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Five #StayAtHome Baking Projects Inspired by African Novels

Though lockdown orders have started to lift in certain areas, COVID-19 shows no signs of stopping any time soon. Our advice? Stay at home and try your hand at these baking projects inspired by some of our favorite African novels. Below, we’ve selected a handful of quotes that describe a particular sweet and provided a […]

Statement: African Authors Sans Frontieres in Solidarity with African-Americans

As African writers without borders who are connected beyond geography with those who live in the United States of America and other parts of the African diaspora, we state that we condemn the acts of violence on Black people in the United States of America. We note in dismay that what Malcolm X said in […]

Dawn of Darkness | by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o | Poetry

Knowing we are currently in a pandemic, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o graciously wrote this poem and would like it to be shared widely. We hope it brings you comfort. The poem was written on March 23, 2020. Read it and share! *** I know, I know, It threatens the common gestures of human bonding The handshake, […]

Celebrating Mariama Bâ | “The Flavor of Life is Love”

Bâ would’ve been the grand old age of 91 today. She is best known for her epistolary novel SO LONG A LETTER (UNE SI LONGUE LETTRE), published in 1979. The novel, which critiques polygamous practices, won the first Noma Award for Publishing in Africa. However, less than a year after accepting the prize and giving […]

The Dissolving Center of Achebe’s Things Fall Apart? — Watch Episode 4 of Prof. Ato Quayson’s Vlog

The fourth episode of Professor Ato Quayson’s vlog Critic.Reading.Writing is up! In this week’s episode, the Professor dives into the classic Things Fall Apart (1958) by Chinua Achebe. The title of the episode is “The Dissolving Center” in which Quayson traces the narrative decentralization of Okonkwo’s household and his status as a cultural representative of […]

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Features, News August 5, 2020

Namwali Serpell to Join Harvard English Department as Full Professor

Namwali Serpell announced on Twitter this week that she will be joining the Harvard English Department as Full Professor of English in Fall 2021. Serpell worked previously as Professor of English at University of California-Berkley where she began teaching in 2008. Her academic career is marked by numerous journal publications and three books of […]

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Features, Lit Scene August 5, 2020

Check Out Mona Eltahawy’s Major New Look!

American-Egyptian journalist, activist, and feminist Mona Eltahawy has a brand new look. Earlier this year, the author of Seven Necessary Sins for Women and Girls chopped her signature flaming red locks down to a buzzcut. She shared the new hairdo on Instagram, explaining why: “to say ‘Stay the fuck home so that the most vulnerable […]

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Features, Lit Scene, News August 3, 2020

Scholarship and Mentorship Opportunity with Ellah P. Wakatama OBE (Open to Black British Writers)

Scholarship and Mentorship Opportunity with Ellah P. Wakatama (1)

The Literary Consultancy (TLC) has launched a new scholarship aimed at providing “writers on low-income and/or from communities currently under-represented in publishing” with editorial mentorship and year-long access to TLC’s Chapter and Verse mentorship program. The 2020 scholarship is open exclusively to Black British writers and includes the mentorship of none other than Ellah P. […]

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Features, News August 3, 2020

Watch Joseph Adesunloye’s Documentary Film on The AKO Caine Prize

A few weeks ago, the AKO Caine Prize organizers announced that the award dinner held at the British Library will not hold this year due to pandemic conditions. As an alternative, they commissioned British-Nigerian filmmaker Joseph Adesunloye to make a film celebrating the five shortlisted writers and highlighting the impact of the prize on African […]

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Features, Lit Scene, News August 3, 2020

Two African Writers Featured in Beyoncé’s Black Is King Visual Album

Yrsa Daley-Ward and Warsan Shire's Poetry Featured in Beyoncé's Black Is King Visual Album (1)

Beyoncé’s new visual album Black Is King is making waves, but the exciting part is that there are two African writers at the heart of the project. Warsan Shire’s poetry is featured while Yrsa Daley-Ward is one of the writers of the film. This is the third time that Beyoncé is featuring African writers in […]

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Features August 3, 2020

Ethiopian Author Mihret Sibhat’s Signs Book Deal for Debut Novel The History of a Difficult Child

Ethiopian author Mihret Sibhat’s debut novel The History of a Difficult Child, about “a girl child contending with familial & political upheaval in a small Ethiopian town in the 1980s,” will be published by Viking Press in 2022. Publishers Makertplace reports that the novel was sold to Allison Lorentzen at Viking by Ayesha Pande at […]

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Features, News August 3, 2020

Idza Luhumyo Wins Inaugural Margaret Busby New Daughters of Africa Award

Idza Luhumyo was recently announced as the winner of the inaugural Margaret Busby New Daughters of Africa Award. The award had been launched in 2019 in conjunction with the publication of New Daughters of Africa, edited by Margaret Busby. Worth £20,000, it is offered to a black, female student ordinarily resident in Africa and covers […]

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