Do you know that we are currently in a literary renaissance? Yes, we are! Black writers all over the world have stopped asking the literary industry to diversify and have started steamrolling these gatekeepers. African writers have been at the forefront of this movement. They have been pushing the very white and western-centered literary industry into the new dawn. All through January, beginning on the 10th, Brittle Paper and Brown Girl Book Lover will join forces to celebrate 9 emerging writers selected for their boundary pushing work in African writing.

These writers are South African novelist Thenjiwe Sibongiseni Mswane, British-Sierra Leonian Memuna Konteh, Namibian novelist and editor Rémy Ngamije, Cameroonian novelist Nana Nkweti, South African poet and visual artist Meghan Ross, Nigerian speculative fiction writer Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki, Motswana science fiction writer Tlotlo Tsamaase, and Kenyan author Ciku Kimera.

We want to introduce readers to these new voices on the rise and celebrate their ongoing literary contributions. Some of these writers have published their first book and some of them are on the way to publication. All their voices are valid, unique, and shows why Africa is the cradle of storytelling.

We are honored to work with Brown Girl Book Lover, a platform dedicated to fostering reading communities centered on black books and writers. The platform was founded by brilliant culture curator Leslie-Ann Murray, a fiction writer from Trinidad & Tobago. She created Brown Girl Book Lover where she interviews diverse writers and reviews books that should be at the forefront of our imagination. In addition to being widely published, Leslie-Ann has taught creative writing in France, Trinidad and Tobago, South Africa, China, and New York City.

Those of you looking to expand your reading experience and discover new authors, stay tuned for our weekly feature on these writers and their work. To ensure you are not missing out on anything, follow @brittlepaper and @browngirlbooklover on Instagram.