Laurène Southe is about to launch her poetry collection, Child of Congo!

Southe is a young, talented Congolese writer and activist based in Austria. Having picked up the pen at a young age, Southe joined the Vienna African Writers Club as a teenager and continued to broaden her understanding and craft. Brittle Paper readers may already be familiar with Southe as last year we published her poem, “Silent Genocide,” a powerful piece about the genocide in DRC. This poem will be part of her poetry collection, Child of Congo, which focuses on the history, identity and resilience of the Congolese whilst also shining a bright light on the atrocities currently unfolding in the region.

Not only has Southe created a brilliant collection, but she has also organised a Launch Event that will bring together culture and community, and include a vital and urgent discussion on the humanitarian crises in DRC.

There is plenty more to share but Southe has said it better herself, so please join me in sitting down with the incredibly talented, Laurène Southe!

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Brittle Paper

Laurène, congratulations on the upcoming launch of your poetry collection, Child of Congo! Brittle Paper is so excited about the news and I’m thrilled that you’re sitting down for a chat with us.

There is a lot to get into but we should start off with getting to know the remarkable person behind this collection. So, how long has Laurène Southe been a writer and what inspired you to pick up the pen?

Laurène Southe

The boring answer would be ever since I can remember. A more precise answer would take me back to my childhood. I always had trouble verbally communicating, and through writing, I would not only find an outlet to be creative, but also, a means of expression. Throughout various micro situations, I think I understood then that writing was my best shot to make my point come across. That could be as little as conveying my jealousy of another girl to my siblings or writing down my existential thoughts because I had no voice at the time and no one to confide in.

I really began forging a future in writing when I took part in a performing arts school and I was trying different creative disciplines, and writing was the first space that made me feel seen. What really solidified my venture was when I figured out how and what I wanted to write about, which came later on as I attended book clubs and participated in poetry slams. Now, I have finally come to the stage where I am pursuing this dream and I can’t put into words where the drive is coming from. Why do I continue at it? I can’t explain it, I just do.

Brittle Paper

Although I’m sure it wasn’t easy to struggle with communicating with those around you, it is really beautiful to hear that writing helped you with that. And using writing to voice what matters to you is quite fitting considering the nature of your writing.

At this moment, DRC is suffering a silent genocide that the world and, more disappointingly, large parts of the continent are ignoring. Your poems are said to “bear witness to the darkest history known to mankind […] from the horrors of forced labor to the ongoing struggle against rebel groups.”

I know it seems silly, given the title and description, to ask what inspired you to write this book. We’ve been privileged to publish one of your pieces, “Silent Genocide,” that is included in the book, but if you could, please tell us about when you decided this would be a collection of poems.

Laurène Southe

Around 2021, I was asked to take part in a group exhibition and for the first time, I had the choice of what I wanted to share. Before then, it needed to be a specific theme that a program or an online platform was asking, and so even though there was space for expression, it was rather limited. Imagine you’re given a blank canvas and you’re told, you can paint anything you ever wanted. That is how the first poem and title of the poetry collection was born.

For years, my Congolese heritage was something I wanted to explore, and for me, it all started with understanding where I came from so that I could know where I’m heading. I remember reading the poem to myself over and over, realizing this is something very uncommon. I think when it comes to the African continent and its diaspora, we are only ever offered popular narratives which are from its natives or African American, or the UK. Not often do you hear about Congolese tales and the face of immigrants from regions such as Central Europe. Like anything else in life, I approached this with curiosity and it slowly developed into something tangible. One may call it fate or a range of coincidental efforts. What is important to note is it took a lot to get here and even today, I am still fighting for this book to become a reality.

Brittle Paper

You’re completely right about the niche areas that African and diasporic writers are given, and even then there are more factions you have to write about in order to gain notoriety. While I hope this changes very soon, it’s wonderful to see you contributing to a space and discourse that is so often overlooked.

In your poem, “Silent Genocide,” it ends with:

There is a chant with just a few lines sung by citizens turned into overnight soldiers
It goes: “My mother gave birth to me / I was born to die.”
But, their hymn can only be heard by birds as it crosses
The battlefield and makes its way to the heavens.

Every line of your poem is powerful and stays with you long after you’ve read it, and I’m sure every piece in this collection will do the same. I wanted to know if there is an excerpt from the collection that you could share with us.

