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African Literature Online: African Literature Online A - E

African writers, literary journals, literary awards and prizes, book fairs and festivals, literary associations, blogs, radio programs, publishers, discussion groups, university web sites and more.

A - E

Achebe, Chinua

[Achebe, Chinua] New Yorker article by Ruth Franklin "After Empire: Chinua Achebe and the great African novel."
May 26, 2008 article.http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2008/05/26/080526crbo_books_franklin

Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi
The author's website. Adichie is a winner of a 2008 MacArthur [Genius] Fellowship. Adichie also won the 2007 Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction. Her 2009 TED talk - "The danger of a single story". https://www.chimamanda.com/

Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi
Nigerian writer. Biography of Adichie, bibliography, her awards, public events. Full text of some of her short stories, poetry, essays. Interviews and articles on the writer. Reviews of her works. Maintained by Daria Tunca, English Department, University of Liège, Belgium. http://www.cerep.ulg.ac.be/adichie/
See also an excerpt from My Mother the Crazy African.

Africa Access
Guide to children's literature on Africa. Reviews are written by univ. faculty, librarians, and teachers many of whom are in African studies or have lived in Africa. Use the Search to locate, for ex., Swahili culture.  Information on the Children's Africana Book Awards (CABA). Edited by Brenda Randolph. [KF] http://www.africaaccessreview.org/

Africa No Filter

  • Why Change the Way We Write About Africa. A storyteller's guide to reframing Africa. By Lerato Mogoatlhe. Published by Africa No Filter. 2022.
  • "ANF’s goal ..... is to leave an empowered narrative change ecosystem and an informed community of storytellers who work more deliberately to change harmful narratives within and about Africa." Has a grants program. Funded by the Ford Foundation, Bloomberg, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, British Council and others. http://www.africanofilter.org/


Africa Review of Books 
Full text online. Vol. 2, No. 1, 2006 - Vol. 14, No. 2, 2018. Published by the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA), Dakar, Senegal.  https://journals.codesria.org/index.php/arb/index
Print issues Vol. 1, No. 1, 2004 -  are in the Stanford University Library. https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/5557494

Africa Writes
The Royal African Society's annual African literature and book festival. "book launches, readings, author appearances, panel discussions, youth and children’s workshops," etc. Based in London. U.K. http://africawrites.org/ 

Africa's 100 Best Books
The African Studies Centre, Leiden dossier published in 2002 gives background, the top twelve list, the top 100 list and related web resources. A celebration of African writing, publishing and research sponsored by the Zimbabwe International Book Fair. Includes creative writing, academic writing, and children's books. http://www.ascleiden.nl/content/webdossiers/africas-100-best-books-20th-century
 

African Arguments - The Best African Books of 2023
https://africanarguments.org/2024/01/the-best-african-books-of-2023/
 

African Literature Association, ALA
"The African Literature Association is an independent non-profit professional open to scholars, teachers and writers from every country." http://www.africanlit.org

African Literature Association (U.S.) 2017 Conference, Yale University June 14-17, 2017

African Philosophy - Bruce B. Janz
Site on "philosophy which focuses on Africa, philosophy done in Africa, and philosophy that is part of the traditional conversation among African philosophers." Includes links to full text documents, reading lists, course syllabi, African philosophers, conferences, journals, topics within African philosophy, etc. Prof. Janz is with the Philosophy Dept., Augustana University College, Alberta, CANADA. https://faculty.cah.ucf.edu/bbjanz/resources/apr/

African Poetry Digital Portal
"biographical information, artifacts, news, video recording, images and documents related to African poetry from antiquity to the present" African poetry in the London Times, Sunday Times, Financial Times, the Times Literary Supplement 1865-1985. project of the African Poetry Book Fund. Support from the University of Nebraska and the Ford Foundation. https://africanpoetics.unl.edu/

African Postcolonial Literature in English
Part of the Postcolonial and Postimperial Web created by Professor George P. Landow, English and Art History, Brown University with contributions by Brown University students, postgraduate students, lecturers from the Univ. of Zimbabwe, and others. Information on South Africa, etc. Some areas lack information. http://www.postcolonialweb.org/misc/africov.html

African Storybook Project
Free online children's books in English, African languages, French, German, Afrikaans, Portuguese. Attractively illustrated. Create your own story and illustrate it with images from their image bank. From the South African Institute for Distance Education. [KF] http://www.africanstorybook.org/

African Studies Library, Leiden - Somali Literature
By Dr. Annachiara Raia. Essay and selected titles and web resources from the African Studies Library, Leiden, The Netherlands. https://www.ascleiden.nl/content/webdossiers/somali-literature

