Features

February 22, 2021

“The World Is Paying Attention”: 6 African Writers on BSFA Awards Shortlist

Two of the finalists appear in Dominion: An Anthology of Speculative Fiction from Africa and the African Diaspora, co-edited by Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki.

Arao Ameny Wins Southern Review’s James Olney Award

The Ugandan writer receives $500 for her first published poem “highlighting the importance of foremothers and women’s land rights in Uganda.”

Yaa Gyasi Longlisted for PEN/Faulkner Award

The Ghanaian novelist is nominated for her second novel Transcendent Kingdom.

How Lanaire Aderemi Adapted Women’s Resistance into Art

Inspired by anticolonialist feminist movements, the Nigerian performer set out to honour them in community-centered theatre. Her latest show is Story Story.

Hannah Chukwu’s Call to Help Uplift Unheard Voices

How Hamish Hamilton’s 24-year-old Nigerian British talent went from a historic heading of an Oxford college to editing Booker Prize winners Bernardine Evaristo and Marlon James, to broadening her diversity advocacy.

Otosirieze

February 4, 2021

UN to Launch African SDGs Book Club with 6 Literary Partners

Interested writers, publishers, and readers with books for children aged 6-12, that fit any of the 17 SDGs, are encouraged to apply.

Uzoma Ihejirika

February 4, 2021

Ben Okri Says His New Yorker Short Story Was “Hijacked by History”

The Nigerian Booker Prize winner discussed the ideas of perception and illusion in “A Wrinkle in the Realm,” and how it connects to his story collection Prayer for the Living.

Paula Willie-Okafor

January 26, 2021

Namwali Serpell & Wayétu Moore Up for 2020 National Book Critics Circle Awards

. . . for the essay collection Stranger Faces and the memoir The Dragons, The Giant, The Women, respectively.

Ernest Ogunyemi

January 23, 2021

The New Yorker Union Went on Daylong Strike Over Pay Dispute

“We are withholding our labor to demand fair wages and a transparent, equitable salary structure,” the Union said.

Paula Willie-Okafor

January 21, 2021

Dominion Anthology Contributors Lead Longlist for 2020 BSFA Awards

It includes eight Africans. Half are contributors to Dominion: An Anthology of Speculative Fiction from Africa and the African Diaspora.

Ernest Ogunyemi

January 19, 2021

5 Nigerian Spoken Word Albums You Should Listen To

. . . by RezThaPoet, Vector, Wana Udobang, Shegzrhymz, and Titilope Sonuga.

Emmanuel Esomnofu

January 18, 2021

Caine Prize Winner Makena Onjerika on Her Nairobi Writing Academy

The Kenyan writer tells us her motivations and approach to teaching writing.

Paula Willie-Okafor

January 18, 2021

Nigerian Poet Wins Toi Derricotte & Cornelius Eady Chapbook Prize

Wale Ayinla’s To Cast a Dream will now be published by Jai-Alai Books.

Ernest Ogunyemi

January 16, 2021

Maaza Mengiste’s Chronicles of Ethiopia

In her novels, Beneath the Lion’s Gaze and the Booker Prize-shortlisted The Shadow King, she explored the Ethiopian Revolution and the Italo-Abyssinian War. Now, with Project 3541, she is building a photography archive.