As we mark the end of 2024, I wanted to shine a light on some of the highlights of the past twelve months! While some of these memorable moments include my role as a literary editor, the majority of what you are about to read is centred on the amazing writers I have come to know. A great perk of the job is getting to know and build relationships with wonderful writers and creatives! Over the years, I have come to know some inspiring writers who have all made 2024 their year. So, I felt it was only right to end the year by mentioning their accomplishments.

In February, I launched my literary consulting platform, Crafters Ink., and got the opportunity to work with some amazing writers, some of whom I met through Brittle Paper as well! Working with writers and helping them with their creative work is something I am incredibly passionate about and I hope 2025 allows me to work with even more amazing writers from our continent! So, if your new year’s resolution is to deal with that manuscript that’s been plaguing your dreams or polish off a story you want to publish, get in touch and see if a literary editor is what your work may need!

Now, to the part I am most excited about, let me introduce you to some of the phenomenal writers I know who have definitely excelled this year!

Fatah Barkad is a writer originally from Ethiopia and Djibouti but was born in Nederland, moved to France, and now lives in Belgium. Barkad is an incredibly talented writer who I met when I worked on his debut book, This Thing Called Life. It weaves together tales of his experiences of relationships, growing up without a father figure, and facing racism and discrimination as a black Muslim man in Europe, all while trying to find peace within himself. I highly recommend adding This Thing Called Life to your reading lists! Besides so many aspects being relatable, it is also just a fantastic read and so beautifully crafted. If I could, everyone I know would have a copy because Barkad’s book is something we all need to read. If not for merely hearing his story, then for emotions you will undeniably feel and relate to when sitting down with This Thing Called Life. 

Nteranya Sanginga is top of my list of writers I am glad I met this year. He is the kind of writer you want to always have in your community, because not only will he bring out the best in those around him, he will write the stories that will forever keep that community preserved. And if you need an example, you should without a doubt read his debut book, From Birthing Waters. BP readers already love short stories, so imagine having a collection of them, where every story is somehow intertwined with each other and you get to figure it out while also just enjoying a really well-told tale. The best part is that once you finish the collection, you get to embrace the good news that Sanginga is working on two more to make it a trilogy! Not only is it his debut book, but it is also the debut novel publication by Vert Publishing as well! So, we know who to thank for giving you more books to add to the shelf.

Tomilola Coco Adeyemo is a name that our BP readers are definitely familiar with but at this point, it seems the whole world is going to know her name too! After publishing her romance series, Efun’s Jazz, on BP in 2022, and allowing me the privilege to work with her on her romance novel, The Sugardaddy Chronicles in 2023, Adeyemo has gone and taken her author status to the next level! This year, she signed a book deal with Masobe and published her novel, A Very Gidi Christmas, just in time for the holidays! What is the festive season without a Christmas-themed rom-com? So, instead of putting on a feel-good Christmas movie this year, I very much suggest cracking open Adeyemo’s novel and settling in for a steamy and fun adventure.

Ibrahim Babátúndé Ibrahim is a writer I’m thankful I’ve got to work with because no one is more wholesome and supportive than him! I’m hoping you’ll join me in giving him his flowers because this year, Ibrahim became the Managing Editor of the JAY Lit and has since repositioned the platform. He co-edited Witsprouts’ Love Grows Stronger in Death anthology alongside Basit Jamiu, a collection of beautiful stories on love and longing amidst grief and loss. On the writing front, Ibrahim’s work got selected for the Best Small Fictions Anthology and won the Creative Future Writer’s Award, the UK’s only national competition for under-represented writers. The latter made him a headlining act at Southbank’s London Literature Festival, after which he headlined Port Harcourt Poetry Festival and Abuja International Poetry Festival. Ibrahim is such a talented and beautiful soul, and I don’t doubt that if I do this post every year, I will always have exciting news to share about him!

