AiW note: To celebrate the past thirty years of independent publishing at African Books Collective (ABC), we are running a series highlighting the wonderful work of those who make up ABC. We will be talking to some of the publishers… Read More ›
Words on the Times
Q&A Words on the Times, Outriders Africa: Emmanuel Iduma
Today we have the pleasure of sharing our final post in the Words on the Times, Outriders Africa series with Nigerian writer Emmanuel Iduma, with an excerpt from his travelogue A Stranger’s Pose. Iduma was born in Akure, Nigeria and… Read More ›
Q&A: “We are happiest when we are representing publishers who want their books to be read” in conversation with Justin Cox, African Books Collective
AiW note: Justin Cox is the CEO of African Books Collective (ABC). ABC is an African owned, worldwide marketing and distribution outlet publishing books from Africa. It began trading in 1989 as a self-help initiative by a group of seventeen… Read More ›
Creative Times & Living Testimonies (3): “Changing everything” – Keiskamma artists on life, work, and the COVID-19 Tapestry of Resilience
AiW note: This week, we have been following and introducing the stories behind the Keiskamma COVID-19 Resilience Tapestry, an epic, ambitious response to the pandemic made by the Keiskamma Art Project in the rural hamlet of Hamburg, South Africa. As… Read More ›
Creative Times & Living Testimonies (2): “Connections are Strength” – Keiskamma artists on the COVID-19 Tapestry of Resilience
AiW note: Yesterday, as part of our Keiskamma COVID-19 Resilience Tapestry series, we introduced four artists from Keiskamma, leading on from Monday’s introduction to the work, which is currently underway. Today, in the second of our “meetings” posts with the… Read More ›
Creative Times & Living testimonies (1): Keiskamma artists on life and work, and the COVID-19 Tapestry of Resilience
AiW note: Our posts, running over 5 days this week, introduce the Keiskamma COVID-19 Resilience Tapestry through the place, the people – its makers – and their history. The ambitious tapestry, responding to the pandemic, is being made by the… Read More ›
Celebrating ‘The Decade Project’ with Brittle Paper: 10 AiW African Literary Cultural Faves
Literary blog and archiving platform Brittle Paper turns 10 this year! Happy birthday BP! This month we take up their invitation to join their celebrations in their #DecadeProject with a post marking the last ten years as a significant decade… Read More ›
Q&A: “No matter what, art and creativity can still shine through”: Words on the Times with Poda-Poda Stories’s Ngozi Cole
Poda-Poda Stories is a digital platform and literary journal that gathers rich stories from Sierra Leone and the Sierra Leonean diaspora, founded by Ngozi Cole in 2019. The name “Poda-Poda Stories” comes from Cole’s high school days where she travelled… Read More ›
Review: Physicality and Distortion in Dolla Sapeta’s ‘Skeptical Erections’
Mxolisi Dolla Sapeta is perhaps best known for his work as an artist and sculptor. In 2019, he made his literary debut with his first collection of poems, Skeptical Erections, published by Deep South. Reading Skeptical Erections makes it quickly… Read More ›
Caine Prize 2020 – “There’s been a lot of kindness and even rediscovery of a sense of community”: Words on the Times with the shortlisted writers.
Ahead of the announcement of the AKO Caine Prize’s winner today at 5pm BST, we were able to catch up with Erica Sugo Anyadike, Chikodili Emelumadu, Jowhor Ile, Rémy Ngamije for their Words on the Times – an AiW Q&A set inspired… Read More ›
Caine Prize 2020 & Africa Writes. Q&A: “[I]nvite our audiences to meditate on joy and re-center our humanity”: Ifeanyi Awachie’s Words on the Times
AiW note: In the first of Africa Writes’ online events this year, Ifeanyi Awachie, London-based Igbo curator and writer, will be in conversation with the 2020 AKO Caine Prize shortlisted writers this evening, Monday 20th July at 19.00 BST (20.00… Read More ›
Q&A: Words on the Times & Women leading in the arts – Carol Bouwer & Elana Brundyn of the Norval Foundation share their insights in a time of disruption.
“We must ensure that the women on our continent know that Elana Brundyn with her illustrious background in the art world, chose to attach her name as CEO to this great monument, and to serve with Nku Heita Nyembezi who… Read More ›
Words on the Times and a Past & (Everyone is) Present – Re-presenting Andrew van der Vlies’ review of Terry Kurgan’s “Everyone is Present”
AiW note: Yesterday, we published South African artist and photographer Terry Kurgan’s Words on the Times, an AiW Q&A set that offers a space for connection during the distancing measures necessitated by the coronavirus. In her responses, Kurgan discusses the copies… Read More ›
Q&A:Words on the Times – Terry Kurgan
Kurgan has achieved something rare in this book: a truly dynamic fusion of text and image. She brings a deep knowledge of craft to everyday images, whether she’s teasing fugitive meanings from a creased pre-war snapshot or taking the pulse… Read More ›
“A Thousand Tentative Tendrils”: Review of The Only Magic We Know: Selected Modjaji Poems 2004 to 2019
AiW Guest: Susanna Sacks. AiW note: This review is the fourth, and last, in a series of posts on the release of two anniversary collections from feminist indy press Modjaji Books – the short story anthology published last year, Fool’s Gold: Selected… Read More ›
Love, Loss and Migrant Womanhood: A Review of “Better Never Than Late” by Chika Unigwe
AiW Guest: Zahra Banday. AiW note: We caught up with our Guest Reviewer, Zahra Banday, for some of her Words on the Times – an AiW series of Q&As, connecting artists, writers, thinkers and educators in our new experiences of… Read More ›
Q&A: Words on the Times – Chika Unigwe
“This collection … is so wry and so generous, so astute about human deeds and misdeeds. Under Unigwe’s masterful hands, relationship – between Nigerians and Belgians, Naijas and Oyibo, priests and parish, bosses and workers, men and women, parents and… Read More ›
Q&A: Between the Generations- An Anthology for Ama Ata Aidoo at 80
AiW note: The launch of Between the Generations- An Anthology for Ama Ata Aidoo at 80, due to be hosted by Nigerian Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka in March, was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The book, marking the… Read More ›
The 23rd Time of the Writer: The First Virtual Literary Festival of 2020
The 23rd Time of the Writer International Festival – scheduled to take place in Durban, South Africa from 16th to 21st March – went online this year. In spite of challenges posed by the global pandemic, University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Centre… Read More ›
Review: What Diaspora Means Now – Nuruddin Farah’s ‘North of Dawn’
AiW Guest: Rashi Rohatgi. AiW note: We caught up with novelist, poet, and professor of World Literature – our guest author and reviewer here, Rashi Rohatgi – to ask for some of her Words on the times – an AiW… Read More ›
