Winner of the 2024 Orwell Prize for political fiction, My Friends is not your typical immigrant tale in which the protagonist ultimately finds a semblance of security, stability and peace in the bosom of their adoptive home. Here, rather, fear is a pervasive, palpable feature for exiled Libyan writers and dissenters.
Read MoreXaviere's novel is a welcome addition to the growing list of literature centring queer lives in African societies eager to deny their existence with claims that they are un-African or misguided vessels of Western immorality.
Read MoreAdébáyò’s second novel, A Spell of Good Things, is an invigorating dive into the ramifications of poor governance on a working class family and middle class one, which would fatally and ultimately bind them.
Read MoreDaughter in Exile by Bisi Adjapon is a pacy, character-driven novel that surveys the many burdens of living as an irregular migrant in the US.
Read MoreWhat happens when you go to bed a black man and wake up white? That's the question A. Igoni Barrett's novel Black Ass answers with a blend of sharp humor and keen intelligence.
Read MoreTranscendent and sober, Freshwater examines the imbalances between the spirit and flesh and presents the battles waged in the unseen world over the corporeal. It dares to question the conundrum of humans as spirits encased in flesh—or flesh embodying sprits, depending on one’s convictions.
Read MoreAma Ata Aidoo’s debut novel testifies to Africa’s problems with relation to Western interference and the predicament in which the continent finds itself today. Through personal observations and conversations, Sissie, the Ghanaian protagonist, delivers a sarcastic and humorous discourse on a myriad of issues ranging from the borrowed Victorian idea of billing strong, outspoken women as unladylike to white saviour-ism.
Read MoreThe idea of starting Cassava Republic, a Nigerian publishing firm dedicated to African literature, came to Bakare-Yusuf when she traveled to Nigeria as a visiting academic from the UK. She was shocked by the narrow range of literature in the bookshops and the non-existent libraries in the homes she visited.
Read MoreLola Shoneyin founded the Aké Festival in 2013 with the aim of promoting, developing and celebrating creativity in Africa. She spoke to Shayera Dark about the fifth edition of the Aké Arts and Book Festival, which took place in Lagos from 25–28 October under the theme ‘Fantastical Futures’.
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