Afreecan Read is thrilled to announce that Faber & Faber has acquired the rights to Angolan Writer and Musician, Kalaf Epalanga’s, debut novel.
The novel is titled Whites Can Dance Too. It tells the story of Kalaf “an African musician stopped at the Norwegian border on suspicion of being an illegal immigrant. While in a cell, he considers his own story and how it intertwines with the musical genre of Kuduro. The novel also tells the story of Sofia, a Portuguese girl at the heart of the Lisbon dance scene, and Viking, a Norwegian policeman who has Kalaf’s fate in his hands.”
The novel was originally written in Portuguese and was translated by Daniel Hahn. The novel is scheduled for publication in Spring 2023. According to a report by The Bookseller, the “translation and screen rights will be handled by Blake Friedmann Literary Agency in association with Laxfield Literary Associates.”
Speaking of the acquisition, Kalaf Epalanga said “Like the music that got me travelling around the world, I try to bend and fuse genres with literature. This novel tells so much about the place that I call home – music – and the rhythms, melodies, and lyrics that nurture so many people like myself. Migrants who didn’t know when or how to return to their places of origin and for whom moving forward was the only option. I couldn’t be happier that this story arrived at the hands of a music-loving Alexa and found its home at Faber. Collaborating with Daniel Hahn is a dream come true. He translated many of my favourite books from the Portuguese language.”
Image Source: Goethe Institute
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