Sharon Dodua Otoo facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sharon Dodua Otoo
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Otoo after receiving the Ingeborg Bachmann Prize (2016)
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| Born | 1972 (age 52–53) |
| Alma mater | Royal Holloway, University of London |
| Occupation | Writer, activist |
Sharon Dodua Otoo (born in 1972) is a British writer, publicist, and activist. An activist is someone who works to bring about social or political change. In 2016, Otoo won the important Ingeborg Bachmann Prize for her very first short story written in German.
Contents
Life
Sharon Otoo was born in Ilford, a town in London, England. Her parents came from Accra, Ghana, before they moved to London. Sharon grew up there with her two siblings.
In 1992, after finishing school, she traveled to Hanover, Germany. She worked there for a year as an au pair, which means she helped a family with childcare and housework. During this time, she became very interested in the German language.
When she returned to England, Otoo studied German and Management Studies at Royal Holloway, University of London. She graduated in 1997. After that, she moved back to Germany. Since 2006, she has lived in Berlin with her four sons.
In an interview in 2016, Otoo described herself as a "Black British mother, activist, author and editor." She also shared that she had mixed feelings about Britain. She said, "I have a British passport and London is my home, but there was still this something in the background music that said: 'You don't really belong here'." This shows that even though she was born there, she sometimes felt like she didn't quite fit in.
In 2021, she was chosen to be a visiting fellow at Jesus College, Cambridge. This meant she was a special writer-in-residence for the 2021–2022 school year.
Activism
As an activist, Sharon Otoo has worked with many groups. One important group is the Initiative for Black People in Germany (Initiative Schwarze Menschen in Deutschland (ISD-Bund)). This group was partly started by May Ayim. Otoo was on its board of directors from 2010 to 2013.
She also edits a series of English books called Witnessed. She has written many articles that talk about important social issues. These articles cover topics like culture, diversity, and feminism. Feminism is about believing in equal rights for all genders.
In her 2016 interview, she explained her approach to activism. She said, "Politics can be very polarising and confrontational." This means political discussions can sometimes cause people to strongly disagree. She added, "With my writing, I would like to say: we can go out and demonstrate, but at the end of the day all we all want is to be understood and be treated with empathy." Empathy means understanding and sharing the feelings of others.
Since 2014, she has been a project coordinator for Regionale Arbeitsstelle Berlin. This organization helps children from immigrant families. It supports their social integration and development from early school years up to professional training.
Writing
Sharon Otoo's first short novel, called a novella, was the things i am thinking while smiling politely. It was published in 2012 by a small German publisher. Another novella, Synchronicity, followed in 2014. Both of these were first written in English and then translated into German.
Later, she wrote her first full-length novel, Adas Raum, directly in German. It was then translated into English.
Otoo's creative writing often includes magical realism. This is a style where magical elements appear in a realistic setting. She also writes about Afrofuturism, which explores Black culture, technology, and the future. Her stories often deal with identity, relationships, and empowerment. Empowerment means helping people feel stronger and more confident.
She gets ideas from German writers like Bertolt Brecht and Max Frisch. She likes how they combine smart analysis of society with humor. She also finds inspiration in Toni Morrison and Mildred D. Taylor. These are "women writers who made the black experience in the US very tangible to me."
The Ingeborg Bachmann Prize 2016
Sharon Otoo was invited to join the 2016 Ingeborg Bachmann Prize competition. This invitation came from Sandra Kegel, an editor at Frankfurter Allgemeine. At the time, Otoo didn't know how important the prize was in Germany. She said, "That was probably a good idea, otherwise I wouldn't have submitted anything."
Otoo's winning story was "Herr Gröttrup setzte sich hin" ("Herr Gröttrup sat down"). It's about an engineer and rocket scientist named Helmut Gröttrup and his wife, Irmgard, having breakfast. The funny part is that Herr Gröttrup's breakfast egg starts telling the story! The egg rebels against the strict household rules by staying soft, even after being boiled for the right amount of time. People loved the story for its unique character, gentle humor, and clever satire.
The Mayor of Klagenfurt, Maria Luise Mathiasschitz, gave Otoo the award. She praised Otoo as "a new voice for a new society." When asked if the award was a way to stand against growing xenophobia (fear of foreigners) in Europe, Otoo said it might have played a part. But she believed that "in the end they voted for the quality of the story."
The prize came with 25,000 Euros. Otoo plans to use this opportunity to write her first full-length novel.
Selected works
Novels
- Otoo, Sharon Dodua (2021), Adas Raum. Novel. Frankfurt am Main: S. Fischer. ISBN: 978-3-10-397315-0
Novellas
- Otoo, Sharon Dodua (2012), the things i am thinking while smiling politely. Novella. Münster: Edition Assemblage. ISBN: 978-3-942885-22-5
- Otoo, Sharon Dodua (2014), Synchronicity. Novella. Illustrated by Sita Ngoumou. Translated into German by Mirjam Nuenning. Münster: Edition Assemblage. ISBN: 978-3-942885-74-4
Short stories
- Otoo, Sharon Dodua (2011), Die Geschichte vom Kreis und Viereck, in Susan Arndt and Nadja Ofuatey-Alazard (eds) (K)Erben des Kolonialismus im Wissenschaftsarchiv deutsche Sprache. Münster: Unrast Verlag, p. 378
- Otoo, Sharon Dodua (2015), Wie bei den Pinguinen, in Hervé, Florence and Stitz, Melanie (eds) Wir Frauen 2015. Köln: PapyRossa Verlag
- Byakuleka, Bino Byansi, and Otoo, Sharon Dodua (2015), The Romantics and the Criminals, in Burnley, Clementine and Otoo, Sharon Dodua (eds), Winter Shorts. Münster: Edition Assemblage, pp. 37–44
- Otoo, Sharon Dodua (2019), Liebe, in Fatma Aydemir, Hengameh Yaghoobifarah (eds), Eure Heimat ist unser Albtraum. Berlin: Ullstein fünf. ISBN: 978-3-961010-36-3
Edited Book Series
Sharon Dodua Otoo also edits the book series Witnessed, which includes works by other authors:
- Sandrine Micossé-Aikins and Sharon Dodua Otoo (2012) (eds): The Little Book of Big Visions. How to Be an Artist and Revolutionize the World. Series: Witnessed, Edition 1, Münster: Edition Assemblage. ISBN: 978-3-942885-31-7
- Olumide Popoola (2013), Also by Mail. Series: Witnessed, Edition 2, Münster: Edition Assemblage. ISBN: 978-3-942885-38-6
- Clementine Burnley and Sharon Dodua Otoo (2015) (eds), Winter Shorts. Series: Witnessed, Edition 5, Münster: Edition Assemblage. ISBN: 978-3-942885-94-2
