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For decades, African speculative fiction has weaved together past and future, combining myths and legends with space exploration and social criticism and broadening the scope of both African and speculative literatures.In this original lecture, invited by The House of Literature and recorded digitally, Nigerian author Wole Talabi presents a timeline of African speculative fiction from its early beginnings and until the present day. Here, he reflects on the influence and importance of the genre, citing its central works and defining its distinguishing features.Wole Talabi is a Nigerian engineer and author of speculative fiction currently living in Perth, Australia. His published works include the short story collections Incomplete Solutions (2019) and Convergence Problems (2024), as well as the novel Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon (2023), which won the Nommo award for best novel in 2024. His short stories have been nominated for and won several awards, including the Sidewise, Nommo and Locus awards, as well as being awarded the Caine Prize for African Writing.Talabi also compiled a database of published works of African speculative fiction, which he edited from 2015 to 2021. He is also the editor of several anthologies of African speculative fiction, including the landmark publication Africanfuturism. An Anthology (2020) and remains one of the field's chief advocates and central thinkers.Works mentioned:Early Works (1930s – 1960s):Jean-Louis Njemba Medou – Nnanga Kon (1932)Muhammadu Bello Kagara – Gandoki (1934)D.O. Fagunwa – Forest of a Thousand Daemons (1938)Amos Tutuola – The Palm-Wine Drinkard (1952)Post-Independence Flourish (1960s – early 2000s):Sony Labou Tansi – Life and A Half (1979)Buchi Emecheta – The Rape of Shavi (1983)Kojo Laing – Woman of the Aeroplanes (1988)Ben Okri – The Famished Road (1991)Kojo Laing – Major Gentl and Achimota Wars (1992)Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o – The Wizard of the Crow (2004/2006)The Internet Age and Genre Recognition (early 2000s – early 2010's)Nnedi Okorafor – Zahrah the Windseeker (2005)Ahmed Khaled Towfik – Utopia (2008) Lauren Beukes – Moxyland (2008)Lauren Beukes – Zoo City (2010)Nnedi Okorafor – Who Fears Death (2010)Ivor Hartmann (ed.) – Afro SF (2012)Increasing Global Recognition (2010s – present):Deji Bryce Olukotun – Nigerians in Space (2014)Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi – Kintu (2014) Tade Thompson – Rosewater (2016)Tochi Onyebuchi – Beasts Made of Night (2017)Akwaeke Emezi – Freshwater (2018)Namwali Serpell – The Old Drift (2019)Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki – Ife-Iyoku, the Tale of Imadeyunuagbon (2020)Other works mentioned:Chinua Achebe – Things Fall Apart (1958)Helen Oyeyemi – The Icarus Girl (2005)Wole Talabi – Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon (2023)Weird Tales, fantasy and horror magazineJungle Jim, bi-monthly African pulp fiction magazineOmenana Speculative fiction magazineBlack Panther (dir. Ryan Coogler, 2018)“Afro-mythology and African futurism”, essay by Pamela Phatsimo SunstrumNnedi Okorafor – “Spider the Artist”Phoenix, publishing imprint at Ouida BooksMother, publishing imprint by Jacana MediaChikodili Emelumadu – Dazzling (2023)Yvette Lisa Ndlovu – Drinking from Graveyard Wells (2023)Pemi Aguda – Ghostroots (2024)Tlotlo Tsamaase – Womb City (2024)Suyi Davies Okungbowa – Warrior of The Wind (2023)T. L. Huchu – The Library of The Dead (2021)The Sauúti collective Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Playwright, academic, novelist and short story writer Nadia Davids, on what to make of her recent award for the 2024 Caine Prize for African Writing for her short story, Bridling, published in The Georgia Review in 2023, which saw a record-breaking 320 entries from 28 African countries all competing for the coveted prize.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Welcome to Pagecast at Open Book Cape Town, a special edition of the regular podcast brought to you by Jonathan Ball Publishers. Usually, we explore the latest in literature year-round, but in this episode, we're coming to you straight from the heart of the Open Book Festival—Cape Town's annual celebration of South African literature in an international context. In these festival-exclusive episodes, we sit down with some of the most inspiring voices in literature to delve into their stories, insights, and the powerful narratives that shape our world. Let's dive into the pages together! In this episode, Jonathan Ball Publishers Publicity Manager Jean-Marie Korff sits down with the talented Shubnum Khan, a South African author and artist. Her debut novel, Onion Tears, was shortlisted for both the Penguin Prize for African Writing and the University of Johannesburg Debut Prize for Writing in English. Shubnum holds a Master's degree in English and has earned several prestigious literary fellowships, including the Octavia Butler Fellow at Jack Jones Literary Arts and the Mellon Fellowship at Stellenbosch University. When she's not travelling, Shubnum resides in Durban, where she writes and draws for a living. Join us as we explore Shubnum's literary journey, creative process, and the stories that have shaped her remarkable career.
