This is Kinda How It All Went Down…

  • A razor-sharp "Road-Novella" and a profound exploration of systemic racism and intergenerational trauma in Germany.    
  • Ingeborg Bachmann Prize (2016) for Herr Gröttrup setzt sich hin


English sample translation available

"I would like to claim that I regret it, but that would be a lie."



They are on their way to the German beach town Timmendorfer Strand: Amata Haller and her boss Heinz Brockhaus, who offered to drive her there. Amata is in a hurry; her mother is waiting, as every year on May 3rd. For this day marks the anniversary of the sinking of the "Cap Arcona," the catastrophe towards the end of World War II that her grandfather barely survived. The heat presses on the overcrowded streets, the drive gets longer and longer, Brockhaus talks incessantly, and Amata loses her composure. At the end of the day, Brockhaus will no longer be alive, and months later Amata will stand trial.

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Previous titles: US (Riverhead) | UK (MacLehose) | EG (Arabic) (Aser Al-Kotob) | I (Enne Enne) | JP (Hakusuisha) | NL (Signatuur) | SLO (Beletrina) | TR (Serenad) | BR (Editora Record)


  • Publisher: S. FISCHER
  • Release: 29.04.2026
  • ISBN: 978-3-10-397705-9
  • 144 Pages
  • Author: Sharon Dodua Otoo
Buchcover von This is Kinda How It All Went Down…: Roman
Sharon Dodua Otoo This is Kinda How It All Went Down…
Portrait von Sharon Dodua Otoo
© Francis Oghuma
Sharon Dodua Otoo

Sharon Dodua Otoo (*1972 in London) is a writer and political activist. She writes prose and essays and edits the English-language book series Witnessed (edition assemblage). In 2016, she was awarded the Ingeborg Bachmann Prize for "Herr Gröttrup setzt sich hin". Otoo is politically engaged in the Schwarze Menschen in Deutschland e.V., Phoenix e.V. initiative, and is connected with the Schwarzen queer-feministischen Verein ADEFRA.  "Adas Raum", her first novel, was published by S. Fischer Verlag in 2021 and has been translated into many languages. She lives with her family in Berlin. 
Literature Prizes:
Ingeborg-Bachmann-Prize 2016