Gaëlle Bélem | „The Rarest Fruit“ – Reading

In her novel biography, Gaëlle Bélem tells the story of the Creole slave Edmond Albius, who lived on the French-colonised Île Bourbon in the 19th century and achieved amazing things: At the age of 12, he invented a process for pollinating vanilla, which was subsequently cultivated all over the world and celebrated as the most popular of all flavours.

The author, who has won awards for her colourful and humorous language and the authenticity of her characters, focuses on the history of her homeland, La Réunion. It was characterised by racism and the oppression of black people, whose talents and successes were systematically denied. Edmond is their representative: Many became rich from the rarest fruit, he died in poverty.

Julia Braun will conduct the conversation with the author in French and translate it into German. Gudrun Honke will read excerpts from the novel.

Gaëlle Bélem, born in 1984 in Saint-Benoit on La Réunion, is a French author, teacher and journalist. Her debut novel „Un monstre est là, derrière la porte“ was awarded the Grand Prix du Roman Métis, and its English translation was longlisted for the International Booker Prize 2025. „The Rarest Fruit“ was included in the New York Times‘ list of the 100 most important books of 2025. Gaëlle Bélem lives and works on La Réunion and explores the social realities and cultural identity of her homeland in her works.

Julia Braun studied literary translation, Romance studies and cultural studies in Düsseldorf, Martinique and La Réunion, specialising in Creole literatures.

Gudrun Honke is an editor and translator of African literature. She has translated novels by Hemley Boum, Patrice Nganang, Scholastique Mukasonga and Bessora, among others, from French.

The book can be purchased at the event.

An event organised by the Fritz Bauer Forum.