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April 8, 2022

The Next Generation of African Literature

Originally planned for December 2021, to mark our first anniversary, our in-depth special issue profiles 16 African writers and curators who have impacted, disrupted, reshaped, and even created literary culture in the last five years.
Otosirieze
The Next Generation of African Literature Covers Open Country Mag. Covers designed by Emmimade Studio.

March 22, 2022

The Brunel Prize Announces 2022 Shortlist of 7 Poets

The judges praised the finalists as “African voices liberated from prescriptions of form and ideas.”
Emmanuel Esomnofu
Adedayo Agarau, the new editor-in-chief of Agbowo Magazine.

February 14, 2022

28 Writers Go Deep into Love, in Art and Life

For Valentine’s Day, we asked 28 writers—deep readers and consumers of art—to share the literary, cinematic, musical, and life stories that affect them. They opened up beautifully.
Open Country Mag
A still from the film Rafiki, directed by Wanuri Kahiu and based on Monica Arac de Nyeko's short story Jambula Tree

February 2, 2022

Anticipated Books of 2022

From NoViolet Bulawayo and Arinze Ifeakandu to Warsan Shire and Romeo Oriogun, here are over 50 books expected to lead the literary conversation.
Open Country Mag
The Anticipated Books of 2022

January 21, 2022

11 Magazines Currently Open for Submissions

Including The Threepenny Review, A Public Space, Isele, and Lolwe.
Emmanuel Esomnofu
Lolwe-Issue-4-Cover

December 29, 2021

60 Notable Books of 2021

From Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Bernardine Evaristo to Teju Cole, Damon Galgut, and Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, our first annual highlight of the top titles of the year by African writers.
Open Country Mag

November 3, 2021

Damon Galgut Takes Booker Prize for The Promise

The South African stylist, the fifth African to win, had previously been shortlisted twice. The judges called his winning ninth novel “a strong, unambiguous commentary on the history of South Africa and of humanity itself.”
Otosirieze
Author Damon Galgut at the 2021 Booker Prize Awards Ceremony in London, Wednesday Nov. 3, 2021. South African writer Damon Galgut wins the Booker Prize for fiction for “The Promise”. (David Parry/PA via AP)

October 28, 2021

Ben Okri Joins Letters to the Earth Climate Campaign

The Booker Prize winner performs his letter in a video with his family, ahead of the United Nations Climate Conference (COP26). “It’s time,” he said, “to show that we human beings can be a great force for good on this planet.”
Emmanuel Esomnofu
Ben Okri, Mirabella Okri, and Charlotte Jarvis. Credit: Tania Hoser-min.

October 11, 2021

Kakwenza Rukirabashaija Is PEN’s International Writer of Courage 2021

The Ugandan novelist, jailed and tortured last year, was chosen, as is tradition, by the PEN Pinter prize winner, who this year is Tsitsi Dangarembga.
Otosirieze
Kakwenza Rukirabashaija. Photograph - English PEN

September 20, 2021

Damon Galgut & Nadifa Mohamed Shortlisted for the Booker Prize

The South African Galgut makes the list for the third time, for The Promise. The Somali Mohamed is chosen for her The Fortune Men.
The Booker Prize Foundation
Damon Galgut. From The Booker Prize.

September 16, 2021

Statement on Open Country Mag Feature Replicated by Al Jazeera without Acknowledgement

Otosirieze

September 8, 2021

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Angela Merkel Talk Politics, Feminism, and Stories

The opening event at the Theater der Welt Festival in Germany saw the cultural icon and the European leader share experiences on race, fashion, and difference.
Otosirieze
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Credit: The Guardian.

