AiW note: Afritondo is a media and publishing platform which aims to improve diversity in publishing by offering African and Black minority writers a platform on which to tell their stories. Afritondo publishes stories, essays, commentaries, and poems by established,… Read More ›
Reviews & Spotlights on…
Refocusing Le Retour: Three Franco-Senegalese Works
AiW Guest: Sebastian Boivin. In an increasingly dynamic and interconnected geopolitical and socioeconomic landscape, so many of us think about the journey of migrants; fewer about their return. Work regarding the topic, including in francophone text from Africa, has focused… Read More ›
Review: “too much water”? Sarah Lubala’s ‘A History of Disappearance’
Retelling her experience of meeting a Nigerian man on a crowded street in Hong Kong, the persona in Sarah Lubala’s “I am never more black”, from her 37-strong debut poetry collection A History of Disappearance (2022), concludes that “we are… Read More ›
Review: “Growing up lesbian in Nigeria”: Unoma Azuah’s “Embracing My Shadow”
AiW Guest: Pernille Nailor. Written in a clear and powerful language that commands our immediate attention, Unoma Azuah’s latest publication, Embracing My Shadow, is a moving and powerful memoir focusing on the author’s experiences of growing up as lesbian in… Read More ›
Review: “What language is he speaking?” – Musicians Abroad in Jamal Mahjoub’s ‘The Fugitives’
AiW Guest: Camilla Delhanty Jamal Mahjoub’s The Fugitives (Canongate, 2021) is a novel in three parts, detailing the reformation of the fictional Khartoum jazz band, the Kamanga Kings. We open with protagonist, Rushdy, son of a late member of the… Read More ›
The illusion of choice: a review of “Five Years Next Sunday” by Idza Luhumyo – AKO Caine Prize shortlist 2022 reviews
AiW Guest: Yamikani Mlangiza (Malawi) AiW note: Today’s post is the fifth in our annual guest reviews of the 2022 AKO Caine Prize 5 shortlisted stories. We’ll also be publishing Q&As with the shortlisted authors and, as in our previous years… Read More ›
“Sacks tied around our necks”: Joshua Chizoma’s ‘Collector of Memories’ – AKO Caine Prize shortlist 2022 reviews
AiW Guest: Innocent Akilimale Ngulube (Malawi) AiW note: The penultimate in our annual guest reviews of the 2022 AKO Caine Prize 5 shortlisted stories runs today. We’ll also be publishing Q&As with authors and others working with this year’s Prize,… Read More ›
‘Till Death Do Us Part’: A Review of ‘When a Man Loves a Woman’ by Nana-Ama Danquah – AKO Caine Prize shortlist 2022 reviews
AiW Guest: Joseph Kwanya (Kenya) Today’s post is the third of our annual guest reviews of the 5 stories shortlisted for the award in 2022. We’ll also be running Q&As with authors and others working with this year’s Prize, all… Read More ›
The glue that binds: Hannah Giorgis’ “A Double-Edged Inheritance” – AKO Caine Prize shortlist 2022 reviews
AiW Guest: Megan Brune (South Africa) AiW note: we’ve been holding a series of critical conversations around the work of the Caine Prize, now the AKO Caine Prize, each year since we first joined its “blogathon carnival” back in 2013…. Read More ›
Victims and Prey: The Agency of the Body Merchants in Billie McTernan’s “The Labadi Sunshine Bar”- AKO Caine Prize shortlist 2022 reviews
AiW Guest: Nnaemeka Ezema (Nigeria) AiW note: we’ve been holding a series of critical conversations around the work of the Caine Prize, now the AKO Caine Prize, each year since we first joined its “blogathon carnival” back in 2013. Today… Read More ›
Review: “An Odyssean coming-of-age” – A Long Way from Douala by Max Lobe
AiW note: Max Lobe was born in Douala, Cameroon. Last year marked the first publication in English translation of A Long Way from Douala (HopeRoad and Small Axes 2021, translated by Ros Schwartz), a novel which tackles important issues such as… Read More ›
“Our discomfort, my discomfort”: a review of ‘Anxious Joburg: The Inner Lives of a Global City’.
AiW Guest: Kagiso Nko. It is part of how Joburg narrates itself, in particular to itself. Editors’ Introduction – Nicky Falkof and Cobus van Staden. AiW note: This review of Anxious Joburg (Wits UP) was completed before our accompanying Review… Read More ›
Spotlight on… Ola Rotimi: The Revival of a Humanist
AiW Guest: Sanya Osha.With Osha’s Words on the Times – a Q&A subset inititated to connect us up in our experiences of the pandemic – below… Ola Rotimi is a major Nigerian dramatist who passed away in 2000. Some of… Read More ›
Review~ Revisiting Home: Language and Identity in Akosua Zimba Afiriyie-Hwedie’s ‘Born in a Second Language’
AiW Guest Victor Zuze. Akosua Zimba Afiriyie-Hwedie’s chapbook, Born in a Second Language (Button Poetry, July 2021), proves to be rich and complete. This owes to her storytelling prowess. She does not waste words. Her lines are suffused with striking… Read More ›
AiW long read: Caine 2021 – A prize coming of age
AiW Guest: Doseline Kiguru AiW note: As with every year since “Joining the Caine Prize ‘Blog-Carnival’” back in 2013 — Africa in Words has engaged with the AKO Caine Prize for African Writers in the run up to the winner… Read More ›
Review Caine 2021: “Repeat after me: My mother has been ushered into the spirit world” – Iryn Tushabe’s ‘A Separation’
We are absolutely delighted to announce the Shortlist for the 2021 AKO Caine Prize for African Writing! 🎉🙌🏿 Congratulations to all five of our shortlisted writers 📚@dbaing01 @remythequill @meronhadero @TroyOnyango @wordsweaver Read the stories here: https://t.co/ZezqOVweS7 pic.twitter.com/4O4XtynJXf — The AKO… Read More ›
Review Caine 2021: Leaps of Faith – Troy Onyango’s ‘This Little Light of Mine’
AiW Note: It’s that time of the year again and AiW’s annual review series of what is now the AKO Caine Prize for African Writing shortlist is back! Every day this week, we are publishing Guest reviews of the five… Read More ›
Review Caine 2021: Satirizing Injustice – Rémy Ngamije’s ‘The Giver of Nicknames’
We are absolutely delighted to announce the Shortlist for the 2021 AKO Caine Prize for African Writing! 🎉🙌🏿 Congratulations to all five of our shortlisted writers 📚@dbaing01 @remythequill @meronhadero @TroyOnyango @wordsweaver Read the stories here: https://t.co/ZezqOVweS7 pic.twitter.com/4O4XtynJXf — The AKO… Read More ›
Review Caine 2021: [Mis]understanding the Game – Meron Hadero’s ‘The Street Sweep’
AiW Note: It’s that time of the year again and AiW’s annual review series of what is now the AKO Caine Prize for African Writing shortlist is back! Every day this week, we are publishing Guest reviews of the five… Read More ›
Review Caine 2021: Acts of Humanity and Metaphors of Freedom – Doreen Baingana’s ‘Lucky’
AiW Note: It’s that time of the year again and AiW’s annual review series of what is now the AKO Caine Prize for African Writing shortlist is back! Every day this week, we will be publishing Guest reviews of the… Read More ›