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Symposium: Small Magazines, Literary Networks and Self-Fashioning in Africa and its Diasporas. 19-20 Jan, University of Bristol.

By Africa in Words on 3 January , 2018 • ( 0 )

Small Magazines, Literary Networks and Self-Fashioning in Africa and its Diasporas
19-20 January 2018
University of Bristol, UK

Keynote speakers:
Stacy Hardy (Chimurenga) and Moradewun Adejunmobi (UC Davis)

With a workshop held by Africa in Words’ editors
exploring small magazines and blogging as research.

This two-day symposium seeks to explore the role of small magazines, literary journals, periodicals and other alternative print cultures from Africa in the larger context of Black Internationalism and its legacies. Through their role as sites of intimacy and collaboration, these publications give rise to the creation of networks of affiliation and corridors of storytelling which span localities, regions, transnational and diasporic contexts, functioning as active participants in the creation of black and African ideologies in the global imaginary.

In this conference, we examine these issues, considering the circulation and production of small magazines in Africa in order to explore the ways in which they enable lateral forms of self-fashioning. Ranging from formal publications in receipt of state and NGO sponsorship to informal ‘zines’ circulated through counter-cultural networks, and taking forms spanning print and digital media, small magazines are often neither widely known nor accessible outside of their specific localities; yet, through their vernacular and often-overlapping trajectories of distribution, these publications hold a significant role in the fostering of everyday practices and cultural memory while continuing to ask larger questions about the legacies of empire in a neo-liberal global capitalist order, driven through the platform of the nation-state.

Registration is free and includes refreshments and lunch on both days, but booking is essential. To secure a place, please email smallmagazines@gmail.com by 8 January 2018 with your name and any access or dietary requirements.

For more information, please visit www.smallmagazinesafrica.org

Sponsored by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (UK)