Ugandan writer Doreen Baingana was previously nominated for the Caine Prize for African Writing, twice. Now, she is the Chairperson of FEMRITE, a Ugandan women writers’ association. An Indian publication, The Caravan, recently published her interesting new short story, Gorging. According to its official website, The Caravan is ”devoted to narrative journalism” and has “a commitment to [...]
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Kopano Matlwa is a South Africa medical doctor and author. While studying Medicine at the University of Cape Town, she wrote her first novel, Coconut, which was published in 2007. Her debut novel is one that confronts uncomfortable issues facing youth in the post-Apartheid era. It is a thorough and somewhat disturbing commentary on life [...]
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Chris Abani is a Nigerian author and poet. He has won many awards for his work including the PEN Hemingway book prize for GraceLand. The sprawling, swampy, cacophonous city of Lagos, Nigeria, provides the backdrop to the story of Elvis, a teenage Elvis impersonator hoping to make his way out of the ghetto. Broke, beset [...]
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If you are in need of some inspiration. This book will be where you find it! When he was only 14 years old, William Kamkwamba dreamt up a windmill that would produce electricity for his village in Malawi. William had read about windmills in a book called Using Energy, and he dreamed of building one [...]
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In 2005, Taiye Selasi (then known as Taiye Tuakli- Wosornu) wrote an essay in which she coined the now very popular term afropolitan. The essay dealt with the complexities of diasporic life and the meaning of home. The essay is called Bye-Bye Babar (Or: What is An Afropolitan?) if you are interested in reading it. In her first novel, Ghana [...]
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In the sequel to his world famous Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe tells the story of Obi Okonkwo whose foreign education has separated him from his African roots and made him part of a ruling elite whose corruption he finds repugnant. Available here
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Chinua Achebe offers observations on the challenges of political life in this 1987 work of fiction that could be about any post independence African nation. In the fictional West African nation Kangan, newly independent of British rule, the hopes and dreams of democracy have been quashed by a fierce military dictatorship. Chris Oriko is a [...]
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Polygamy is recognized as legal under either civil law or customary law in many countries across the continent although the prevalence of Polygamy in Africa is said to have seen a marked decline in the past 40 years. Some view women in polygamous marriages as victims of socio-economic pressures, others point to the exposure to [...]
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Synopsis “Mireille, daughter of a French Diplomat, Ousmane, son of a poor Muslim family in Senegal: Two childhood sweethearts forced to share their love in secret. Their marriage shocks and dismays both sets of parents, but it soon becomes clear that their youthful optimism and love is a poor defense against the pressures of society. [...]
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Restless Nation is William Gumede’s (author of Thabo Mbeki and the Battle for the Soul of the ANC) collection of opinion pieces on the political landscape of South Africa. With all the controversy surrounding the ongoing strike at Lonmin’s Marikana Mine, questions of the country’s leadership and what this all means for South Africa’s future; [...]
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Bobo Omotayo after spending years in the United Kingdom moved back to Nigeria. Using the nom de plume, ‘The Renaissance Man’, Bobo wrote a column on the popular Nigerian website, Bella Naija. London Life, Lagos Living is essentially an expansion of this column. It documents his experiences – work, life, love and social circles in [...]
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The House of Hunger is Dambudzo Marechera’s most popular work. The book was published in 1978 and won the British newspaper, The Guardian’s Fiction Prize in that same year. House of Hunger is a collection of nine short stories that focus on township life in Zimbabwe(then Rhodesia) under the rule of Ian Smith. Marechera [...]
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