Nigerian writer Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeke is up for two Hugo Awards at the 80th World Science Fiction Convention. He is also scheduled to read and speak at the premier SF convention. Ekpeki’s U.S visa finally got approved after a long struggle.
African Author/Writer
Arts, Culture and Sport The Burden of the Writer’s Legacy
A year after his debut novella, Diaspora Dreams, Andrew Chatora thinks about the place of the African writer in the global context. Nominated for a major award in Zimbabwe, Diaspora Dreams interrogates identity, belonging and the migrant experience, a thread also followed by Chatora’s new novel, Where the Heart Is.
Arts, Culture and Sport Reflecting on South African novelist K. Sello Duiker’s art of madness and social justice
His major work The Quiet Violence of Dreams is about a young man undergoing a mental breakdown, something that the novelist also experienced.
Arts, Culture and Sport Dambudzo Marechera Ari pakati peN’angawo Here? – Chikamu 2: “Shona rimwe remadhimoni emughetto andaiedza kutiza”
Long Read | In this second essay of a seven-part Shona series, “Is Dambudzo Marechera also among Medicinemen?” Onai Mushava revisits Marechera’s famous statement, “Shona was part of the ghetto daemon I was trying to escape.”
Arts, Culture and Sport Dear Dambudzo Marechera… The letters Zimbabweans wrote to a literary star
The writer Dambudzo Marechera, who died on 18 August 1987, remains a popular figure in Zimbabwe. Hundreds of handwritten letters found in an archive have revealed the real import of the writer’s enduring influence.
Arts, Culture and Sport Poetry review: the thorned roses of Uganda’s Stella Nyanzi
Written from prison, the new book of poems by the writer, academic and activist shows her fire but also her deep love for Uganda.
Arts, Culture and Sport The eight must-read African novels to get you through lockdown
African academics draw up a reading list that speaks to the vibrancy of contemporary as well as older African literature.
Africans rising Nigerian author Chigozie Obioma shortlisted for the 2019 Booker Prize
The Booker Prize for Fiction has for years been criticised for favouring American novelists, and for four years running had no African writers in shortlist. Nigerian writer Chigozie Obioma has however beaten the odds as a twice shortlisted author for his novels ‘The Fishermen’ in 2015, and ‘An Orchestra of Minorities’ this year.
Africans rising Ethiopian writer Maaza Mengiste hand signs three forklifts of her new book The Shadow King
Ethiopian writer Maaza Mengiste has signed three forklifts of her latest book The Shadow King. The Shadow King is her second book, and it took her nearly four hours and three pens to sign the books.