“African science fiction is not rising. It is here,” writes Tade Thompson in a defiant but illuminating piece about that genre of writing called African Science Fiction and Fantasy. Thompson is a proud leader of the pack of writers of African descent, or who live in the continent, who write identity-bending, mind-bending experimental stuff far […]
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Review | Ebenezer Obadare Takes On Jiving Pastors and Thieving Politicians in Pentecostal Republic | Ikhide Ikheloa
Often when one thinks of African writing, it is often about fiction. African fiction is widely celebrated globally, with the traffic enabled by highly publicized Western prizes, forums, workshops, residencies, etc. One can then be forgiven for thinking that all Africans write is fiction and the occasional poem. The truth is that there is an […]
#WeLoveBooks | Silence is My Mother Tongue by Sulaiman Addonia
2018 has been a rich harvest for African fiction. Just when we thought the year couldn’t yield any more gems, Sulaiman Addonia’s Silence is a Mother Tongue comes out and wows us with one of the most lovable female characters we’ve seen in African fiction this year. Set in an East African refugee camp, the […]
Demons in the Villa | Excerpt from Ebenezer Obadare’s Pentecostal Republic
Pentecostal Republic takes a hard look at the influence of pentecostalism in Nigerian politics. Prof. Obadare is a sociologist, who studies civil society in Africa. In this exhilarating book, he credits the challenges of Nigerian politics and state practices to the ways in which Pentecostalism frames the action and vision of political leaders and intellectuals. […]
#WeLoveBooks | Feeling and Ugly by Danai Mupotsa
Welcome back to our weekly updates on new book finds. Feeling and Ugly by Danai Mupotsa is a gem. Feeling and Ugly was published earlier this year by Impepho Press, an independent South African publishing company run by three women—Vangile Gantsho, Sarah Godsell, and Tanya Pretorius. As poets, thinkers, and activists, Gantsho, Godsell, and Pretorius […]
#WeLoveBooks | Elsewhere, Home by Leila Aboulela
Any plans to read a book this weekend? Ditch that novel you’ve been thinking about and check out Leila Aboulela’s short story collection Elsewhere, Home. It was published by Grove Atlantic earlier this year. The collection contains 13 stories about the imagination of home as loss and desire. Aboulela is an endearing storyteller. There is a […]
#WeLoveBooks | Edwardsville by Heart by Kọ́lá Túbọ̀sún
Reading poetry can sometimes feel like taking a journey through the sound and form of language. But when poetry itself becomes about travel, something magical happens. Kọ́lá Túbọ̀sún’s debut poetry collection, titled Edwardsville By Heart, is just that: a magical meeting place of travelogue, memoir, and poetry. The poems are essentially travel stories crafted out of […]
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