Amira Ghazalla reads a new short work from Leila Aboulela, as a woman remembers a childhood gift from her vibrant and beloved grandmother. Produced by Eilidh McCreadie Leila Aboulela is the first-ever winner of the Caine Prize for African Writing. Nominated three times for the Orange Prize (now the Women's Prize for Fiction), she is the author of novels, including Bird Summons, The Kindness of Enemies, The Translator (a New York Times Notable Book of the Year), Minaret and Lyrics Alley, Fiction Winner of the Scottish Book Awards. Her collection of short stories Elsewhere, Home won the Saltire Fiction Book of the Year. Leila's work has been translated into fifteen languages, and her plays The Insider, The Mystic Life and others were broadcast on BBC Radio. She grew up in Khartoum, Sudan, and now lives in Aberdeen, Scotland.
We discuss Nato's weakest flank in the Balkans, the growing rift in the US Republican Party as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's future is in question and the spread of the far right in Germany. Plus: we talk to Fareda Banda, judge of the Caine Prize for African Writing 2023, about last night's winners.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In the third episode of Color of Publishing, we focus on publishing perspectives from the United Kingdom with two prolific editors and writers, Margaret Busby and Ellah P. Wakatama. Host Bhakti Shringarpure engages the two experts in a wide-ranging conversation about the history of publishing in the UK, questions of diversity and representation, book acquisitions, taste and culture-making, and structural racism. Busby and Wakatama have been witness to the long arc of how publishing has evolved and they speak about the transformations they have witnessed in the business over the years but they also recall the times when diversity was almost non-existent. They are keen to celebrate the successes and the changes taking place in UK publishing as there are more opportunities now for Black, Asian and international writers. However, even as prizes, festivals and book advances grow, they worry whether the shift can be sustained. Busby and Wakatama also acknowledge the importance of camaraderie and shared mission between each other as Black women in publishing over the years .Margaret Busby is a Ghanaian born writer, editor and broadcaster. She was Britain's youngest and first black female book publisher when she co-founded the publishing house Allison and Busby in the 1960s. She has edited the Daughters of Africa anthology and the second New Daughters of Africa anthology. She was awarded the London Book Fair Lifetime Achievement award in 2021 and the CBE, and she is a member of The Royal Society of Literature. She was appointed the president of English PEN in 2023.Ellah P. Wakatama was born in Zimbabwe, educated in the US and has been a London-based writer and editor for the past many years. She is editor-at-large at Canongate Books and chair of the Caine Prize for African Writing. She has edited several anthologies and has contributed to several of them as well. She was given an OBE for services to the publishing industry in 2011, and New African Magazine also named her one of “100 Most Influential Africans” in 2016.
