deep friendship ever since they were kids growing up together in the projects. After years, the three young women meet again for a few days to pick up where they left off. But regardless of where they are or what they achieve, it becomes clear again and again that they can’t escape the everyday racism that accompanies their daily lives: the glances, chatter, hatred, and outright rightwing terror. But their friendship gives them stability. Until one dramatic night shakes everything up.

What is the difference between antisemitism and racism? Are there links between National Socialism and colonialism? Is BDS antisemitic? Are...

What is the difference between antisemitism and racism? Are there links between National Socialism and colonialism? Is BDS antisemitic? Are Jews white? How are these debates conducted in other countries? Numerous researchers, educational practitioners and activists address these questions in this book, which is intended to provide an accessible introduction to a complex, pressing and conflict-ridden topic. The focus is on antisemitism, Islamophobia and anti-Black racism.

Luisa L'Audace grew up as the only disabled child in her home village. For a long time, she didn't understand...

Luisa L'Audace grew up as the only disabled child in her home village. For a long time, she didn't understand why she was always picked last in PE lessons, why she wasn't allowed to play at breaktime and why nobody wanted to sit next to her. While other children were out having fun, Luisa spent a lot of time at hospital or in therapy sessions. When she was given a wheelchair at the age of 14, she felt free for the first time in her life. But with her newfound mobility there also came greater hostility. Even in the 21st century, disabled people still have to fight for their rights and are exposed to violence. Luisa L'Audace explains why ableism concerns us all, and how we can actively unlearn it and build an inclusive society.

On the evening before her 30th birthday, Anna Thurow decides to die. Or at least she considers all the different...

On the evening before her 30th birthday, Anna Thurow decides to die. Or at least she considers all the different ways of committing suicide but none of them seem right. She isn´t happy, nor is she unhappy, but something has always seemed strangely wrong to her. A hypnotist traces the cause of Anna's alienation from herself and the world back to a past life: the ghost of a Croatian Jew called Andri is rumbling around inside Anna. Anna thinks this is nonsense, but curiosity wins out, and she travels to the town that Andri supposedly grew up in. As hilarious as it is sad, this novel explores how we attempt to explain ourselves and the world, and asks who we can be if we don't know who we are.

Diversity is not a given in Germany in the year 2022 – it has to be fought for, again and...

Diversity is not a given in Germany in the year 2022 – it has to be fought for, again and again. We already know what it is that separates us from one another, just as we know who is driving and multiplying this separation. The debates are getting more heated, the trenches are dug deeper, and it is getting ever harder to communicate and find commonalities. German. What is that supposed to be, actually? Who is this “we” we’re always talking about? In 212 letters, the contributors to this volume investigate what it is that unites people. What really matters in times of crisis. The result is letters that turn out to be soft where you had expected hardness. An attempt at rapprochement in hardened times.

"Father’s Sea" tells the story of a stroke of fate that affects an entire family, of a father-son relationship that...

"Father’s Sea" tells the story of a stroke of fate that affects an entire family, of a father-son relationship that ends abruptly, of moving and staying, of migration and belonging. Deniz Utlu traces the unexpected vicissitudes of life and memory. His novel is a testament to the power of storytelling— which becomes most evident when language is the last thing you have left.

Take away the Alps tells the story of a childhood in Switzerland in a series of vivid images. A nameless...

Take away the Alps tells the story of a childhood in Switzerland in a series of vivid images. A nameless brother and sister who speak in unison. A home with Ma and Pa, who appear in the form of a four-armed deity. The bicycles on which the children race tothe places where they play: the telephone box, the rubbish dump, out in the reeds. And then a new child joins the class and paves the way for the siblings to venture down from their own inner mountains.

In his debut work, Ralph Tharayil tells a unique an coming-of-age story about the experience of integration, and the language and bodies that resist this integration.

For anyone interested in raising awareness of non-discriminatory language, this book offers easily accessible information on a wide range of...

For anyone interested in raising awareness of non-discriminatory language, this book offers easily accessible information on a wide range of topics.

