We ended last year with the delightful news that a group of organizations had collaborated to distribute Chimamanda Adichie’s feminist chapbook to every 16 year old in Sweeden. [Click here if you missed it.]
Here is yet another good news in the same vein. Nnedi Okorafor announced on Facebook a few days ago that the United Bank for Africa has committed to distributing 24,000 copies of the Nigerian edition of Akata Witch—retitled as What Sunny Saw in the Flames—in 9 African countries. “I’m still breathless with glee about this amazing development,” she writes.
This is huge for several reasons. With a bulk purchase of this kind, Okorafor and her publishers are certainly smiling to the bank. We are always so happy for African novelists when they receive a well-deserved financial reward for the beautiful work they produce.
This kind of corporate sponsorship also means that the community of stakeholders connected to the African literary industry is expanding. We need corporations, especially the technology sector, to understand the value of the work we do and invest accordingly.
Congrats to Okorafor and the Cassava Republic team for snagging such a juicy deal.
When we get more details about the partnership, we will update you.
Se acaba el año y echamos la vista atrás, con | ONG AFRICANDO SOLIDARIDAD CON AFRICA February 18, 2017 15:20
[…] United Bank for Africa distribuía el libro de Nnedi Okorafor “Akata witch” en 9 países africanos. Los de Casa África hablaban con Roukiatou Bâ sobre su trabajo a la hora de digitalizar y preservar el legado de su padre, el escritor y etnólogo maliense Amadou Hampâté Bâ, dejándonos un interesante documento entorno a la “digitalización, crowdsourcing y preservación de la memoria”. Mientras, Safia Elhillo, una poeta sudanesa-americana, ganaba el 2016 Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets. Y el escritor Ousmane Diarra afirmaba que “El extremismo islámico ya existía en el siglo XIX en Mali”. […]