The shortlist for the Caine Prize for African literature, one of the continents hottest short story awards, has just been announced. This is the fifteenth year of the prize that was initially welcomed universally although the universality has been in question in recent years. Some of the more famous previous recipients of the award have […]
South African author Lauren Beukes has slowly been taking over the “alternative” spaces in writing that many African writers aren’t famous for. Her first book Moxyland was a thriller about technological progress, and the freedoms it removes. Zoo City followed soon and this one is about a woman who finds things using her intuition. That […]
Book: Hour of the Red God/ The Honeyguide Author: Richard Crompton Publisher: Picador Year of publication: 2013 Number of pages: 290 Buy you own copy of Hour of the Red God: A Detective Mollel Novel There are a few legends of Kenyan policemen who love their jobs. In the 1990s, there was a famous traffic […]
Zimbabwean writer Noviolet Bulawayo was the winner of the inaugural Etisalat Prize for African Literature earlier this year for her book “We Need New Names.” Apart from the US$15,000 prize money she was also supposed to participate in a unique £10,000 fellowship to the winner of the Etisalat Prize for Literature lasting four months in […]
Book: Sarah House Author: Ifeanyi Ajaegbo Publisher: Picador Africa Publishing Date: 2012 Number of pages: 199 Modern day slavery. Not the old time version where human beings were grabbed on African coasts and sent to pick cotton or to farm sugar in the New World. This new slavery is a different animal. Anyone who have […]
The literature program of the Daystar University where students learn the business of writing called The Creatives Academy ended on Saturday after 12 weeks. It was one of the most innovative programs for students of literature in recent times in Kenya. Students were offered an opportunity to interact with professionals in writing thus learn how the […]
South African writer Thando Mgqolozana burst onto the African literary scene in 2009 with his debut novel A Man is Not A Man published by KZN. This novel spoke of a very African rite of passage circumcision and how it can go bad as the protagonist has his penis falling off after initiation when there […]
Kenyan authors Kinyanjui Kombani and Jason Kap Kirwok both published by Longhorn Publishers are set to launch their latest books together in Nairobi in a few days. Readers of this blog will know that I am a huge fan of Kinyanjui Kombani who has two titles to his name; The Last Villains of Molo and […]
Book: Tail of the Blue Bird Author: Nii Ayikwei Parkes Publisher: Flipped Eye Publishing Year of publication: 2009 Number of pages: 197 Buy your own copy of Tail of the Blue Bird Tail of the Blue Bird published by Flipped Eye publishing is the debut novel from Ghanaian poet and writer Nii Ayikwei Parkes. It […]
Africa39 a project celebrating the top 39 African writers under the age of 40 has announced its best at the London Book Fair today. The Africa39 project seeks to produce a possible snapshot of our shared African future. The unique part of the project is that it lists not just English but African languages with […]
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