Nigerian Fashion Influencer Denola Grey Announces Children’s Book Titled The...
Denola Grey is a Nigerian fashion influencer turned writer. His debut book is titled Moonseeker and tells the story of a boy named Ara. Grey shared the news on Instagram, stating that “The Moonseker is...
View ArticleSouth African Magazine New Contrast Releases New Issue
New Contrast is a literary magazine featuring South African writing. It was established in 1960. It’s 194th issue is available for literary magazine lovers out there. For just 5 USD you can read some...
View ArticleIf an Egyptian Cannot Speak English by Noor Naga is a Dark Romance Set in Cairo
Egyptian writer Noor Naga’s debut novel, If an Egyptian Cannot Speak English, is coming out through Graywolf Press. The book manuscript was selected by Nigerian novelist Igoni Barret to win the 2019...
View ArticleMukoma wa Ngugi and Lizzy Attree Discuss Kiswahili Science Fiction
Earlier this year in March, the Mabati-Cornell Kiswahili Prize launched the The Nyabola Prize for Science Fiction. Writers between the ages of 18 and 35 were invited to submit sci-fi and speculative...
View ArticleLove, Romance, and Immigration in Yejide Kilanko’s A Good Name
What I have always loved about Yejide Kilanko’s writing is the familiarity of her fictional worlds. Her characters are never distant or holier than thou. She creates them from what Wole Soyinka calls...
View ArticleIn Search of a Language for Grief: Review of Chimamanda Adichie’s Notes on Grief
Adichie lost her father last year on June 10. He had struggled with a long-term kidney disease and eventually died of kidney failure. She publicly shared the crushing pain of this loss in a series of...
View ArticleSee Photos from African Books Festival in Berlin Curated by Angolan Writer...
The African Book Festival took place in Berlin on July 16 and 17 at the Openair Kino in Rehberge. The event, which was supposed to have taken place last year, was postponed due to COVID-19...
View ArticleWhat Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o Taught Me About the Power of Language to Transform...
1 “Language…has a dual character: it is both a means of communication and a carrier of culture,” writes Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o in contemplating why language is powerful. The power of a language does not...
View ArticleExcerpt: An Island by Karen Jennings #2021BookerLonglist
It was the first time that an oil drum had washed up on the scattered pebbles of the island shore. Other items had arrived over the years – ragged shirts, bits of rope, cracked lids from plastic...
View ArticleWorlds Beyond the Realities of Oppression: Review of Surfacing — On Being...
I think of this book as a little feminist utopia, not because it holds up unrealistic representations of the world but because it presents the lives of women as beautiful complexities. This is how you...
View ArticleExcerpt: Our Ghosts Were Once People: Stories On Death and Dying edited by...
12 For weeks I cannot sleep. My mother asks, ‘What kind of child can’t sleep?’ I am ashamed of my anxiety. Her judgement doesn’t help. I lie awake, nearly every night, worrying about the fact that one...
View ArticleWhat E. C. Osondu is Reading
Nigerian author E. C. Osondu is the featured author in our series on what African writers are reading. Osondu, a Caine Prize and Pushcart Prize winning author, teaches creative writing at Providence...
View ArticleRofhiwa Book Café Delights Readers with Books and Coffee | Interview with...
Two South African residents in the United States are delighting book lovers with a shop full of books by black authors paired with delicious coffee and pastries. Rofhiwa Book Café was launched this...
View ArticleThe South African Book Development Council Shuts Down
The South African Book Development Council (SABDC) has been shut down. For 19 years, the organization was “committed to increasing access to books in South Africa, and to showcasing, strengthening and...
View ArticleEVENT | Brittle Paper Instagram Live with Buki Papillon
We will be hosting Nigerian author Buki Papillon on our We Turn To Books Instalive series. Papillon’s debut novel An Ordinary Wonder was published a couple of weeks ago on September 7. The first ever...
View ArticleMukoma wa Ngugi and Lizzy Attree Discuss Kiswahili Science Fiction
Earlier this year in March, the Mabati-Cornell Kiswahili Prize launched the The Nyabola Prize for Science Fiction. Writers between the ages of 18 and 35 were invited to submit sci-fi and speculative...
View ArticleLove, Romance, and the Immigrant Experience in Yejide Kilanko’s A Good Name
What I have always loved about Yejide Kilanko’s writing is the familiarity of her fictional worlds. Her characters are never distant or holier-than-thou. She creates them from what Wole Soyinka calls...
View ArticleLove and Blackness Beyond A History of Violence: Review of Maryse Condé’s...
Dreams are truer than reality. You know full well that only dreams come true. *** The novel starts out late at night with a dream and thundering rainfall, followed by a pregnant woman dying in a pool...
View ArticleMarlon James Reveals Why the Moon Witch, Spider King is not Your Typical Sequel
We have some information about the highly anticipated second book of Marlon James’ Dark Star trilogy. It is titled Moon Witch, Spider King and comes out next year on February 15. We also know that the...
View ArticleExcerpt: Black Boy Joy edited by Kwame Mbalia
There’s Going to Be a Fight in the Cafeteria on Friday and You Better Not Bring Batman By Lamar Giles **Batman (perma-banned)** Spider-Man Captain America Superman War Machine Wonder Woman Thor Iron...
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