Salimah Valiani is the epitome of a diasporic writer as she has made homes all over the world, reflecting her connections to different places and its people in her work. In 2024, she published another collection of poetry, IGoli EGoli, which was published by Botstotso. The Joburg launch of IGoli EGoli was held earlier this year at the historic Trevor Huddleston Museum, one of two houses left undestroyed during the home demolitions and forced removals in Sophiatown, in the late 1950s. An award-winning poet and writer, Valiani does a remarkable job at crafting so many fragments of Johannesburg into one collection. Her poems weave together every aspect of the city, from migrancy, love, history, and colonial and indigenous trees, all the way to the people found in our streets and our textbooks.

Aanuoluwapo Adesina is a writer I became friends with very early on at BP. He was one of the first artists to be featured as Writer of the Month and every time we catch up, he has undertaken another brilliant creative venture. Adesina recently completed an MFA at Butler University which included writing a fiction manuscript. Not only is this a big achievement but it is also his second Master’s degree. The first included him travelling to Cuba to write a creative manuscript on the role of women in slave rebellions in Cuba. Now, back in Nigeria after 6 years, he is working on producing a novella about his research in Cuba by including Badagry as it has historical links to the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. To top it off, his publication, Olugbon Review which launched in 2023, is set to release its second issue!

Shameelah Khan is a South African academic, writer, editor, and absolutely brilliant filmmaker! I’m lucky to have known Khan for many years, including our time running Odd Magazine. This year, she took on many amazing projects. The first is a documentary about her cultural exchange to Finland 10 years ago. She returned to Finland where she and her co-director Olga Pemberton, filmed their experiences and the people they had met to see where their lives are now. Her exhibition, “Watering the Pilgrims,” in collaboration with artist Sana Ginwalla, as part of the Beyond Belonging Exhibition in India at the Stranger’s Gallery, features a 35-piece mixed-media collage exploration of her grand-aunt, Rasool, the first South African woman to own a travel agency and took hundreds of people on pilgrimage. The exhibition also travelled to the Dakar Bienalle. While this all sounds amazing, it is even more impressive when you realise Khan did all of this while completing her second MA where she made a shower AR film, Hajar’s Well, as part of her research which recentres Hajar, a key historical figure.

Nande T. S. Kamati is a Namibian writer who was BPs August Writer of the Month! He has written some amazing and inspirational children’s stories, a couple of which we were lucky to publish. Earlier this year, the Namibian news broadcaster, NBC Digital News, invited Kamati to talk about his feature as WotM, his love for writing African children’s stories, and the importance of representation in literature. He also spoke about one of the stories we published, “Keep to the Shade,” which beautifully talks about albinism, showcasing historical storytelling and providing representation for World Albinism Day. We love that Kamati is getting well-deserved recognition but more so, we are thrilled that he is getting his flowers from his own country and countrymen.

Oyindamola Shoola is an extremely talented writer! If you won’t take my word for it, then take the word of the Nigerian Writers Award that, in 2017/18, listed Shoola as one of NWA’s 100 Most Influential Nigerian Writers Under 40! At the end of 2023, I got to work with Shoola on her ebook, Speak Up: One Year After the Controversy, which looked at the debates and emotions around Trish Lorenz’s book. In 2024, Shoola shared the exciting news that she graduated with her MFA and her collection of poems was published and won the Kermit Moyer Prize for Craft in Lyrical Writing! Her book, Face Me I Face You, “holds a mirror to the working class” and presents identity, relationships, and culture. It is a fantastically written collection but it is also such a beautifully illustrated book!

From the River – to Gaza to Goma to Kassala to Nairobi – to the Sea: To end off, I want to shed light on the activists in the literary community. This year saw the collective response from the African writing community on many vital social causes. Our writers have done their part in using their craft to do the same and if you haven’t already seen it, browse the list below to keep the energy for the fight for freedom and justice:

 

I hope that the Brittle Paper readers seeing this will share in the joy and pride I have for these remarkable people and their work! Also, keep an eye out for the third volume of the Festive Anthology which also features Adesina, Adeyemo, and Sanginga. The anthology will be out on 20 December!

I wish you all a beautiful festive period and a 2025 filled with more fantastic writing from our continent!