Annachiara Raia receives NWO Impact Explorer grant

Unexpected discoveries and surprising insights spark curiosity. To prevent these unforeseen opportunities from being overlooked, the Impact Explorer call was established. Four projects are receiving funding, of which one by ASCL literary researcher Annachiara Raia.

In East Africa, reading is not done silently, but aloud to a public: a shared, sensorial experience. This project by Annachiara Raia “gives voice” to Swahili pocket literature, a genre rarely included in scholarly discussions, classrooms, or bookshops. Its aim is to establish the TiaSauti @ Lab (GiveVoice @ Lab), an atelier to explore Swahili orature via digital content. The pilot initiative will be a vodcast series featuring conversations on contemporary Muslim cultural life through a rereading of 20th-century Swahili pamphlet literatures. Tia Sauti @ Lab involves the cooperation of local radio broadcasters, publishers, poets, and reciters from East Africa with a broader, international online audience.

Read more about the Impact Explorer Awards.