After a difficult year for everyone, the holiday time is looking harder than before. A time to normally spend with family and relaxation has become one of stress and uncertainty. However, we hope that the holidays can still be a… Read More ›
Kristen Stern
Words on Teaching – Joanna Woods and Nicklas Hållén
AiW note: In our “Teaching” focus as part of our “Words on…” series, we’re thinking around print culture – books, images, texts, mags, spaces – and broad senses of what “teaching” might be, do, mean, or how it might produce… Read More ›
Caine Prize 2020: ‘Your appreciation of power will grow’: A Review of Erica Sugo Anyadike’s ‘How to Marry an African President’
AiW Note: AiW’s annual review series of what is now the AKO Caine Prize is back. We’ve been talking about prize culture for a long time at Africa in Words; Kate Wallis’s post on our joining the Caine Prize “blogathon” back in… Read More ›
Caine Prize 2020: “Every day is today”: A Review of Rémy Ngamije’s “The Neighbourhood Watch”
AiW Note: AiW’s annual review series of what is now the AKO Caine Prize is back. We’ve been talking about prize culture for a long time at Africa in Words; Kate Wallis’s post on our joining the Caine Prize “blogathon” back… Read More ›
Caine Prize 2020: Tragedy and Trauma in a Roland Mouret Jacket: A Review of Grace Jones by Irenosen Okojie
AiW Note: AiW’s annual Caine Prize review series is back. We’ve been talking about prize culture for a long time at Africa in Words; Kate Wallis started off this series in 2013. Over the five Fridays in July, we are reviewing… Read More ›
Conflicted writing: NGOs, African Literature and Autonomy. Review of Au-dessous du volcan
AiW Guest: Madeline Bedecarré Note de la rédaction: L’équipe d’Africa in Words est ravie de présenter aujourd’hui notre premier post en deux langues ! Pour la version en français de ce compte-rendu, cliquez ici. Part anthology, part conference proceedings, part… Read More ›
L’écriture conflictuelle: les ONG, la littérature africaine et l’autonomie. Compte-rendu de Au-dessous du volcan
Auteure invitée: Madeline Bedecarré AiW note: We are thrilled to publish today our first dual-language review! For the English-language version of this post, click here. Mi recueil de nouvelles, mi actes du colloque, avec un parfum de manifeste littéraire, Au-dessous… Read More ›
“Heroes and scholars are everywhere”: Q&A with Abu Amirah, founder of Hekaya
AiW Guest Aurélie Journo Author’s note: I met Abu Amirah when I attended the first Swahili Litfest he organised in March 2019 in Mombasa. After an exciting day of performances by high school students from selected schools Mombasa county in… Read More ›
Festive Favourites: Season’s Reading from Africa in Words
It is that time of year again when the holiday spirit begins to grow. For some, it is a time to spend with family and get away from it all. For others, the holidays might just be a good chance… Read More ›
Plagiarism, Intertextuality, and the Same Old Story: The Caine Prize Controversy is Not Original
On September 3, 2019, the Caine Prize for African Writing announced that it was removing Tochukwu Okafor’s “All Our Lives” from the 2019 short list for the Prize for short fiction for “failure to attribute an original source.” The 2019… Read More ›
Words on Teaching: ‘Creative Thinking, Bold Idea-ing, Do-it-yourselfing’: Literature and Education in Binyavanga Wainaina’s Works
AiW Guest: Ruth S. Wenske. AiW note: Welcome to the first in our new “Words on…” series. In “Words on Teaching,” we’re thinking around print culture – books, images, texts, mags, spaces – and broad senses of what “teaching” might… Read More ›
Caine Prize 2019 Shortlist: A Review of Tochukwo Okafor’s “All Our Lives”
AiW Note: The Caine Prize has recently removed Tochukwu Emmanuel Okafor’s “All Our Lives” from the 2019 shortlist, following a decision that there had been “failure to attribute an original source.” Short Story Day Africa, who awarded its 2017 Prize… Read More ›
Review: New Generation African Poets: A Chapbook Box Set (Tano Part 5, Juxtapositions)
AiW Guest: Rashi Rohatgi AiW note: This is the last in a series of poetry reviews on the New-Generation African Poets Chapbook Box Set from AiW Guest Rashi Rohatgi. You can find the introduction to this series here, and reviews of the… Read More ›
Q&A: Peter Kimani, author of Dance of the Jakaranda, talks with Maëline Le Lay
AiW Guest: Maëline Le Lay Peter Kimani is an award-winning author. He was 1 of 3 poets commissioned to compose and present a poem marking Obama’s 2009 inauguration. Born in 1971 in Kenya, he has won the Jomo Kenyatta Prize… Read More ›
Review: New Generation African Poets: A Chapbook Box Set (Tano Part 4, Memory)
AiW Guest: Rashi Rohatgi AiW note: This is the fifth in a series of poetry reviews on the New-Generation African Poets Chapbook Box Set from AiW Guest Rashi Rohatgi. You can find the introduction to this series here, and reviews… Read More ›
Q&A: “My poetry feeds imagination to memory.” Uchechukwu Peter Umezurike interviews D.M. Aderibigbe
AiW Guest: Uchechukwu Peter Umezurike D.M. Aderibigbe‘s first book, How the End First Showed won the 2018 Brittingham Prize in Poetry and is published by the University of Wisconsin Press, November 2018. His poems have appeared in The Nation, Poetry Review, Callaloo, jubilat,… Read More ›
Q&A: “Poetry as a vehicle for telling stories and interrogating memory.”Uchechukwu Peter Umezurike interviews Kólá Túbòsún
AiW Guest: Uchechukwu Peter Umezurike Kọlá Túbọsún is a Nigerian linguist and writer based in Lagos, Nigeria. He is a joint winner of the Saraba Magazine Manuscript Contest in 2017 and the winner of the 2018 Miles Morland Scholarship. He… Read More ›
Call for applications: Reviews Editor for Africa in Words. NEW Closing date 6 May 2019
Africa in Words is recruiting volunteers to join our small, friendly and entirely voluntary team. We are recruiting for our Reviews section. Africa in Words has an average of 6500 readers each month from over 100 countries. The blog’s Reviews… Read More ›
Review: New Generation African Poets: A Chapbook Box Set (Tano Part 3, Politics)
AiW Guest: Rashi Rohatgi AiW note: This is the fourth in a series of poetry reviews on the New-Generation African Poets Chapbook Box Set from AiW Guest Rashi Rohatgi. You can find the introduction to this series here, and reviews… Read More ›
Review: New Generation African Poets: A Chapbook Box Set (Tano Part 2, Heartache)
AiW Guest: Rashi Rohatgi AiW note: This is the third in a series of poetry reviews on the New-Generation African Poets Chapbook Box Set from AiW Guest Rashi Rohatgi. You can find the previous posts here and here; look for… Read More ›