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Features

July 16, 2022

Racism and an Unsolved Murder: American Novelist Delia Owens’ Past in Zambia Resurfaces

In the US, the 73-year-old’s novel Where the Crawdads Sing has sold 12 million copies and is now a film. In Zambia, she and her family are wanted for questioning for murder.
Paula Willie-Okafor
Delia Owens. Photo from author website.

July 11, 2022

The $100,000 NLNG Prize Longlist a Mix of Young and Veteran Nigerian Poets

The 11 nominees for Africa’s richest literary award, led by rising star Romeo Oriogun, include Iquo DianaAbasi and Su’eddie Vershima Agema—a departure from its tradition of ignoring newer voices.
Emmanuel Esomnofu
Romeo Oriogun by Romeo Oriogun

July 4, 2022

The Literary Laddership for Emerging African Authors Announces 2022 Fellows

The initiative, founded by the Nigerian novelist Suyi Davies Okungbowa, offers $500 to writers “to buy time, space, and resources” for their work.
Open Country Mag
Olaposi Halim. Photo from The Literary Laddership for Emerging African Authors.

June 27, 2022

Where Diriye Osman Draws His Flamboyance From

With his queerness and community as shield, the Somali writer is the rare artist who considers himself art. “We can be as weird and wonderful and brilliant and badass as we want to be,” he says in his first in-depth interview in eight years.
Uzoma Ihejirika
Diriye Osman by Diriye Osman

June 7, 2022

“I wanted ‘Love’ to be the narrator”: Roy Udeh-Ubaka on Winning the Gerald Kraak Prize

“Having grown up in a small city in Nigeria where I had to cobble communities—both queer and literary—the value is in becoming a part of this incredible anthology that makes it possible for us all to exist,” said the Nigerian writer.
Uzoma Ihejirika
Roy Udeh-Ubaka by @georgeony on Instagram.

May 30, 2022

Khadija Abdalla Bajaber on Fantasy & the Character of Kenyan Writing

“I needed to write something that takes advantage of the rich nuances in my own culture,” said the Graywolf Press Africa Prize-winning author of The House of Rust.
Paula Willie-Okafor
Khadija Abdalla Bajaber by TJ Benson.

May 25, 2022

The Gerald Kraak Prize Awarded to Roy Udeh-Ubaka

The Nigerian writer was chosen for his short story, “Until It Doesn’t,” which the judges called “brave fiction that tweaks the possibilities of the short story form.”
Emmanuel Esomnofu
Roy Udeh-Ubaka wins Gerald Kraak Prize.

May 17, 2022

The 2022 Gerald Kraak Prize, for Writing on Gender, Social Justice, & Sexuality, Announces Anticipated Shortlist

The 12 finalists, who get $200 each, were chosen by a judging panel chaired by Otosirieze Obi-Young and including Ellah Wakatama and Mark Gevisser.
Open Country Mag
The Gerald Kraak Prize - photo gallery from 2019 event

May 13, 2022

The O. Henry Prize Series Opens to African Magazines (Exclusive)

Series Editor Jenny Minton Quigley on celebrating the short story form and the ripple effect of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s guest-editing role.
Otosirieze
The O. Henry Prize Anthology 2021, guest-edited by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Photo by The O. Henry Prizes.

May 4, 2022

Ikhide R. Ikheloa Receives James Currey Society’s Lifetime Achievement Award

The Nigerian social critic has blogged extensively on the intersection of African literature and politics.
Uzoma Ihejirika
ikhide ikheloa

May 4, 2022

Zimbabwe’s Zibusiso Mpofu Wins 2022 Brunel Prize

The judges praised his “allusive, lyrical poems [which] open a new itinerary in African poetry, drawing in Shona and Mandarin and mapping a journey of the Black body through India, Hong Kong, the Philippines and China.”
Emmanuel Esomnofu
Zibusiso Mpofu

May 4, 2022

Poet Okwudili Nebeolisa Wins Prairie Lights Fiction Contest

“I have always looked for validation for my short stories,” he said of the recognition from the Iowa City bookshop.
Otosirieze
Okwudili Nebeolisa (2)

April 29, 2022

Keletso Mopai Owns Her Story and Her Voice

The author of the short story collection If You Keep Digging on activism, the social power of literature, and South Africa’s need for change.
Paula Willie-Okafor
Keletso Mopai

April 27, 2022

Isele Prizes: Uchechukwu Peter Umezurike, Esther Ifesinachi Okonkwo Named Winners

Umezurike and Okonkwo won for poetry and fiction, respectively, and Nora Nneka won for nonfiction.
Open Country Mag
Uchechukwu Peter Umezurike.

