In other Words… AiW news and December’s wrap

By Africa in Words on 12 January , 2021 • ( 0 )

Happy New Year! After a short break, we move through the changed circumstances, timelines and spaces of now, and catch up on our monthly round-up of ‘other words’ from the end of 2020 – news on AiW’s radar, collated from across our social media…

December’s top posts and pages – #PastAndPresent

News

Click to jump to: Festivals, Fairs, Salons | Readings – Books, Journals & Mags | Performance, Visuals, & Sounds | Congrats | Calls for…

Festivals, Fairs, Salons

UNESCO City of Literature, Durban, ran its annual Durban Book Fair ran in-person from 4th to 6th December at Mitchell Park, South Africa with some wonderful bookish events.

pic.twitter.com/0GPr8M6l2f
— Durban Book Fair (@DurbanCityofLit) December 6, 2020

Kawe Books brought us their first ever festival last month! The literary event ran from 17th-20th December with the theme ‘Young & Restless’, referring to the impatience with the status quo and young people’s desire for change. Authors who spoke included Bisi Adjapon, Chika Unigwe and Oyinkan Braithwaite.

A literary festival for lovers of African literature to look out for over the next few days featuring @bisiadjapon, Ayesha Harruna Attah, Oyinkan Braithwaite, @Dianaspeak, @chikaunigwe, @MsOlisakwe, @tonikan11 and many more. pic.twitter.com/pewy2dTZEO
— James Murua (@jamesmurua) December 17, 2020

There was an excellent webinar discussion on 15 December marking the launch of Cambridge Elements by Beth Le Roux, Sarah Brouilette, Caroline Davis and Archie Dick.

Don’t miss your chance to read new Cambridge Element African Literature and the CIA, by Caroline Davis! Free access available until 25 December at https://t.co/U5giBlmpJz #cambridgeelements pic.twitter.com/hlRt1RsqPx
— Cambridge Literature and Performance (@CUP_LitPerform) December 18, 2020

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Readings – Books, Journals & Mags

The beautifully designed page of Brittle Paper’s 50 Notable African Books of 2020 is due a long perusing by all, you might even find some gems in there! You can also browse through BP’s picks for 2019 and 2018. The list included Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi’s A Girl Is A Body of Water, Stranger Faces by Namwali Serpell, and The Actual by Inua Ellams.

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Pan-African writers’ collective Jalada’s Issue #9 followed the theme ‘nostalgia’:

#JANostalgia launch was such a vibe! Asante to everyone in attendance and those behind the scenes cheering us on. This issue is special in many ways. We made it during the pandemic and, it's 100% downloadable in multiple e-reader versions here: https://t.co/D0kTO3cUJV pic.twitter.com/cfztT8YBk9
— Jalada Africa (@JaladaAfrica) December 5, 2020

AFREADA Literary Magazine is now in print! Catch it via the link below…

Africa’s Literary Magazine is now in PRINT!

We’re giving away 200 copies of Issue 00 – a free sample collection of stories from our archive, paired with your home quotes and photography from the community! RT and CLAIM YOUR COPY!

More Info: https://t.co/AmnHFxqXiz #AFREADAat5 pic.twitter.com/tPLLQz7RIr
— A F R E A D A (@AFREADA) December 6, 2020

December saw some more exciting reading news for the literary superstar Akwaeke Emezi who’s debut collection of poetry is due to be released in 2022 by Copper Canyon Press.

Exciting news: we are delighted to welcome AKWAEKE EMEZI (@azemezi) to Copper Canyon Press! We look forward to publishing their debut book of poetry in 2022. pic.twitter.com/BPgHnV75qI
— Copper Canyon Press (@CopperCanyonPrs) December 3, 2020

And Catalyst Press marked their annual #ReadingAfrica Week at the start of the month (you can see our contribution here!), encouraging readers to show the world their current reads via the hashtag.

Join us for two virtual #ReadingAfrica Week events! December 6 is our special kickoff event, and December 9, a panel of writers discusses crime fiction. Both are free, but registration is required. Register here: https://t.co/8sgbGbuFIT pic.twitter.com/kormGOtTEm
— Catalyst Press (@catalyst_press) December 2, 2020

Logos Open Culture announced their new publication on ‘Making Music in Malawi’.

In our bid to amplify narratives of #Malawi with depth, we are happy to announce our next publication 'Making Music in Malawi', authored by prominent Malawian social historian John Lwanda Ph.D. Coming out Easter 2021! pic.twitter.com/QlqQzjOucU
— Logos Open Culture (@logosMLW) December 15, 2020

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Performance, Visuals, Sounds

Books podcast and AiW fav Books&Rhymes announced the launch of ‘Lit Avengers Salon’, a new community for book discussion, beginning this month.

I’m extremely pleased to announce that in January 2021, we are launching Lit Avengers Salon – a warm and affirming community where we discuss selected books ‘talk to each other’

📖 our first book pairings are: Kintu & Things Fall Apart

Join us 👇🏾https://t.co/MYTQJsmcOD pic.twitter.com/2zcvYUkIuh
— Books & Rhymes: The Podcast (@BooksAndRhymes) December 9, 2020

An online panel discussion took place on December 9th with Girls in Film South Africa on making independent short films:

#jointheconversation w/ Girls in Film South Africa on making independent short films.

9 December / 6PM

Sign up: https://t.co/24abYqCSvk pic.twitter.com/tEDkOW1i8c
— Southern Africa Arts – British Council (@SouthernAfrArts) December 9, 2020

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Congrats

Congratulations to Kaodilichi Ogamba for winning the inaugural Kalahari Short Story Competition with “My Husband’s Wife”!

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A post shared by Writivism Literary Initiative (@writivism)

And a huge congrats to Huza Press – named Brittle Paper’s Publishing House of the Year!

Really honoured and thrilled to be @brittlepaper's Publishing House of the Year!😃😃#brittlepaper #brittlepaperpersonoftheyear #publishinghouse #huzapress #publishing #Rwanda #my250 #africanlit @louiseumutoni @kate0wallis @Lucky_Grace1 https://t.co/Esz959skxk
— @huzapress (@HuzaPress) December 8, 2020

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Calls for…

Call for stories for new literary prize with Hekaya Arts Initiative and Mabati-Cornell Kiswahili Prize

Send in your stories. @HekayaEA @KiswahiliPrize pic.twitter.com/08k3uhoEad
— Munyao Kilolo (@MosesKilolo) December 4, 2020

Here’s a call for submissions for a collection entitled “Independent Publishing in Africa” that seeks to engage with publishing across the whole of the African continent!

ICYMI: Call for chapters for a collection entitled "Independent Publishing in Africa". You needn't be an academic! The organisers (@bethlrx & Tom Penfold) are looking for contributions from publishers too. Deadline for abstracts: 31 January 👉🏾 https://t.co/IcykiMYHiN
— Africa in Words (@AfricainWords) January 4, 2021

You needn’t be an academic, the organisers are looking for contributions from publishers. The deadline for abstracts is 31 January 2021. See more info via the link here: https://africainwords.com/call-for-chapters-independent…/

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Thank you all for reading, and for being here with us! As ever, if there’s anything you’d like to see featured on the site, don’t hesitate to get in touch. With all wishes for continuing health and safety, and creative power to you as we begin this new year…