Leila Aboulela is one of my go-to authors. I know her words are always full of wisdom and inspiration, telling fascinating and insightful stories. I've read quite a few of her books over the last few years, and so I'm so thrilled that she was my guest on the show.In this episode, we talk about her new novel, River Spirit which is out in March 2023, published by Saqi Books in the UK. We also talk about historical fiction, re-centring women in historical narratives, understanding slavery and how it differed over time and throughout the world, and the role that faith plays in Leila's writing. Leila Aboulela is the first-ever winner of the Caine Prize for African Writing. Nominated three times for the Orange Prize (now the Women's Prize for Fiction), she is the author of numerous novels, including Bird Summons, The Kindness of Enemies, The Translator, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, Minaret and Lyrics Alley, which was Fiction Winner of the Scottish Book Awards. Her collection of short stories Elsewhere, Home won the Saltire Fiction Book of the Year. Leila's work has been translated into fifteen languages, and her plays The Insider, The Mystic Life and others were broadcast on BBC Radio. She grew up in Khartoum, Sudan, and now lives in Aberdeen, Scotland.You can find Leila on instagram on: @leilaaboulela If you enjoyed this episode, please like and follow the podcast on your platform of choice and do consider leaving a review. It helps more people find the podcast.Connnect with me on social media:www.instagram.com/readwithsamiawww.instagram.com/thediversebookshelfpod Support the show
Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor is an author, screenwriter, and former head of the Zanzibar International Film Festival. In 2003, the Kenyan won the Caine Prize for African Writing, and her 2013 debut novel, Dust, won the Jomo Kenyatta Prize for Literature. In 2015, Owuor visited the House of Literature, a visit that resulted in the Norwegian publication of Dust. The critically acclaimed The Dragonfly Sea followed in 2019. These authors are on Yvonnes reading list:Makena OnjericaOduor OkwiriDennis MugaaIdza LuhumyoTroy OnyangoRemy NgamijeGloria MwanigeKwame NyongoAleya KassamIn this podcastseries the House of Literature in Oslo, Norway invites writers and thinkers to talk about their work, what they read and present their readinglist from the African continent and diaspora. Interviewer in this episode Nosizwe Lise BaqwaEditing and production by the House of LiteratureMusic by Ibou Cissokho The House of Literature's project to promote African literature is supported by NORAD. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor er forfatter og manusforfatter fra Kenya. Hun har tidligere ledet Zanzibar internasjonale filmfestival. I 2003 vant hun novellekonkurransen Caine Prize for African Writing, og i 2013 kom debutromanen Dust, som ble tildelt Jomo Kenyatta Prize for Literature. I 2015 gjestet hun Litteraturhuset, et besøk som resulterte i norsk oversettelse og utgivelse av Dust. I 2019 fulgte den kritikerroste The Dragonfly Sea. Disse forfatterne er på Yvonnes leseliste. Makena OnjericaOduor OkwiriDennis MugaaIdza LuhumyoTroy OnyangoRemy NgamijeGloria MwanigeKwame NyongoAleya KassamHaji Gora HajiI denne podkastserien inviterer Stiftelsen Litteraturhuset forfattere og tenker til å snakke om sine forfatterskap, lesepraksis og sin leseliste fra det afrikanske kontinentet og diaspora. Intervjuer i denne episoden er Nosizwe Lise BaqwaRedigering og produksjon ved Stiftelsen Litteraturhuset. Musikk av Ibou Cissokho Litteraturhusets satsning på afrikansk litteratur er støttet av NORAD. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
On this special LARB Book Club episode of the Radio Hour, Boris Dralyuk and Medaya Ocher are joined by Namwali Serpell, to speak about her new novel, The Furrows. One of the most daring and protean literary voices working today, Serpell is a Zambian-born novelist and essayist, and a professor of English at Harvard University. Her debut novel, The Old Drift, a genre-bending saga tracing the legacies of three families, appeared in 2019 and won the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, the Arthur C. Clarke Award for science fiction, and the Los Angeles Times's Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction. Her equally unclassifiable — a compliment, that — work of nonfiction, Stranger Faces, appeared the following year, as part of Transit Books' series of Undelivered Lectures, and was a finalist for a National Book Critics Circle Award. Serpell is also the recipient of a 2020 Windham-Campbell Literature Prize, the 2015 Caine Prize for African Writing, and a 2011 Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers' Award. Like The Old Drift, The Furrows defies narrative conventions and readerly expectations, but it does so with a narrower aim in view, homing in on the after-affects — which are, truth be told, manifold — of a particular, though uncertain, trauma, an event that fractures the protagonist's life and sense of self at the age of 12. Blamed for the death of her younger brother, Cassandra is haunted by the presence of his absence — or is it simply his presence? — for the rest of her days. What Serpell's novel tells us is what Cassandra promises to tell us: not what happened, but how it felt. Also, Kathern Scanlan, author of Kick the Latch returns to recommend Charles Reznikoff's Testimony: The United States 1885-1915: Recitative.
