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The Next Generation: Special Issues

March 28, 2024

Momtaza Mehri’s Fluid Diasporas

Having traversed regions, her poetry, including the Forward Prize-winning Bad Diaspora Poems, interrogates a race- and class-conscious world — and her place in it as a Muslim Somali woman.
Iheoma Uzomba
Momtaza Mehri for Open Country Mag.

March 6, 2024

A Poet Imagines Dreams for the Displaced

In Exodus, his debut collection, ‘Gbenga Adeoba threads the histories, migrations, and traumas of people forced to sea.
Iheoma Uzomba
Gbenga Adeoba by Timilehin Alake.

November 28, 2023

The Overlapping Realisms of Eloghosa Osunde

In their debut novel-in-stories Vagabonds!, the Nigerian writer and visual artist pursues an alternate reality of their mind, taking on, among other subjects, social normalcy, gender, and queerness.
Michael Chiedoziem Chukwudera
Eloghosa Osunde. Supplied.

November 28, 2023

DK Nnuro Finds His Answers

The Ghanaian American author of What Napoleon Could Not Do, a summer reading pick by Barack Obama, has been thinking about art in our contemporary times.
Adams Adeosun
DK Nnuro

August 4, 2022

Troy Onyango on Lolwe & Literary Magazine Publishing in Africa

The platform, founded and edited by the Kenyan writer, is building a conversation between Africa and the Black diaspora. It is his second venture after the defunct Enkare Review.
Socrates Mbamalu
Troy Onyango by Jagero.

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.

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 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

Nnamdi Ehirim Writes from Music

The Nigerian author of Prince of Monkeys on why rap is “worthy of creative theft by contemporary writers,” and how “the exploits of young writers allow younger writers to dream bigger.”
Uzoma Ihejirika
Nnamdi Ehirim.

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.

April 9, 2022

Ebenezer Agu on 20.35 Africa & Curating New Poetry

“It’s not just about developing platforms for African poets. What is the bigger picture?” asks the Nigerian poet and editor of the collective. “We are thinking of training, models that feed capacity, that enhance their craft and careers.”
Hauwa Shaffii Nuhu
Ebenezer Agu for Open Country Mag.

April 9, 2022

Remy Ngamije on Doek! & the New Age of Namibian Literature

The editor of Doek!, author of The Eternal Audience of One, and Commonwealth Prize winner is leading a charge to place his country on the literary map.
Otosirieze
Remy Ngamije by Namafu Amutse.

April 9, 2022

Why Tobi Eyinade Built Rovingheights, Nigeria’s Biggest Literary Bookstore

The Future Award Africa Prize-nominated co-founder on the business of bookselling.
Socrates Mbamalu
Tobi Eyinade for Open Country Mag.

April 9, 2022

Suyi Davies Okungbowa Knows What It Takes

The Nigerian novelist, author of David Mogo, Godhunter and Son of the Storm, on epic fantasy, Black male representation in fiction, and making a literary career as a Nigerian.
Ada Nnadi
Suyi Davies Okungbowa by Manuel Ruiz.

April 9, 2022

Inside The Cheeky Natives, Letlhogonolo Mokgoroane & Alma-Nalisha Cele’s Archive of Intentionality

The lawyer and the doctor on podcasting, documenting South Africa’s Black voices, and getting African literature its own due.
Otosirieze
Alma-Nalisha Cisse (L) and Letlhogonolo Mogkoroane (R) of The Cheeky Natives.

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 28, 2024

Momtaza Mehri for Open Country Mag.

Momtaza Mehri’s Fluid Diasporas

Having traversed regions, her poetry, including the Forward Prize-winning Bad Diaspora Poems, interrogates a race- and class-conscious world — and her place in it as a Muslim Somali woman.
Iheoma Uzomba

March 6, 2024

Gbenga Adeoba by Timilehin Alake.

A Poet Imagines Dreams for the Displaced

In Exodus, his debut collection, ‘Gbenga Adeoba threads the histories, migrations, and traumas of people forced to sea.
Iheoma Uzomba

November 28, 2023

Eloghosa Osunde. Supplied.

The Overlapping Realisms of Eloghosa Osunde

In their debut novel-in-stories Vagabonds!, the Nigerian writer and visual artist pursues an alternate reality of their mind, taking on, among other subjects, social normalcy, gender, and queerness.
Michael Chiedoziem Chukwudera

November 28, 2023

DK Nnuro

DK Nnuro Finds His Answers

The Ghanaian American author of What Napoleon Could Not Do, a summer reading pick by Barack Obama, has been thinking about art in our contemporary times.
Adams Adeosun

August 4, 2022

Troy Onyango by Jagero.

Troy Onyango on Lolwe & Literary Magazine Publishing in Africa

The platform, founded and edited by the Kenyan writer, is building a conversation between Africa and the Black diaspora. It is his second venture after the defunct Enkare Review.
Socrates Mbamalu

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

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 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

Nnamdi Ehirim.

Nnamdi Ehirim Writes from Music

The Nigerian author of Prince of Monkeys on why rap is “worthy of creative theft by contemporary writers,” and how “the exploits of young writers allow younger writers to dream bigger.”
Uzoma Ihejirika

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

April 9, 2022

Ebenezer Agu for Open Country Mag.

Ebenezer Agu on 20.35 Africa & Curating New Poetry

“It’s not just about developing platforms for African poets. What is the bigger picture?” asks the Nigerian poet and editor of the collective. “We are thinking of training, models that feed capacity, that enhance their craft and careers.”
Hauwa Shaffii Nuhu

April 9, 2022

Remy Ngamije by Namafu Amutse.

Remy Ngamije on Doek! & the New Age of Namibian Literature

The editor of Doek!, author of The Eternal Audience of One, and Commonwealth Prize winner is leading a charge to place his country on the literary map.
Otosirieze

April 9, 2022

Tobi Eyinade for Open Country Mag.

Why Tobi Eyinade Built Rovingheights, Nigeria’s Biggest Literary Bookstore

The Future Award Africa Prize-nominated co-founder on the business of bookselling.
Socrates Mbamalu

April 9, 2022

Suyi Davies Okungbowa by Manuel Ruiz.

Suyi Davies Okungbowa Knows What It Takes

The Nigerian novelist, author of David Mogo, Godhunter and Son of the Storm, on epic fantasy, Black male representation in fiction, and making a literary career as a Nigerian.
Ada Nnadi

April 9, 2022

Alma-Nalisha Cisse (L) and Letlhogonolo Mogkoroane (R) of The Cheeky Natives.

Inside The Cheeky Natives, Letlhogonolo Mokgoroane & Alma-Nalisha Cele’s Archive of Intentionality

The lawyer and the doctor on podcasting, documenting South Africa’s Black voices, and getting African literature its own due.
Otosirieze

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

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- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

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