AiW Guest: Ugochukwu Anadị. ‘Femi Morgan’s most recent collection The Year of Fire (Baron’s Cafe, 2021) is a poetry of lamentations, of anger, and of defiant resilience. Forming itself around (re)negotiations, of the self and space, the slim volume of… Read More ›
Chris Abani
Q&A with poet Romeo Oriogun: Sacrament of Bodies
AiW Guests: Fisayo Amodu, Dora Houghton & Bryony Gooch. Romeo Oriogun is an award-winning poet from Nigeria. His previous work includes the chapbooks Burnt Men, The Origin of Butterflies and Museum of Silence. He was also awarded the 2017 Brunel… Read More ›
Event: Abantu Book Festival (South Africa, 05-08 December)
The fourth Abantu Book Festival 05 – 08 December At Eyethu Lifestyle Centre, Mofolo & Soweto Theatre in Jabulani South Africa The Abantu Book Festival was founded in 2016 by a team led by Thando Mgqolozana for all people/ abantu… Read More ›
‘Strange and unsettling’: Review of ‘Lagos Noir’
Chris Abani‘s introduction to this strange and unsettling collection of noir shorts reveals the essence of the collection’s geographical inspiration: “the unsettled darkness that continues to lurk in the city’s streets, alleys, and waterways.” Lagos is the first African city… Read More ›
“An excoriating critique”: Review of Leye Adenle’s ‘When Trouble Sleeps’
AiW Guest: Sam Naidu. Leye Adenle’s noir thriller, When Trouble Sleeps, is an excoriating critique of contemporary Nigerian society. From the prologue, with its melodramatic plane crash to the surprisingly satisfying conclusion, this novel is relentless in its examination of… Read More ›
Review: New Generation African Poets: A Chapbook Box Set (Tano)
AiW Guest: Rashi Rohatgi. AiW note: This is the introduction to a series of poetry reviews on the New-Generation African Poets Chapbook Box Set from AiW Guest Rashi Rohatgi. Look for the follow-up reviews of the volumes in this box… Read More ›
Betwixt and between: A review of Mitu’s Spice Tour by Blessing Musariri
AiW Guest: Joanna Skelt This month, Joanna Skelt continues our deep dive into Eight New Generation African Poets with a review of Blessing Musariri’s Mitu’s Spice Tour. With a title evocative of a culinary travelogue, dreamcatcher-esque cover iconography and powerful series… Read More ›
Book Review: Writing the Nigeria-Biafra War, a new critical volume edited by Toyin Falola and Ogechukwu Ezekwem
AiW Guest: Matthew Lecznar To sum up the varied literary legacies of the Nigeria-Biafra War (1967-70) in a single volume is no easy task. The conflict, which ended in the deaths of an estimated 1-2 million people, has produced a… Read More ›
Call for Submissions: Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets, deadline 1 December 2016
Call for Submissions Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poets deadline 1 December 2016 The African Poetry Book Series is made possible through the generosity of philanthropists Laura and Robert F. X. Sillerman, whose generous contributions have facilitated the establishment… Read More ›
Deep Rivulets of Feeling: A Review of Viola Allo’s Bird from Africa
AiW Guest: Tamara Moellenberg This month, Tamara Moellenberg continues our deep dive into Eight New Generation African Poets with a review of Viola Allo’s Bird from Africa. Here is a poet who writes from herself, who seeks to express, not impress–though impress she… Read More ›
Memory and the Cartography of Dismembered Parts: A Review of Peter Akinlabi’s A Pagan Place
AiW Guest: Iquo DianaAbasi Eke. This month, AiW Guest, poet Iquo DianaAbasi Eke, continues our deep dive in The Eight New Generation African Poets with her review of Peter Akinlabi’s A Pagan Place. In this collection, Akinlabi comes across as an… Read More ›
Reading Lessons: The Chronic (“New Cartographies,” March 2015)
AiW Guest: Ed Charlton. When it comes to alliances and accords, Africa is full of them. Whether it is bilateral extradition treaties, regional trade agreements, or the pan-continental constitution of the African Union, there are everywhere traces of the extranational… Read More ›