African Writers Trust
 For African writers in Africa and African writers in the diaspora. Has a Manuscript Assessment Programme giving feedback to writers in English. Holds seminars for writers. Based in Kampala, Uganda and London, U.K. https://africanwriterstrust.org/

African Writing Online (Oxford, U.K.)
"...online literary magazine featuring creative short fiction, essays, poetry, drama and art primarily from African writers and artists." "committed to the literature of continental and diasporic Africa." Writer interviews, profiles, fiction, poetry, tributes, reviews, readers' forum. Has a print edition also. Published by Fonthouse Ltd., Oxford, U.K. http://www.african-writing.com/hol/

Africultures, le mensuel des cultures africaines (Les Pilles, Nyons, France)
Mainly in French. Site for the print journal. Covers, arts, literature, cinema, music, theater, etc. Has selected full text articles. "...offers a French-language listings diary and information service updated every day, and a condensed monthly version in English." http://www.africultures.com

Afrolit-Sans-Frontieres
A virtual literary festival with leading names in African letters today with curation by Maaza Mengiste and Zukiswa Wanner. 16 writers from 14 countries streaming from 13 cities in English, French, and Portuguese over eight days.
Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/Afrolit-Sans-Frontieres-111661363846632/
Festival sessions https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=afrolit+sans+frontieres
New York Times article, "An African Literary Festival for the Age of Coronavirus" By Abdi Latif Dahir, May 14, 2020

AFROpoésie
In French. Shares/promotes poetry, welcomes visual art contributions. https://afropoesie.com/

Against All Odds. African Languages and Literatures into the 21st Century, Asmara, Eritrea, January 11-17, 2000
Site is closed. The Internet Archived has archived the site. In English, French, Tigrinya. An international conference and festival. Chairs are Ama Ata Aidoo, Mbulelo Mzamane, Nawal El Saadawi, Ngugi wa Thiong’o. Web site has a photo tour of Eritrea. See also the The Asmara Declaration on African Languages and Literatures. http://www.allodds.outreach.psu.edu/

Alternation (Durban, South Africa)
Journal published by the interdisciplinary Centre for the Study of Southern African Literature and Languages, University of KwaZulu-Natal (former University of Durban-Westville), South Africa. Volumes Vol 2. No. 2. 1995 and Vol 6. No. 1. 1999 are online. [KF] http://alternation.ukzn.ac.za/Homepage.aspx

Anansi: fiction of the African diaspora(New York, NY)
A literary journal for original short fiction & poetry by writers of African descent. Began publication Feb. 1999. Brief information only on the web site of the African American Literature Book Club. http://aalbc.com/writers/anansi.htm

Appiah, Kwame Anthony - Stanford Presidential Lecturer
Appiah was the Fall 2004 Presidential Lecturer at Stanford University. Essay by William McPheron (William Saroyan Curator for British and American Literature), excerpts from Appiah's works, and a bibliography of his books, essays, articles, reviews, interviews. https://web.archive.org/web/20041208195810/http://prelectur.stanford.edu/lecturers/appiah/index.html

[Armah, Ayi Kwei] Per Ankh Publishers
Ghanaian writer Ayi Kwei Armah's books published by his company, Per Ankh, based in Senegal, are sold in the U.S. through a site based in San Francisco, California. Descriptions of books, book covers. http://stores.bbkwan.com/

The Asmara Declaration on African Languages and Literatures
From the Jan. 2000 Asmara, Eritrea language and literature conference, Against All Odds. https://www.africa.upenn.edu/Govern_Political/asmrlit.html

[Atta] Sefi Atta
Official website of Nigerian writer Sefi Atta. Biography, links to her online short stories and the first chapter of her debut novel "Everything Good Will Come." http://www.sefiatta.com

AuthorMe
Online literary journal. Published Strange Fruit by Monica Arac de Nyeko from Uganda which was shortlisted for the 2004 Caine Prize for African Writing. See also Remember Atita, by Jackee Budesta Batanda; a short story "Highly Commended" in the Caine Prize for African Writing Contest - April 2004. Published by Cook Communication. Based in Sleepy Hollow, Illinois. [KF] http://www.author-me.com/fict04/strangefruit.htm

Ayebia Clarke Literary Agency & Publishing Ltd
"...specialises in quality African & Caribbean writing." Publishes fiction, poetry, drama, literary criticism, biography, and self-help. Co-founder, Becky Ayebia Clarke (from Ghana), was editor of the Heinemann African & Caribbean Writers Series. Lynne Rienner Publishers is the North American distributor for Ayebia Clarke Publishing Ltd. Includes book reviews. Based in the U.K. http://www.ayebia.co.uk/

