On 4 December 2014, in the grand setting of Marlborough House (Binyavanga Wainaina wryly explains away his lateness as a consequence of getting lost in Prince Charles’s bedroom) a polite, excited crowd gathers to celebrate the publication of Yvonne Adhiambo… Read More ›
Search results for ‘Caine Prize’
What Are Publishers Looking For in Fiction?: Report from Ake Festival, November 2014
AiW Guest Emma Shercliff The theme of the second Ake Festival, which took place from 18-22 November 2014 in Abeokuta, Nigeria, was ‘Bridges and Pathways’. Festival Director Lola Shoneyin had emphasized that the focus this year would be ‘on building… 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 ›
Africa39: Hay Festival UK Events (29 November and 1 December 2014)
Following the recent launch of the Africa39 anthology, which selected and celebrates new work from the most promising 39 authors under the age of 40 from Sub-Saharan Africa and the diaspora, four writers published in the collection will appear in dialogue with editor Ellah… Read More ›
Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi’s ‘Kintu’ Made Me Want to Tell Our Stories
AiW Guest Nyana Kakoma When upcoming writers like me hear that Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi started writing Kintu in 2003, we despair. We reach into that part of our brain that always doubts that we will make it at this writing… Read More ›
“Out in Africa: Same-sex desire in sub saharan literatures and cultures” by Chantal Zabus (Review)
Mama still reminds me every once in a while that there are penalties in Nigeria for that sort of thing. And of course, she’s right. I’ve read of them in the newspapers and have heard of them on the… Read More ›
Africa 39 in Conversation: Review, Storymoja Festival
AiW Guest Alexander Nderitu Writers from the Africa39 list were in conversation at this year’s Storymoja Festival which took place from 17th to 21st September in Nairobi, Kenya. The young authors, ably moderated by Kenyan academic and literary critic Keguro Macharia, were: Jackee… Read More ›
Writers’ Boot Camp comes to Cape Town, 24 – 29 November 2014
Writers’ Boot Camp, Cape Town Submissions due by 31 October 2014 Writers’ Studio in conjunction with Cape Town Central Library present five days of writing workshops for emerging and established writers. Facilitated by acclaimed writers and teachers, and fueled by… Read More ›
Africa in Words readings with Billy Kahora, Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi and Alex Ntung at ASAUK Conference, 9th September 2014
Africa in Words, in association with the African Studies Association UK, Writing Our Legacy and Urbanflo Creative Partnerships, is delighted to present: WRITING EAST AND CENTRAL AFRICA: ACROSS GENRES IN PROSE Readings with authors Billy Kahora, Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi and… Read More ›
Update: Short Story Day Africa 2014 Long and Short lists – ‘Terra Incognita’
Hot on the heels of Okwiri Oduor’s Caine Prize win for ‘My Father’s Head’, published through Short Story Day Africa, SSDA announced the long list of eighteen stories that will make up their 2014 anthology, Terra Incognita, in August, and now,… Read More ›
The Story Club: Malawi’s Newest Literary Initiative Goes Off-line
Today, more and more literary events happen online. Readers argue over the plotlines of serialized ‘Facebook fiction.’ Writers tweet entire novels. And a Google Hangout with an author will draw a larger crowd than a signing at a local bookstore…. Read More ›
Africa Writes 2014 (11 – 13 July)
Africa Writes Friday 11 – Sunday 13 July 2014 The British Library, 96 Euston Road, London NW1 2DB Africa Writes – the Royal African Society’s annual literature and book festival promoting contemporary African writing – returns to The British Library…. Read More ›
Perhaps you missed… some South African-born short (plus a bit of long) fiction news
Some fiction news from South Africa in these last few weeks – the shorts: Twenty in 20 – a call for your bests of the South African short story since 1994 | the Sunday Times Lifestyle Magazine (27th… 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 ›
Making lists: Africa39
List culture has become as ‘ubiquitous’ a feature of contemporary cultural life as the prize culture James English writes about in his seminal The Economy of Prestige. Lists from The New Yorker’s 20 Under 40 to Granta’s Best Young British… Read More ›
Reviews: The Year Ahead in African Fiction
In my current capacity as Reviews Editor, I’d like to highlight in this post some of the new fiction that Africa in Words hopes to engage with in the coming months. While this list is by no means exhaustive and… Read More ›
‘Dust’ by Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor – review
AiW Guest jalida scheuerman-chianda The second time I met Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor she was sitting at a round wooden table in the garden of the Kwani? office in Nairobi, waiting to be interviewed on the launch of her debut novel… 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 ›
Reflections on a Kwani? Decade: 27–30 November 2013
In celebration of our 10th Anniversary, between 27th – 30th November 2013 Kwani Trust host a series of literary, creative and artistic events that reflect on our work and its place in the literary history of Kenya, East Africa and… Read More ›
Opportunities and Deadlines for African Writers
The deadline for the Morland Writing Scholarship is 31st October 2013. Up to 3 grants of £18,000 (paid monthly over the course of a year) will be awarded to early career writers to enable them to pursue their work…. Read More ›