Large Language: An Afro-Queer Hallucination
Lecture Performance and Reading by Logan February
In Cooperation with Literaturhaus Bonn.
This lecture is a poetic treatise on truth, oral history and the disruptive role of the written word in fabricating contemporary Afro-queer identity. Drawing on the metaphor of "hallucination" in language-based AI models, the poet explores invention, falsehood, cultural claim, and myth-making as productive tensions connecting an indigenous past to a cosmopolitan future. At stake is the question: how do struggles between creator, creation and culture influence the legitimacy—and futurity—of queer African belonging?
As the opening event of the conference Temporalities and Power: Oppression, Resistance, Justice, Logan February will present a specially developed lecture performance titled Large Language: An Afro-Queer Hallucination, followed by a reading of poems from the collection Mental Voodoo.
Logan February is a Nigerian poet and multidisciplinary artist whose work explores desire, psychospirituality, and Afro-queer identity. Their poetry collections include In The Nude (Ouida Poetry, 2019) and Mental Voodoo (Poesie Dekolonie/Engeler Verlag, 2024). Their short film, Thrall, was an official selection at the 2025 ZEBRA Poetry Film Festival. February received the Future Awards Africa Prize for Literature and has been a fellow of the DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program, among others. Presently a poet-in-residence at the Humboldt Forum, Logan February lives in Berlin.
Infobox
Wednesday, 19 November 2025
7-9 p.m.
Literaturhaus Bonn, Bottlerplatz 1, 53111 Bonn
Organisation
Theresa Gutmann, Johann Born-Haberlah, Marie Kallenberg, Sophie Modert, Leandra Ossege und Peri Sipahi
Film and photo reference
The Research Training Group may take photographs and make audio recordings during the event, which will be published as part of its public relations work on the internet, in print media and on social media channels. By participating in the event, participants agree to the taking of photographs and audio recordings, as well as their storage and publication. Please speak to our photographers and organisers on site if you do not wish to be photographed or recorded.