April 13, 2022

The Seminal Breakout of Gbenga Adesina

The prize-winning Nigerian poet and co-founder of A Long House magazine honed his craft in the quiet, and then we heard his pathbreaking voice.
Hauwa Shaffii Nuhu
Gbenga Adesina by Ladan Osman.

April 13, 2022

At Africa in Dialogue, Gaamangwe Joy Mogami Lures Out Storytelling Truths

For many writers and artists in the continent, the Motswana shaman, poet, scriptwriter, editor, and interviewer is a go-to for deep conversations. What she does is “about consciousness,” going “into the realm of memory.”
Otosirieze
Gaamangwe Joy Mogami.

April 13, 2022

Cheswayo Mphanza on Intertextual Poetry & Zambia’s Moment

The author of the National Book Critics Circle Award-nominated poetry collection The Rinehart Frames wants “an expansion in terms of how we speak of African literature.”
Kanyinsola Olorunnisola
Cheswayo Mphanza.

April 13, 2022

Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki’s Curation of African Speculative Fiction

The writer and editor, working from Nigeria, has seen his groundbreaking work with the anthology Dominion earn major acclaim in the US and the UK, including becoming the first Africa-born Black writer to earn a Hugo Award nomination.
Kanyinsola Olorunnisola
Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki.

April 13, 2022

Logan February on Their Becoming

The Future Award Africa Prize-winning Nigerian poet and author of the collection In the Nude on “the book as an interface for the soul” and their literary, musical, and cinematic influences.
Emmanuel Esomnofu
Logan February by Weiji Wang.

April 9, 2022

Nana Nkweti on Writing Cameroonian American Experiences & Crossing Genres

The professor of English and Whiting Award-winning author of the story collection Walking on Cowrie Shells talks her eclectic interests and “containing multitudes.”
Paula Willie-Okafor
Nana Nkweti by Shea Sadulski/Out of Focus Studio.

July 16, 2022

Delia Owens. Photo from author website.

Racism and an Unsolved Murder: American Novelist Delia Owens’ Past in Zambia Resurfaces

In the US, the 73-year-old’s novel Where the Crawdads Sing has sold 12 million copies and is now a film. In Zambia, she and her family are wanted for questioning for murder.
Paula Willie-Okafor

July 11, 2022

Romeo Oriogun by Romeo Oriogun

The $100,000 NLNG Prize Longlist a Mix of Young and Veteran Nigerian Poets

The 11 nominees for Africa’s richest literary award, led by rising star Romeo Oriogun, include Iquo DianaAbasi and Su’eddie Vershima Agema—a departure from its tradition of ignoring newer voices.
Emmanuel Esomnofu

July 4, 2022

Olaposi Halim. Photo from The Literary Laddership for Emerging African Authors.

The Literary Laddership for Emerging African Authors Announces 2022 Fellows

The initiative, founded by the Nigerian novelist Suyi Davies Okungbowa, offers $500 to writers “to buy time, space, and resources” for their work.
Open Country Mag

June 27, 2022

Diriye Osman by Diriye Osman

Where Diriye Osman Draws His Flamboyance From

With his queerness and community as shield, the Somali writer is the rare artist who considers himself art. “We can be as weird and wonderful and brilliant and badass as we want to be,” he says in his first in-depth interview in eight years.
Uzoma Ihejirika

June 7, 2022

Roy Udeh-Ubaka by @georgeony on Instagram.

“I wanted ‘Love’ to be the narrator”: Roy Udeh-Ubaka on Winning the Gerald Kraak Prize

“Having grown up in a small city in Nigeria where I had to cobble communities—both queer and literary—the value is in becoming a part of this incredible anthology that makes it possible for us all to exist,” said the Nigerian writer.
Uzoma Ihejirika

May 30, 2022

Khadija Abdalla Bajaber by TJ Benson.

Khadija Abdalla Bajaber on Fantasy & the Character of Kenyan Writing

“I needed to write something that takes advantage of the rich nuances in my own culture,” said the Graywolf Press Africa Prize-winning author of The House of Rust.
Paula Willie-Okafor

May 25, 2022

Roy Udeh-Ubaka wins Gerald Kraak Prize.

