Tongentaal

Tuly Salumu received a grant to develop new work. Tongentaal is a psychological novel about Nico and Safi, a couple who, after years together, find themselves at a breaking point. Safi, a Flemish-Congolese language teacher in Ghent, grapples with mental vulnerability and the question of how to interpret it: through Western therapy or Congolese spirituality. In the opening scene, she lies sleepless beside Nico, consumed by anxiety about what lies ahead. When he threatens to leave her, she befriends her neighbor Ariane, who, through the book Don Quixote, invites her on a quest for love. Safi seeks help from a therapist, reconnects with her religious mother, and explores the seven phases of Arabic love. What begins as an attempt to save her relationship evolves into a search for identity, desire, and the stories that shape her.

Tuly is a novelist and journalist. Her debut Bintje, centered on themes of love, domestic violence, racism, addiction, and motherhood, was published in 2023 and praised by national newspapers De Standaard and De Morgen. Tuly is also an essayist and columnist. Her essay Gezocht: de zwarte genen van mijn witte zoon was nominated for the Joost Zwagerman Essay Prize. She is currently working on her second book, a novel exploring romance, religion, and neurodiversity. In 2025, Tuly was selected for the European CELA program.