Author: Annabelle Steffes-Halmer

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Nadia Nadim was 12 years old when her family fled Afghanistan (photo: federation entertainment/echo studio)

Afghan soccer star "Nadia"

From child refugee to professional footballer

The documentary "Nadia" tells the incredible story of Nadia Nadim, who was forced to flee from the Taliban as a child and became a football star. By Annabelle Steffes-HalmerMore

The future of Afghan cinema: "The best revenge is to keep making films"Afghanistan documentary "Melting Dreams": A tale of Afghan-European failureInterview with filmmaker Mariam Ghani: The power of propaganda
Nobel Prize for Literature winner Abdulrazak Gurnah is from Zanzibar, has lived in the UK since he was 18 (photo: Matt Dunham/AP/picture-alliance)

Nobel laureate Abdulrazak Gurnah

Exile, migration and the art of writing

The Tanzanian-born Nobel Prize winner talks to Annabelle Steffes-Halmer about his decision to leave Zanzibar, to write in English – and about the rise of African writers in the post-colonial eraMore

Abdulrazak Gurnah's "Paradise": "Freedom is not something they can take away"Abdulrazak Gurnah – "Pilgrim's Way": As foreign as a drop of oil in waterQantara dossier: Literature
Abdulrazak Gurnah smiling in a garden (photo: AP Photo/picture-alliance)

Abdulrazak Gurnah and Tsitsi Dangarembga

Can the Nobel Prize "revitalise" African literature?

Abdulrazak Gurnah is the fourth author from sub-Saharan Africa to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature. Is the tide turning for African writers? By Annabelle Steffes-HalmerMore

Abdulrazak Gurnah – "Pilgrim's Way": As foreign as a drop of oil in waterNobel Peace Prize 2014: Serving stereotypes about the subcontinent?Philippines' Nobel Prize winner Ressa says "nothing is possible without facts"
Juergen Habermas at the John W. Kluge Prize award ceremony in Washington in 2015 (photo: Shawn Miller)

Sheikh Zayed Book Award

Why has Juergen Habermas rejected a prize from the UAE?

At nearly 92, Juergen Habermas is still advocating for a robust and transparent civil society. Now Germany's greatest living intellectual has rejected a book award from the United Arab Emirates. Stuart Braun has the detailsMore

German angst and the Sheikh Zayed Book Award: Habermas, philosopher of communication, rejects dialogue Juergen Habermas awarded Kluge Prize for Philosophy: ″Asylum is a human right″
Aeham Ahmad playing his piano among the rubble, Syria (source: YouTube)

Syrian pianist Aeham Ahmad

How music can open doors

He came to fame as the pianist who played in the rubble of war-torn Syria, but there is so much more to Aeham Ahmad than that. He's now a popular musician and has made a home for himself and his family in the German city of Wiesbaden. By Annabelle Steffes-HalmerMore

Interview with the pianist Aeham Ahmad: Bittersweet memories of SyriaInterview with the Syrian Composer-pianist Malek Jandali: "We are witnessing the fall of humanity"Music festival on the Greek island of Chios: Opportunities for reflection