Laurène Southe

What I can do is offer a recommendation which is the documentary from which this passage was inspired, Stomping Out Rebellion in Dr Congo by VICE News. Also, “Cast from the Motherland” took shape when I watched this documentary called Becoming a man among the borana by SLICE. There is this specific scene at the market where different tribes with their different attires come together to buy goods off each other. Whenever I watch this, it makes me think that this is how it must have been before everything went downhill.

Brittle Paper

Thank you for recommending those documentaries!

Bringing us back to your work, something that I absolutely love is the Launch Event you’re having for your book. I haven’t seen such a wonderfully curated event in a while. You’re having a panel discussion on the humanitarian crises in Eastern Congo, there is a reading of your work, a Q&A with the audience, and then a DJ set being streamed from the Ivory Coast! The planning committee has outdone themselves!

Laurène Southe

You know, what I’ve learned from this process is as long as you have the means, the space or the time, then everything else, you can do by yourself. However, what you really must ensure is that you have enough trust in yourself. As much as it may sound impeccable, a lot initially was trimmed down, and so, from the outside looking in, it must look grandiose, but from where I’m coming from, it is a watered-down version from what I truly intended. When you do not have trust in yourself, you end up limiting your own vision. And then, while you’re seeking for new pairing eyes as a result, they also come with their own set of limitations, which is to be expected as you may know for those who’ve been funded before and/or have collaborated with different entities. Just like I was offered the space and time before to complete the book, I was also offered the means for its launch. But really, similar to having to write the book for it to be complete, the same needs to be done for a launch to be successful. So, for the past 5 to 6 months, I have been working restlessly from every angle imaginable for this event to occur.

On a positive note, there are new skills I obtained or already had but wasn’t aware of. There is a lot I needed to learn from services, formatting, rollouts to the very book evening itself. Everything is new to me and I come from a place without mentors in this particular field, without access and most importantly, the knowledge to execute this idea. By fate and the prayers of my family back home are the only reason this book launch is still standing today.

Brittle Paper

That is remarkable, Laurène! The fact that you’ve not only created this amazing collection but also worked so ardently to organise and prepare the launch is truly impressive! I cannot wait to see what an amazing success it will be!

So, the launch event will be hosted by the Vienna African Writers Club which is also the club you used to attend when you were a teenager, right? It’s so beautiful that the place that you explored writing in is going to host your book launch! I’m sure they are very proud of you and it seems like you have a wonderful support system with them.

Any space for African writers or BIPOC writers is needed and important, but especially in countries such as Austria. How did the club and being in that space help you nurture your craft?

Laurène Southe

So, the Vienna African Writers Club is hosting the event and there are funders involved as well. We have Afri-Eurotext book stores who are not only part of the panel, but also responsible for the book sales within the region and also international shipping. Furthermore, Fondation La Grande, a panelist and distributor of information concerning how best to support the Congo crisis. Not to mention, my sister politician, Mireille Ngosso, who is part of the panel and who was very instrumental in spreading the word, and also, my loving mother who will be providing the Congolese cuisine for the night. I’m always grateful for any sort of help I can receive, especially from people who do not know me but want to back a good cause.

The club had different organizers than it does now, but I’m still happy that such spaces exist, especially here in Austria where safe spaces for Africans and BIPOC people are very scarce. When I was young, it was good just to have another reason to get out of the house beside school. Honestly, I always felt out of place even in these types of gatherings because you’re mostly surrounded by scholars and university students, which is a background I do not come from and as an introvert, living in a society that is already close minded, it makes it even harder to open up and be part of a club.

What I will say is one thing I have learned from time at this club is courage. Courage to stand in front of people you do not know, courage to tell your personal story without fear of being judged, and most importantly, the courage to stay! To have to tell yourself, you know, I’m going to go through this and focus on the end goal no matter how outcast and alien it feels, and someday, this will all make sense.

Brittle Paper

You might have learned how to nurture your courage from the club but it sounds like you were already courageous for stepping into that space in the first place, especially as a teenager!

I saw that you recently did an interview with Friends of the Congo! Their platform is one of my favourites and they do such an amazing job of keeping people informed, educating people on the historical contexts of the current climate, and raising funds for the community. I also can’t think of a better place to talk about the work you do and the urgent need for collections such as yours.

Are there any other platforms dedicated to speaking out on what is going on in DRC, or that are just valuable spaces for activism anywhere in the world, that you would like to share? And since we are a literary space, are there any books about DRC or by Congolese writers that you would recommend? Books that are either for the cause or just brilliant books by a writer worth mentioning?

