The Beauty of Difference - New Stories Celebrating Diversity

When political narratives of fear gain influence, when visions of the future no longer include everyone and opinion-forming increasingly takes...

When political narratives of fear gain influence, when visions of the future no longer include everyone and opinion-forming increasingly takes place within bubbles, it is high time for new alliances!

This book turns its title into a program: In around thirty texts, politicians from the SPD, the Greens and the Left Party as well as representatives from journalism, science, culture, trade unions, associations and social movements join forces to make a new start: For a progressive politics that does not primarily advocate a capitalist system, but rather diversity, ecology, participation and a strong democracy. So that justice and solidarity do not remain utopias.

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.

Far too often, white women tend to understand feminism one-dimensionally and oppression singularly. What is missing is an understanding that...

Far too often, white women tend to understand feminism one-dimensionally and oppression singularly. What is missing is an understanding that Black women and women of color face different forms of oppression simultaneously. In this book, Natasha A. Kelly shows how elitism and racial prejudice have long dominated Western feminist discourse, preventing a feminism that is open to all. In order to change this, she uses personal and collective experiences and historical highlights to tell the story of Black feminism in Germany.

The story of a family at the time of the Turkish coup, and its cherished hopes of a new life.Nilay...

The story of a family at the time of the Turkish coup, and its cherished hopes of a new life.Nilay wants to leave Berlin. For Istanbul. Preferably tonight. For weeks, she and her parents have been following the news from Taksim Square: the images of the protests, the cry for freedom. Selim and Hülya are distraught. They themselves were children in the streets of Izmir. Then came the attempted coup of September 1980. Years of despotism followed, yet they still believed in a future for themselves in their home country. After all, they had each other, and found ways to resist. Thirty years later, their daughters are drawn to the country they left behind in the hope of finding freedom elsewhere.

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.

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.

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.

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.

A cheerful, a melancholy, a wise and timely book on an era of freedom in both Eastern and Western Europe.Brilliantly...

A cheerful, a melancholy, a wise and timely book on an era of freedom in both Eastern and Western Europe.Brilliantly narrated. With playful acumen, Adam Soboczynski helps us understand ourselves as well as this strange East of Europe. He talks about the great freedom after 1989, and how it is about to be lost – in both parts of Europe: in the East it is threatened from the outside, in the West by internal struggles.

"Open seven days", reads the blackboard at the entrance. Ilija’s parents run a restaurant in Bavaria. As a child, he...

"Open seven days", reads the blackboard at the entrance. Ilija’s parents run a restaurant in Bavaria. As a child, he helps out in the kitchen, growing up on French fries and deep-fried food. His father encourages him to take tennis lessons. Ilija makes new friends at the club and wants to go to a prep school just like them. But there is one thing that accompanies him everywhere he goes: »I can smell fries, Ilija's coming!« This sentence uttered by a classmate, becomes the point of departure for a self-exploration: Does the way we smell reveal our social background?In his literary debut, Ilija Matusko combines personal memories with sociological observations. In ten essayistic chapters, he tells the story of climbing the social ladder through education – with a keen eye for subtle differences, and with a good dose of wit and literary prowess.

"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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

On 248 pages, Guruli demonstrates with poetic linguistic power how the feeling of home and security can suddenly be corrupted...

On 248 pages, Guruli demonstrates with poetic linguistic power how the feeling of home and security can suddenly be corrupted by political, but also interpersonal coincidences."" Tagesspiegel. Elena, the first-person narrator, grows up sheltered in Tbilisi, dances in a folklore ensemble whose performances catapult her into the luxury hotels of Istanbul or Taiwan - until the massacre of peaceful demonstrators for Georgian independence by the Soviet army on April 9, 1989 tears her from her carefree existence. Elena decides to study in Germany, falls into a criminal environment and becomes stranded in Berlin. When, alone and desperate, she receives a letter from her childhood friend who disappeared years earlier, she sets off on a search, returns to Georgia and finds answers."

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. 

Our German Fairy Tale is Dinçer Güçyeters first novel: a candid and convincing family saga told in the voices of...

Our German Fairy Tale is Dinçer Güçyeters first novel: a candid and convincing family saga told in the voices of three generations from the early twentieth-century to the present, set in Turkey and Germany. Güçyeter allows the women of several generations and the son born in Almanya to speak. They all remember in poetic, often mythical, powerful images and in monologues, dialogues, dreams, prayers and choruses. They tell of the fate of the Turkish Greeks, of the archaic roots of Anatolian life, and of the challenge of starting a new life in Germany as guest workers and their descendants.With many photographs from the author's private archive.