For this edition of the series Overcoming the Present, which is now also part of the festival What Would James Baldwin Do? A Festival for the 100th Birthday, Max Czollek talks to cultural journalist and author René Aguigah about his recently published book James Baldwin: Der Zeuge. Ein Portrait. Aguigah’s essayistic book sets out in search of what Baldwin, one of the most important writers of the twentieth century, contributed to the act of overcoming our present. At the core are questions about the relationship between being an artist and activism, the tension between literature and politics, and the mediation between advocacy for minorities and a universalist horizon of action. Baldwin, who knew hatred so well, held on to love in his novels and essays. Aguigah portrays him as a witness to a time of violence and injustice that still exists today; as well as a hope that things will get better, whose story expands into the present.

After Theater of Reconciliation, the second edition of the discussion series organized by Max Czollek is dedicated to the issue of Overcoming the Present. The focus lies on events and phenomena of the present and the question of how the past reflects in them. Max Czollek meets people who seek to understand many of the current crises and find answers to them: How to deal with the climate crisis, the expanding wars, the continuity of right-wing politics and violence? How to cope with feelings of grief, despair, and anger? What role does civil society play in dealing with conflicts? And how stressable are alliances for a collaboration in exceptional situations?

René Aguigah, born in Würzburg in 1974, is head of the literature desk at Deutschlandfunk and Deutschlandfunk Kultur. After studying history, philosophy, and journalism in Bochum and Dortmund, he worked as an editor for WDR radio and later for the magazine Literaturen. He served in a number of juries, such as for the Leipzig Book Fair Prize (2013–15), was a fellow at Thomas Mann House, Los Angeles (2023), and recently published the book James Baldwin. Der Zeuge. Ein Porträt [James Baldwin. The Witness. A Portrait, 2024]. Aguigah lives and works in Berlin.