"Ally", "integration", "person of colour", "black" a total of 100 common diversity terms are explained from A to Z. Each double-page spread starts with the definition of a term and the corresponding entry from the dictionary Duden. The term is then discussed in more detail by an author who has specialist knowledge of the subject, and usually a personal connection to it.

Arda, a university student of Turkish heritage, is critically ill in hospital. As he waits for a prognosis, he begins...

Arda, a university student of Turkish heritage, is critically ill in hospital. As he waits for a prognosis, he begins to write his life story, addressing it to his father, who abandoned the family before he was born. Arda and his sister, Aylin, grew up in Germany without citizenship, meaning their childhood was marked by bureaucratic challenges as well as neglect by their mother, who struggled to cope alone. Öziri writes with great humanity, lyricism and a quiet fury, “Birth Mark” is a powerful debut from an exciting new talent in German literature.Shortlisted for the German Book Prize 2023.

Jaffa is Sabiha and Ahmed’s home. It is where they’re raising their sons, and where they have opened their own...

Jaffa is Sabiha and Ahmed’s home. It is where they’re raising their sons, and where they have opened their own cinema. But when Israel declares independence in 1948 and the Arab-Israeli war breaks out, the family is forced to flee. They embark on an Odyssey that takes them first to Lebanon and then to Turkey, searching for a new home.Seventy years later, Joana Osman travels to Israel in search of her family’s past. Who were these two people, who raised her father on the run? What was the trip like which invisibly, but decisively, affected her own youth?

Somewhere in provincial West Germany, a year after Chernobyl, the first-person narrator is born, a “hybrid of my mother and...

Somewhere in provincial West Germany, a year after Chernobyl, the first-person narrator is born, a “hybrid of my mother and father.” But her intact nuclear family doesn’t last long: her Turkish father (so overweight “you can barely do anything with him that involves gravity”) dies. Left alone, the daughter and mother are a toxic combination. The girl finds her way out of a damaged family arrangement but her father remains a revenant, proving that even someone who is absent can still be too much. Önder’s multiple times awarded debut is a wild novel about the body, foreignness, and arrival, about identity and difference that keeps surprising us with its boldness: fast and smart and, despite its darkness, insanely funny.

Following Ogette's bestselling guide to anti-racist thinking, this is her guide to an anti-racist life.We are all socialised racists. Racism...

Following Ogette's bestselling guide to anti-racist thinking, this is her guide to an anti-racist life.We are all socialised racists. Racism is everywhere around us. But we haven't learnt how to recognise it yet, let alone how to talk about it. To think and live in a way that is anti-racist is an opportunity to reshape society and create a fairer world – because when you confront racism properly, you will gain new insights into yourself and those around you. Tupoka Ogette is the most important German facilitator of anti-racism, and her book will give you practical, everyday ideas for how to live an anti-racist life, whether it's within your circle of friends, with your family, at school, in your spare time or at work.

A picture book that invites all children to get to know each other with fun, impartiality and respect....

A picture book that invites all children to get to know each other with fun, impartiality and respect.

Artist Constanze von Kitzing has designed a book that you can look at from the front or the back. I am different from you" is one title, "I am like you" is the other. Two people are depicted on each double page of the book. Mostly children. Then there's always the sentence that starts "I'm different from you because..." - and when we turn the page? What do we adults see? A dark-skinned girl and a light-skinned boy. And the really important difference between the two? She prefers pizza and he prefers spaghetti. Because it's not what we look like, how we appear on the outside, that makes us different, but what we do, what we love, where we get involved.

After his mother is executed in the throes of the Iranian revolution, eleven-year-old Saam and his younger brother flee with...

After his mother is executed in the throes of the Iranian revolution, eleven-year-old Saam and his younger brother flee with their father to Germany. Feeling doubly foreign in Arabic-dominated Neukölln, the father ekes out a living as a taxi driver, plays backgammon and sinks into shame while Saam takes on the role of head of the family. Using everything at his disposal, he fights to earn the respect of the brutal street gangs to protect his brother Nima. But one day, he goes too far. In his spectacular debut in his own, very unique voice, Behzad Karim Khani blends the melancholy of Iranian prose with the toughness of Afro-American rap.