Tsitsi Dangarembga, the author of Nervous Conditions, a Zimbabwean classic.
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It reads powerfully in the Shona language, and is one of two of her books newly translated into it.
Detail from the cover of Langabi.
Mother/Jacana Media
Christopher Mlalazi, award-winning novelist, was inspired by the stories he was told by his grandparents as a child.
Lerato Mogoatlhe is the author of Vagabond.
Courtesy Lerato Mogoatlhe
The solo journey of a queer, black woman across the continent makes fascinating reading.
Detail from the cover of Peponi, the Kiswahili translation of Tanzanian Nobel Prize winner Abdulrazak Gurnah’s novel Paradise.
Mkuki Na Nyota
Swahili readers who have not encountered Abdulrazak Gurnah’s work in other languages are in for a great treat.
Henri Lopes wrote about the complexity of mixed race identity.
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Driven by social justice, he showed that all people are capable of both good and evil.
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Married couple Woppa Diallo and Mame Bougouma Diene won for their powerful short story A Soul of Small Places.
Zimbabwean author of We Need New Names, Noviolet Bulawayo.
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Variations of English names reveal the enduring effects of British rule - but there’s also a return to tradition.
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Digital platforms have birthed a new school of writers and activists in Nigeria and Kenya.
Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀, whose novel A Spell of Good Things has been longlisted for the 2023 Booker Prize.
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A Spell of Good Things powerfully explores polygamy, patriarchy, political corruption and poverty.
I Write Into the Yawning Void is Magona’s new book, released in the year she turns 80. Björn Rudner.
Björn Rudman
From domestic worker to matriarch of South African literature, the book is a reflection on her writing journey.
Paulina Chiziane in Portugal after being awarded the Camões Prize for writers from Portuguese-speaking countries.
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The Camões Prize is the most important award for Portuguese literature, and Paulina Chiziane is the first African woman to receive it.
Detail of a photo of Frank Anthony (front left) on Robben Island with Walter Sisulu (front right).
© Unknown/Courtesy Nelson Mandela Foundation
The activist and writer has been erased from South Africa’s history - but new academic work seeks to restore his voice.
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Novelist Petina Gappah’s call for translators on Facebook has resulted in the publication of Chimurenga Chemhuka.
Ama Ata Aidoo passed away at the age of 81.
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A commanding presence on the global literary stage, Ama Ata Aidoo was a powerful feminist voice with a prolific output.
Abdellah Taïa in Tangier, Morocco, in 2010.
Abdelhak Senna/AFP via Getty Images
His books bring north Africa into conversation with sub-Saharan Africa about lived queer experiences.
Famed director Ousmane Sembène (centre, with trademark pipe) and a group of extras on set.
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Born 100 years ago this year, Africa’s most legendary filmmaker - and a prolific novelist -remains relevant through his beautifully crafted political works.
Noviolet Bulawayo, Zimbabwean writer.
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Playing out in an animal kingdom, Glory is a devastating political commentary on Zimbabwe today.
Toyin Falola
Photo courtesy Boydell & Brewer
Indigenous knowledge, African languages, queer rights and Afrofuturism are some of the issues discussed in the new book.
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Banned 45 years ago, and its author detained, the Gikuyu language play Ngaahika Ndeenda profoundly shaped the literary legend.
Detail of a photo of Can Themba at Drum magazine.
Photo Jürgen Schadeberg courtesy Wits University Press
Abundantly talented and flawed, apartheid-era writer Can Themba wasn’t afraid to put his body on the line for a story.