Vamba Sherif is a writer, essayist, film critic, and lecturer in African literature at Leiden University. His work has been translated into multiple languages, including English, French, German, Spanish, Polish, and Indian Malayalam.
Sherif has contributed journalism, essays, short stories, film reviews, columns, and opinion pieces to publications such as The New York Times, Kulturaustausch (Germany), African Writing, Trouw, Volkskrant, NRC, and ZAM Magazine.
Together with Ebissé Rouw, he co-edited Zwart (Black), an anthology showcasing Afro-European literature from the Low Countries. His memoir, Ongekende liefde, tells his life story in the form of letters to his ten-year-old daughter, Bendu. In 2023, he co-edited De komeet with Martijn Lindeboom, a collection of speculative fiction. His novel The Emperor’s Son (Iskanchi Press, 2024) was previously published in Dutch as De Zwarte Napoleon (De Geus, 2015). He recently finished his latest novel Mama Benz.
Books
Mama Benz ( recently finished 2026)
The Migrant (non-fiction, wip 2026)
The Emperor’s Son (Iskanchi Press (US), 2024)
De Zwarte Napoleon (De Geus (NL), 2015)