Bakwa
In English. Cameroon literary magazine. https://bakwamagazine.com/

Banipal. Magazine of Modern Arab Literature
Ceased publication in 2022 with No. 75. Covered books from Mauritania, Sudan and other Arabic speaking countries. Banipal no. 55, Spring 2016 is a special on Sudanese Literature Today. Print issues at Stanford are at https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/5785442     https://www.banipal.co.uk/

Baobab Prize - Wikipedia Page
"...an annual award designed to encourage the reading and writing of African youth literature" [fiction for an audience of 8 - 11 years or 12 - 15 years]. "The author must be a citizen of an African state or a dual citizenship holder." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Golden_Baobab_Prize

Bartle, Lisa M. - Database of Award-winning Children's Literature
Search for books with African themes which have won American book awards. Bartle is a reference librarian at California State University, San Bernardino. Searches can be limited by reading level, language. [KF] http://www.dawcl.com/

Barungi, Violet
|Ugandan writer of novels, short stories, plays. Her "works deal mainly with human relationships, gender issues and education of the girl child." http://www.violetbarungi.com/

Besong, Bate
Weblog about the writer born in Nigeria of Cameroonian parents. Biography, bibliography of his writings, interviews, reviews of his writings, photographs. Comments from site visitors. Site based in Wilmington, Delaware. [KF] http://www.batebesong.com/

Beti, Mongo
Dossier Mongo Beti- The African Studies Centre, Leiden, Netherlands, Library, Documentation and Information Department has compiled a dossier on the Cameroonian writer, Mongo Beti, who died October 2001. "The dossier consists of an introduction on the man and his work, a list of publications by and about Mongo Beti, and a selection of Web resources. https://www.ascleiden.nl/content/webdossiers/mongo-beti
Ngwane, George - "Mongo Beti: the writer-gadfly" - Biography of Mongo Beti in "BPN [Bellagio Publishing Network] Newsletter, Issue No 30, May 2002. http://www.bellagiopublishingnetwork.com/newsletter30/ngwane.htm

Black Renaissance/Renaissance Noire (New York City)
Journal edited by Manthia Diawara, published by the Africana Studies Program, New York University. Ceased with vol. 19, no. 1 (2019).  https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/5675939

Blixen, Karen (Isak Dinesen) - Karen Blixen Museum
In Danish. On the Danish writer who lived in Kenya for 17 years, biography, her works, excerpts from her letters, photographs, and a graphic of a painting of an African girl by Blixen.The Blixen Archives are in Copenhagen. [KF] https://blixen.dk/

Blixen, Karen - Isak Dinesen
Site on Blixen by Linda G. Donelson, M.D. who has written a book about Blixen (Out of Isak Dinesen in Africa: Karen Blixen's untold story). Has a chronology, bibliography, many links to other sites about Blixen, her medical history (excerpt from Donelson's book). http://www.karenblixen.com/

Blogs

  • Kinna Reads. A blogger based in Ghana writes book reviews and commentary on novels, short stories and poetry.  Hosts the virtual Ghanaian Literature Week. Topics - Ghana Association of Writers Book Festival, Accra Book Club, Accra book shops, links to related blogs, etc. [KF] http://kinnareads.wordpress.com/
  • Writing Africa
    Formerly James Murua's Literature Blog. Interviews with writers, literary award announcements, literary festivals, new books, podcasts, Youtube channel. http://www.writingafrica.com/
     

British Library. African Writers' Club
892 radio programs and 179 interviews online, recorded in the 1960s. The radio program, Africa Abroad. African history programs (Professor Roland Oliver speaks with African historians). "radio plays, literary readings, reviews, interviews and talks, political discussions, magazine programmes and music tracks. Contributors include Wole Soyinka, Dennis Brutus, Lenrie Peters, John Pepper Clark, Richard Rive, Raymond Kunene, Chinua Achebe, Kofi Awoonor, Cosmo Pieterse, Ama Ata Aidoo, Chris McGregor and the Blue Notes, Dudu Pukwana and Abdullah Ibrahim." https://www.bl.uk/collections/african-writers-club

Brittle Paper -"An African Literary Experience"
Stories, poetry, reviews, interviews with writers, literary awards. Has an annual Notable African Books. Free E-anthologies on themes uch as writing/art from Nigeria, love in fiction, LGBTQI literature & arts. Email newsletter. https://brittlepaper.com/