August 18, 2021

Chandelle Books to Publish USA & Africa Editions of Echezonachukwu Nduka’s Waterman

The poetry collection was first published by Griots Lounge Publishing Canada.
Uchenna Emelife
Echezonachukwu Nduka's Waterman - Chandelle Books

August 5, 2021

7 Literary Magazines Accepting Submissions in August

Ernest Ogunyemi

August 5, 2021

Kwame Dawes’ African Poetry Digital Portal Gets $750,000 Mellon Foundation Grant

It will enhance the next phase of the Portal, “expanding research and scholarship relating to African poetry and joining with other institutions to create a digital collections hub that will give access to materials held by institutions worldwide.”
Emmanuel Esomnofu
Kwame Dawes and Lorna Dawes. Photo by Annie Albin / University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

July 27, 2021

The Booker Prize 2021 Longlist

Three Africans are in the running this year: Damon Galgut for The Promise, Nadifa Mohamed for The Fortune Men, and Karen Jennings for An Island.
Ernest Ogunyemi

July 21, 2021

Open Country Mag Hosts O. Henry Prize 2021 Winners: Jowhor Ile & Adachioma Ezeano

Watch the Nigerian writers talk the art and state of the modern short story.
Otosirieze
Open Country Mag Hosts O. Henry Prize 2021 Winners: Jowhor Ile and Adachioma Ezeano.

July 2, 2021

Submit Your Unagented Manuscript to Soft Skull Press

“We want our books to offer a refuge from, an alternative to, and an argument against mainstream culture and mainstream thinking,” says the independent publisher.
Ernest Ogunyemi
Alain Mabanckou's novel Broken Glass was published by Soft Skull Press. Credit: Soft Skull Press.

June 24, 2021

A Long House Calls for Submissions to First Issue, Origins

In an age where the African/Black sense of being and history are seemingly bracketed by discourse surrounding slavery and post-colonialism, we offer the possibility to create new readings of ourselves.
A Long House
A Long House calls for submissions to first issue, Origins

June 22, 2021

Submit to the Deborah Rogers Foundation Writers Awards 2021

Win £10,000 for your un-agented, unpublished work-in-progress.
Ernest Ogunyemi
Pemi Aguda. From pemiaguda.com.

April 8, 2022

The Next Generation of African Literature Covers Open Country Mag. Covers designed by Emmimade Studio.

The Next Generation of African Literature

Originally planned for December 2021, to mark our first anniversary, our in-depth special issue profiles 16 African writers and curators who have impacted, disrupted, reshaped, and even created literary culture in the last five years.
Otosirieze

March 22, 2022

Adedayo Agarau, the new editor-in-chief of Agbowo Magazine.

The Brunel Prize Announces 2022 Shortlist of 7 Poets

The judges praised the finalists as “African voices liberated from prescriptions of form and ideas.”
Emmanuel Esomnofu

February 14, 2022

A still from the film Rafiki, directed by Wanuri Kahiu and based on Monica Arac de Nyeko's short story Jambula Tree

28 Writers Go Deep into Love, in Art and Life

For Valentine’s Day, we asked 28 writers—deep readers and consumers of art—to share the literary, cinematic, musical, and life stories that affect them. They opened up beautifully.
Open Country Mag

February 2, 2022

The Anticipated Books of 2022

Anticipated Books of 2022

From NoViolet Bulawayo and Arinze Ifeakandu to Warsan Shire and Romeo Oriogun, here are over 50 books expected to lead the literary conversation.
Open Country Mag

January 21, 2022

Lolwe-Issue-4-Cover

11 Magazines Currently Open for Submissions

Including The Threepenny Review, A Public Space, Isele, and Lolwe.
Emmanuel Esomnofu

December 29, 2021

60 Notable Books of 2021

From Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Bernardine Evaristo to Teju Cole, Damon Galgut, and Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, our first annual highlight of the top titles of the year by African writers.
Open Country Mag

November 3, 2021

Author Damon Galgut at the 2021 Booker Prize Awards Ceremony in London, Wednesday Nov. 3, 2021. South African writer Damon Galgut wins the Booker Prize for fiction for “The Promise”. (David Parry/PA via AP)

Damon Galgut Takes Booker Prize for The Promise

The South African stylist, the fifth African to win, had previously been shortlisted twice. The judges called his winning ninth novel “a strong, unambiguous commentary on the history of South Africa and of humanity itself.”
Otosirieze

October 28, 2021

Ben Okri, Mirabella Okri, and Charlotte Jarvis. Credit: Tania Hoser-min.

