This year the Aké Review (the official journal of the Aké Arts and Book Festival) asked guests ten questions ahead of the festival – from whether they write in their mother tongue to what karaoke song they would like to sing. Two of these… Read More ›
Conversations with – interview, dialogue, Q&A
From Aké to Kwani? Litfest: Ten Questions with Siphiwo Mahala
This year the Aké Review (the official journal of the Aké Arts and Book Festival) asked guests ten questions ahead of the festival – from whether they write in their mother tongue to what karaoke song they would like to sing. … Read More ›
Q&A: Pede Hollist
Posted in the run up to our review of the Caine Prize 2015 anthology Lusaka Punk and Other Stories, as part of a follow up series to our 2015 Blogging the Caine Prize – open to the ongoing public conversation the prize, and… Read More ›
Q&A: Namwali Serpell
Shortly before Namwali Serpell became the sixteenth winner of the Caine Prize for African Writing, I had the chance to ask her a couple of questions about reading her winning story ‘The Sack’ and its many modes of uncertainty. This Q&A forms part… Read More ›
Q&A: Masande Ntshanga
Posted in the run up to our review of the Caine Prize 2015 anthology Lusaka Punk and Other Stories, as part of a follow up series to our 2015 Blogging the Caine Prize – open to the ongoing public conversation the prize, and… Read More ›
Q&A: F.T. Kola
Recognising the critical debate that has surrounded it this year and in the past, AiW has followed the 2015 Caine Prize for African Writing by Blogging the Caine Prize again this year. Acknowledging the wider conversation, new and regular authors have shared… Read More ›
Q&A with Malawian Writer Ekari Mbvundula
AiW Guest Joanna Woods Living in Blantyre, Malawi, Ekari Mbvundula is a budding freelance writer whose talent is one to watch. Her work crosses literary genres, but she has a keen interest in science fiction. Her story ‘Montague’s Last’ has… Read More ›
Q&A: S.J. Naudé in conversation with Carli Coetzee
By AiW Guests: S.J. Naudé and Carli Coetzee. AiW note: S.J. Naudé was born in South Africa and studied at Cambridge University and Columbia University. After practising law in New York and London for many years, he returned to South Africa for… Read More ›
Q&A with author and Africa Writes guest Abubakar Adam Ibrahim
In advance of Africa Writes 2015, festival guest Abubakar Adam Ibrahim talks to AiW author Emma Shercliff about love, romance and the gendered nature of reading and writing in Northern Nigeria. Abubakar Adam Ibrahim will appear in two events during… Read More ›
Q&A with Muthi Nhlema: Time Travel, Nelson Mandela, and Digital Publishing
Malawian writer Muthi Nhlema’s story “Ta O’Reva,” about a time-traveling Nelson Mandela, is competing in a “Long-Short Story Contest” held by online publisher Freeditorial. The contest, which will conclude on July 4, 2015, will be decided by the highest number… Read More ›
Ankara Press: Q&A with Publisher Bibi Bakare-Yusuf
Ankara Press is a new romance imprint published by Nigerian publishing house Cassava Republic Press. The imprint launched on 15th December 2014 with six new titles, set in locations in Nigeria, South Africa and the UK. AiW author Emma Shercliff… Read More ›
Q&A: Felwine Sarr – Writer, musician and co-founder of Jimsaan publishing house (Dakar, Senegal)
Interview and translation by AiW Guest Ruth Bush Felwine Sarr co-founded Editions Jimsaan in 2012. His co-founders are Boubacar Boris Diop and Nafissatou Dia Diouf, both leading figures in the Senegalese cultural scene. Alongside Jimsaan, which seeks to showcase new writing… Read More ›
Walter Bgoya: Interview and Review of his Keynote Speech, ASAUK 2014
‘50 Years of Independence: Reflections on the Role of Progressive African Intellectuals’ As Walter Bgoya took to the microphone to begin his keynote speech at the African Studies Association UK’s biennial conference, I was immediately struck by his wisdom and… Read More ›
Q&A: Madhu Krishnan interviews novelist Okey Ndibe at Africa Writes
AiW Guest: Madhu Krishnan Okey Ndibe was born in Eastern Nigeria in 1960. A novelist, political columnist and essayist, he moved to the United States in 1988 at Chinua Achebe’s invitation, helping to found African Commentary. His critically-acclaimed first novel,… Read More ›
An interview with novelist Fred Soneka
Fred Soneka is a novelist living in Freetown, Sierra Leone, who recently published two novels: When The Axe Swings (2012) and Looking for Tanana (2013). When The Axe Swings explores the dynamics of a polygamous marriage as the woodcutter Woody… Read More ›
Sarah Lotz on Her New Global Thriller, ‘The Three’
Walking into Vroman’s—an independent bookstore in Pasadena, California, a place I’ve been coming since I was a kid—I was shocked to see Sarah Lotz’s name written neatly in red marker on the whiteboard announcing author talks. I’d just come back… Read More ›
Q&A: Jalada – pan-African writers’ collective
New pan-African writers’ collective Jalada formed last June and published their first anthology ‘Sketch of a Bald Woman in the Semi-Nude and Other Stories’ in January. Heralded by Binyavanga Wainaina as a new generation of writers producing exciting and original work, Jalada is already achieving significant critical… Read More ›
Q&A: Uche Peter Umez interviews poet Remi Raji
AiW Guest: Uche Peter Umez. “the good poem must and should be readable, friendly to the spoken word without being pedantic and pedestrian” Interviewer’s Note: Remi Raji, Nigerian poet, scholar, literary organiser, and cultural activist, is the author of six poetry… Read More ›
Perhaps you missed (Festive 2013 edition)
Following on from last week’s Mandela retrospective, here are some posts readers may wish to revisit – or discover for the first time from the AiW 2013 archive. If you’re a fan of the ‘best of’ lists that dominate publishing… Read More ›
Q&A: Uche Peter Umez interviews poet Musa Idris Okpanachi
AiW Guest: Uche Peter Umez. “Ironies and satires provide poetry with a kind of cynical beauty…” Interviewer’s Note: Musa Idris Okpanachi teaches English Linguistics at the Department of English, Federal University, Dutse, Jigawa State, Nigeria. His poems have appeared in Vultures… Read More ›