Caine Prize for African Writing
The 2022 AKO Caine Prize was won by Idza Luhumyo for her story "Five Years Next Sunday" published in Disruption : new short fiction from Africa, edited by Karina Szczurek, Jason Mykl Snyman, and Rachel Zadok. [South Africa?] : Short Story Day Africa, 2021. The five candidates' stories can be read online.
The 2021 Prize was won by Ethiopian-American writer, Meron Hadero, for her short story, "Street Sweep" published in Zyzzyva (2018). The 2016 Caine Prize went to Lidudumalingani for his short story Memories We Lost.. "The Caine Prize for African Writing is named in memory of the late Sir Michael Caine, former Chairman of Booker plc." Previous winners. http://caineprize.com/

Callaloo: a Journal of African-American and Africans Arts and Letters
Subscription required.  2018 is the latest issue. Publishes original works by and critical studies of black writers worldwide. The Summer 1995 issue is a Special on Maryse Conde. https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/410947

CAMP. Catalog of Nigerian Pamphlets on Microfilm. Compiled by the African Collection, Yale University Library, New Haven, Connecticut for the Cooperative Africana Microform Project and the Center for Research Libraries.
Full text to the guide to the microfilm, 60 pages, in Adobe pdf. Citations to 1,000 pamphlets on microfilm. Included are market literature titles from the Simon Ottenberg collection. Types of pamphlets - Nigeria, Biafra, Southern Nigeria , British Colonial Office, government publications, market literature, political party pamphlets, church and religious pamphlets, magazines and other serials. Authors include Obafemi Awolowo, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Samuel A.Crowther, the Action Party, N.C.N.C. Dates range from the late 19th century to pre-World War II and the mid 1960s. Languages - English, Yoruba, Ibo, Hausa. There is an index by author and subject. The microfilmed pamphlets are available from CAMP, Cooperative African Micoform Project, based at the Center for Research Libraries, Chicago. The inventory is part of CAMP's Guides to Collections. [KF] http://www.crl.edu/areastudies/CAMP/collections/camppamp.htm

Cape Town Book Fair
http://www.capetownbookfair.com/

A Celebration of Women Writers
Indexes web sites on women writers by surname, country; includes birth/death dates where available. Search their database for women writers by country, name, ethnicity, date. .Maintained by Mary Mark Ockerbloom, Department of Computational Science, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh. [KF] http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/

Children's Africana Book Awards - Outreach Council, African Studies Association U.S.A.
The Outreach Council of the African Studies Association (U.S.) "annually honors outstanding authors and illustrators of children's books about Africa published in the United States." https://cfas.howard.edu/CABA 

Chimurenga Chronic
Print, now online journal. Literature, art, music. Supports the African Cities Reader series and the Pan African Space Station PASS, a periodic, pop-up live radio studio; a performance and exhibition space; a research platform and living archive. Based in Cape Town, South Africa. Stanford holdings of Chimurenga Chronic journal and Chimurenga. https://chimurengachronic.co.za/  

Chroniques littéraires africaines
In French. By The Book Jockey. Commentary on books about/from Africa and the diaspora, links to YouTube channels about African literature. http://chroniqueslitterairesafricaines.com/

Coetzee, John Maxwell
South African writer, John Coetzee won the 2003 Nobel Prize for Literature, as announced October 2, 2003.
Attwell, David. J.M. Coetzee: South Africa and the Politics of Writing. Berkeley, Cape Town: University of California Press, c1993. Full text book. http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft5k4006q3/
BBC Announcement of Nobel Prize, October 2, 2003. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3158278.stm

The Common
The literary magazine's issue No. 20 is on writing from "the Lusosphere: Portugal and its colonial and linguistic diaspora, with works in English and in translation exploring Lisbon, Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, and Mozambique." Fiction, essays, poetry. Based at Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts. https://www.thecommononline.org/issues/issue-20/

Commonwealth Short Story Prize
https://commonwealthfoundation.com/short-story-prize/

Conrad, Joseph - Heart of Darkness (1902)
Project Gutenberg. Full text of the work set in the former Belgian Congo. Frpm https://www.gutenberg.org/files/219/219-h/219-h.htm
 

Conversations With African Writers
"conversations with African writers, critics, and artists"  Some are in KiSwahili. Site curated by Prof. Ndirangu Wachanga of University of Wisconsin and Prof. Simon Gikandi of Princeton University.  https://www.wachangaproductions.com/conversations