Ben Okri Joins Letters to the Earth Climate Campaign

The Booker Prize winner performs his letter in a video with his family, ahead of the United Nations Climate Conference (COP26). “It’s time,” he said, “to show that we human beings can be a great force for good on this planet.”
Emmanuel Esomnofu

October 11, 2021

Kakwenza Rukirabashaija. Photograph - English PEN

Kakwenza Rukirabashaija Is PEN’s International Writer of Courage 2021

The Ugandan novelist, jailed and tortured last year, was chosen, as is tradition, by the PEN Pinter prize winner, who this year is Tsitsi Dangarembga.
Otosirieze

September 20, 2021

Damon Galgut. From The Booker Prize.

Damon Galgut & Nadifa Mohamed Shortlisted for the Booker Prize

The South African Galgut makes the list for the third time, for The Promise. The Somali Mohamed is chosen for her The Fortune Men.
The Booker Prize Foundation

September 16, 2021

Statement on Open Country Mag Feature Replicated by Al Jazeera without Acknowledgement

Otosirieze

September 8, 2021

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Credit: The Guardian.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Angela Merkel Talk Politics, Feminism, and Stories

The opening event at the Theater der Welt Festival in Germany saw the cultural icon and the European leader share experiences on race, fashion, and difference.
Otosirieze

August 18, 2021

Echezonachukwu Nduka's Waterman - Chandelle Books

Chandelle Books to Publish USA & Africa Editions of Echezonachukwu Nduka’s Waterman

The poetry collection was first published by Griots Lounge Publishing Canada.
Uchenna Emelife

August 5, 2021

7 Literary Magazines Accepting Submissions in August

Ernest Ogunyemi

August 5, 2021

Kwame Dawes and Lorna Dawes. Photo by Annie Albin / University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Kwame Dawes’ African Poetry Digital Portal Gets $750,000 Mellon Foundation Grant

It will enhance the next phase of the Portal, “expanding research and scholarship relating to African poetry and joining with other institutions to create a digital collections hub that will give access to materials held by institutions worldwide.”
Emmanuel Esomnofu

July 27, 2021

The Booker Prize 2021 Longlist

Three Africans are in the running this year: Damon Galgut for The Promise, Nadifa Mohamed for The Fortune Men, and Karen Jennings for An Island.
Ernest Ogunyemi

July 21, 2021

Open Country Mag Hosts O. Henry Prize 2021 Winners: Jowhor Ile and Adachioma Ezeano.

Open Country Mag Hosts O. Henry Prize 2021 Winners: Jowhor Ile & Adachioma Ezeano

Watch the Nigerian writers talk the art and state of the modern short story.
Otosirieze

July 2, 2021

Alain Mabanckou's novel Broken Glass was published by Soft Skull Press. Credit: Soft Skull Press.

Submit Your Unagented Manuscript to Soft Skull Press

“We want our books to offer a refuge from, an alternative to, and an argument against mainstream culture and mainstream thinking,” says the independent publisher.
Ernest Ogunyemi

June 24, 2021

A Long House calls for submissions to first issue, Origins

A Long House Calls for Submissions to First Issue, Origins

In an age where the African/Black sense of being and history are seemingly bracketed by discourse surrounding slavery and post-colonialism, we offer the possibility to create new readings of ourselves.
A Long House

June 22, 2021

Pemi Aguda. From pemiaguda.com.

Submit to the Deborah Rogers Foundation Writers Awards 2021

Win £10,000 for your un-agented, unpublished work-in-progress.
Ernest Ogunyemi

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— Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

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