Laurène Southe

Wow! The word goes around fast! You know, a week before the latest Eastern Congo invasion by primarily Rwandan rebel groups, I had spoken with the chief of Friends of the Congo, and we were discussing starting initiatives to strengthen the self-esteem of young Congolese and encourage literacy in Congolese communities. As I always say, if we don’t write our own stories, who will write it for us? Unfortunately, we both know how the following week ended… At this point, I don’t even know if it would be possible to partner with the charity in Goma to actualise the project I had proposed.

Without a doubt, Friends of the Congo is the best platform to educate oneself about Eastern Congo and its humanitarian crisis and also, perhaps one of the few organizations that truly put in the work behind the scenes as well. Ensuring the safety, the development and funds for Congolese individuals within and outside of the country. When it comes to Congolese authors, the first and only person I have in mind is Fiston Mwanza Mujila. He is actually another Congolese author also based in Austria, but in Graz. He is also one of the figures in the literary world who genuinely helped throughout the process of this book once it was complete. Of course, I could share more but these are the folks that I know and have seen what they are capable of.

Brittle Paper

So, you mentioned the invasion in Eastern Congo. The daily updates coming out of the region and surrounding areas have been incredibly heartbreaking and, because of the lack of support and awareness, it has also been incredibly frustrating. If you don’t mind me asking, how are the people and loved ones you know in DRC been coping?

Laurène Southe

It’s funny because a day before the invasion began, we had a family reunion and the point of it was to start the year with brand new eyes, share our goals for this year and ideas on how we can better our situation. When I’m telling you that the massacre came so unexpectedly, it really did. So much so that I have two cousins still in the city, trapped and without routes to escape. I don’t think you have truly felt helplessness until all communication is blocked with your relatives and you do not know if they are still alive or not. Nobody prepares you for this level of cruelty, and by the grace of God, they have managed to survive without food for almost a week. However, what happens now when all flights are shut down, no jobs, limited facilities, every road is unsafe, and threats by these savages every day of the week? You can’t even fall asleep without the fear that someone may bark in and try to steal your belongings or steal you! This is the reality of my cousins’ lives and many innocent Congolese citizens now. Overnight, their lives have turned from survival to a living nightmare.

This made me reflect, we don’t talk about that enough, you know, after the destruction. In some shape or form, the aftermath is worse than the massacre itself. The dead cannot think, they cannot speak and don’t have to witness the evil under the sun anymore. However, the survivors are very much still in the belly of the beast, and as if life wasn’t already hard before, now you got to find ways to fill up your stomach with the bullet sounds in your head that you heard blazing for several nights, the corpses you saw in the streets and the trauma that comes from almost escaping death. There are a lot of African publications, organizations and leaders who are deciding to remain silent. I think we’re entering a very dark era of the world and if we do not stick together now, there is little chance we will make it through tomorrow.

As long as Congo is not free, the entire African continent will never be free. They may not see it now, but they will feel it later. A body cannot function without its heart pumping blood through its vessels.

Brittle Paper

I’m incredibly sorry that your loved ones are going through this, and that you carry this heavy worry every day. I cannot agree more with your final statements. No one is free until every one is free, and Africa will never be free without Congo being free. DRC deserves far more than what the continents’ leaders and the AU are currently doing and I pray that change and peace come soon.

Before we end, Laurène, do you have any final words you’d like to share with us?

Laurène Southe

You know, a Rwandan man told me, and I’m paraphrasing here, “my neighbour’s problem today will be mine tomorrow.” I had only met him once by coincidence in a Paris bus station, yet this is the stranger who gave my cousins their first meal after almost a week in hiding. I would urge for the rest of the African continent not only to see this matter as a Congolese concern, but an African affair. Whether it is a simple post to spread awareness, a protest in your local region, a donation to Congo through an organization, a lyric, a thought, a poem – when Ukraine was under attack, the entire Europe came to its defence. When Gaza was attacked, the entire muslim community came to its defence. I believe it is about time that the African continent did the same.

Brittle Paper

I wholeheartedly and emphatically second that. We cannot afford to waste another second without doing everything we can to help and protect Congo and its people.

Laurène, this has been quite a heavy interview, and I appreciate you sharing your time and powerful words with us. Brittle Paper is so excited and proud of the collection, Child of Congo, and for all the work you’ve put in to make this happen. I can’t wait to see how the launch goes!

 

 

Readers worldwide can acquire Child of Congo through AFRIEUROTEXT bookstore: Purchase Details