  • Wole Soyinka
  • Tsitsi Dangarembga
  • Okey Ndibe
  • Mukuka Chipanta
  • Zuhura Yunus
  • Walter Bgoya
  • Aminatta Forna
  • Veronique Tadjo
  • Carole Boyce Davies
  • Ngugi Wa Thiong’o
  • Tsitsi Dangarembga
  • Tsitsi Jaji
  • Sisonke Msimang
  • Mukoma wa Ngugi
  • Otoniya J. Okot Bitek
  • Glaydah Namukasa
  • Boubacar Boris Diop
  • Yvonne A. Owuor
  • Imraan Coovadia
  • Micere Githae Mugo
  • Bethwell Ogot
  • Niyi Osundare
  • Tijan Sallah
  • Ken Kamoche

and

Writing Africa
Prof. Ndirangu Wachanga interviews -
Prof. Anima Adjepong
Prof. Naminata Diabate
Prof. Mariana P. Candido
Prof. Adélékè Adé
Prof. Cajetan Iheka
https://www.wachangaproductions.com/writing-africa
 

Prof. Ngugi w Thiong’o
Prof. Ato Quayson
Prof. Shobana Shankar
Prof. Ngugi w Thiong’o
Prof. Carole Boyce Davies
Prof. Moses E. Ochonu

and

  • Memory Project
  • Prof. Ndirangu Wachanga of University of Wisconsin hosts  "documentary biographies of leading African intellectuals to interrogate the African condition, histories and memories." Features - Wole Soyinka, Micere Githae Mugo, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, and Ali A. Mazrui (includes Mazrui's Newsletters, articles, poems, videos).  https://www.wachangaproductions.com/memory-project

 

Critical Arts
Topics include women's issues, documentary video production, popular culture, literature, etc. Based at the Graduate Program in Culture and Media Studies, University of Kwazulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa. [KF] https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/453987

Crossing Borders: New Writing from Africa
The work of writers from Botswana, Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Linked "young writers in Africa with experienced mentors in the UK." Funded by the British Council, designed and managed by the Department of English and Creative Writing at Lancaster University. http://www.transculturalwriting.com/radiophonics/contents/magazine/index.html

Dangarembga, Tsitsi - Wikipedia Page
Zimbabwe novelist, playwright, film director. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsitsi_Dangarembga

  • Cora Agatucci, Professor of English, Central Oregon Community College, has a site with references, links to related sites, and a study guide for Nervous Conditions. http://web.cocc.edu/cagatucci/classes/hum211/dangarembga.htm
     

Doek. A Literary Magazine from Namibia
"publishes short fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and visual art from Namibia and the African diaspora." Issue 1 is August 2019. Offers the Doek Literary Awards for the finest work by four Namibian contributors published in any issue of Doek!, in the categories of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and visual art. Founded by Mutaleni Nadimi and  Rémy Ngamije. Based in Windhoek, Namibia. https://doeklitmag.com/

Down River Road, DRR
"an online and print journal for fiction, nonfiction, poetry and ideas" Based in Nairobi, Kenya. https://downriverroad.org/

Ecrivains du Congo
In French. Directory of Congolese writers. Based in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. https://ecrivainsducongo.com/

English in Africa
Subscription required. "founded in 1974 to provide a forum for the study of African literature in English.... published twice a year (in May and October) by the Institute for the Study of English in Africa at Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa." Index [KF] https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/405462

Epalanga, Kalaf - "Whites Can Dance Too”
An excerpt from the novel, Whites Can Dance Too, to be published 2023 by Faber. Online in Bakwa 09, the Cameroon literary magazine. https://bakwamagazine.com/online-content/whites-can-dance-too/

Érudit - Literature Articles
In French, some English. Find full text journal articles (also books, theses) through a keyword Search. Examples of articles online:

  • Développement des langues africaines : De Yaoundé à Zanzibar
  • L'(in)satisfaction au travail des professeurs du second degré du Sénégal
  • Des lexiques en langues africaines (sängo, wolof, lingala) pour l'utilisateur de l'ordinateur
  • La traduction en anglais de la littérature francophone : perception du phénomène au Nigéria
  • Literary Translation in Africa : The Nigerian Experience

Erudit is a Canadian university sponsored project to disseminate the results (journals, books, theses, preprints) of university research. fara

Ethale Publishing
In Portuguese. "a Mozambican publishing house and creative agency" Has a YouTube channel, Ethale Talks (in Portuguese and some in English) on African culture, literature, and community. The Managing Director is Jessemusse Cacinda. Based in Maputo, Mozambique. https://www.ethalebooks.com/en/ethale-publishing/

 

 

 

     

 

  • Last Updated: May 8, 2024 8:56 AM
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Subjects: African literature