The Gerald Kraak Prize Awarded to Roy Udeh-Ubaka

The Nigerian writer was chosen for his short story, “Until It Doesn’t,” which the judges called “brave fiction that tweaks the possibilities of the short story form.”
Emmanuel Esomnofu

May 17, 2022

The Gerald Kraak Prize - photo gallery from 2019 event

The 2022 Gerald Kraak Prize, for Writing on Gender, Social Justice, & Sexuality, Announces Anticipated Shortlist

The 12 finalists, who get $200 each, were chosen by a judging panel chaired by Otosirieze Obi-Young and including Ellah Wakatama and Mark Gevisser.
Open Country Mag

May 13, 2022

The O. Henry Prize Anthology 2021, guest-edited by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Photo by The O. Henry Prizes.

The O. Henry Prize Series Opens to African Magazines (Exclusive)

Series Editor Jenny Minton Quigley on celebrating the short story form and the ripple effect of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s guest-editing role.
Otosirieze

May 4, 2022

ikhide ikheloa

Ikhide R. Ikheloa Receives James Currey Society’s Lifetime Achievement Award

The Nigerian social critic has blogged extensively on the intersection of African literature and politics.
Uzoma Ihejirika

May 4, 2022

Zibusiso Mpofu

Zimbabwe’s Zibusiso Mpofu Wins 2022 Brunel Prize

The judges praised his “allusive, lyrical poems [which] open a new itinerary in African poetry, drawing in Shona and Mandarin and mapping a journey of the Black body through India, Hong Kong, the Philippines and China.”
Emmanuel Esomnofu

May 4, 2022

Okwudili Nebeolisa (2)

Poet Okwudili Nebeolisa Wins Prairie Lights Fiction Contest

“I have always looked for validation for my short stories,” he said of the recognition from the Iowa City bookshop.
Otosirieze

April 29, 2022

Keletso Mopai

Keletso Mopai Owns Her Story and Her Voice

The author of the short story collection If You Keep Digging on activism, the social power of literature, and South Africa’s need for change.
Paula Willie-Okafor

April 27, 2022

Uchechukwu Peter Umezurike.

Isele Prizes: Uchechukwu Peter Umezurike, Esther Ifesinachi Okonkwo Named Winners

Umezurike and Okonkwo won for poetry and fiction, respectively, and Nora Nneka won for nonfiction.
Open Country Mag

April 13, 2022

Gbenga Adesina by Ladan Osman.

The Seminal Breakout of Gbenga Adesina

The prize-winning Nigerian poet and co-founder of A Long House magazine honed his craft in the quiet, and then we heard his pathbreaking voice.
Hauwa Shaffii Nuhu

April 13, 2022

Gaamangwe Joy Mogami.

At Africa in Dialogue, Gaamangwe Joy Mogami Lures Out Storytelling Truths

For many writers and artists in the continent, the Motswana shaman, poet, scriptwriter, editor, and interviewer is a go-to for deep conversations. What she does is “about consciousness,” going “into the realm of memory.”
Otosirieze

April 13, 2022

Cheswayo Mphanza.

Cheswayo Mphanza on Intertextual Poetry & Zambia’s Moment

The author of the National Book Critics Circle Award-nominated poetry collection The Rinehart Frames wants “an expansion in terms of how we speak of African literature.”
Kanyinsola Olorunnisola

April 13, 2022

Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki.

Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki’s Curation of African Speculative Fiction

The writer and editor, working from Nigeria, has seen his groundbreaking work with the anthology Dominion earn major acclaim in the US and the UK, including becoming the first Africa-born Black writer to earn a Hugo Award nomination.
Kanyinsola Olorunnisola

April 13, 2022

Logan February by Weiji Wang.

Logan February on Their Becoming

The Future Award Africa Prize-winning Nigerian poet and author of the collection In the Nude on “the book as an interface for the soul” and their literary, musical, and cinematic influences.
Emmanuel Esomnofu

April 9, 2022

Nana Nkweti by Shea Sadulski/Out of Focus Studio.

Nana Nkweti on Writing Cameroonian American Experiences & Crossing Genres

The professor of English and Whiting Award-winning author of the story collection Walking on Cowrie Shells talks her eclectic interests and “containing multitudes.”
Paula Willie-Okafor

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