On this special LARB Book Club episode of the Radio Hour, Boris Dralyuk and Medaya Ocher are joined by Namwali Serpell, to speak about her new novel, The Furrows. One of the most daring and protean literary voices working today, Serpell is a Zambian-born novelist and essayist, and a professor of English at Harvard University. Her debut novel, The Old Drift, a genre-bending saga tracing the legacies of three families, appeared in 2019 and won the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, the Arthur C. Clarke Award for science fiction, and the Los Angeles Times's Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction. Her equally unclassifiable — a compliment, that — work of nonfiction, Stranger Faces, appeared the following year, as part of Transit Books' series of Undelivered Lectures, and was a finalist for a National Book Critics Circle Award. Serpell is also the recipient of a 2020 Windham-Campbell Literature Prize, the 2015 Caine Prize for African Writing, and a 2011 Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers' Award. Like The Old Drift, The Furrows defies narrative conventions and readerly expectations, but it does so with a narrower aim in view, homing in on the after-affects — which are, truth be told, manifold — of a particular, though uncertain, trauma, an event that fractures the protagonist's life and sense of self at the age of 12. Blamed for the death of her younger brother, Cassandra is haunted by the presence of his absence — or is it simply his presence? — for the rest of her days. What Serpell's novel tells us is what Cassandra promises to tell us: not what happened, but how it felt. Also, Kathern Scanlan, author of Kick the Latch returns to recommend Charles Reznikoff's Testimony: The United States 1885-1915: Recitative.
Nigerian-American writer Chinelo Okparanta joins host Bhakti Shringarpure for an episode of BookRising as part of our Trailblazing African Feminists series. Okparanta was born in Nigeria and moved to the United States when she was 10 years old. She rose to prominence with her short story collection Happiness, Like Water (2013) which was a bittersweet reflection on the lives of Nigerian women living in Nigeria and in the US. Her next book Under the Udala Trees (2015) told the story of desire between two young girls as the war rages in 1960s Nigeria. This novel of queer, forbidden love established Okparanta as a fearless writer who could tackle difficult, politically charged topics. She has been the winner Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction in 2014 and 2016 and the Publishing Triangle's inaugural Betty Berzon Emerging Writer Award. Her books have been shortlisted for the Caine Prize for African Writing, the Etisalat Prize for Literature and many others, and she was selected by Granta for their Best of Young American Novelists list which is announced every decade. Okparanta's most recent novel is Harry Sylvester Bird which is a searing meditation on race in the United States and in which Okparanta writes through the consciousness of a liberal, white American male. In this podcast, she spoke honestly about her motivations for taking on this complicated experiment. Undergirding all her writing is her experience as a migrant in the US and challenges she is forced to navigate on a daily basis. Okparanta admits that her writing has always been motivated by a sense of social justice and a desire to work through all kinds of societal problems that plague her deeply. Bhakti Shringarpure is the Creative Director of Radical Books Collective.
Hosted by Andrew Keen, Keen On features conversations with some of the world's leading thinkers and writers about the economic, political, and technological issues being discussed in the news, right now. In this episode, Andrew is joined by Namwali Serpell, author of The Furrows. Namwali Serpell was born in Lusaka, Zambia, and lives in New York. She received a 2020 Windham-Campbell Literature Prize, the 2015 Caine Prize for African Writing, and a 2011 Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers' Award. Her debut novel, The Old Drift, won the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, the Arthur C. Clarke Award for science fiction, and the Los Angeles Times‘s Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction; it was named one of the 100 Notable Books of 2019 by the New York Times Book Review and one of Time magazine's 100 Must-Read Books of the Year. Her nonfiction book, Stranger Faces, was a finalist for a National Book Critics Circle Award for criticism. She is currently a professor of English at Harvard. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In Conversation with Dr Ayodele Sogunro In this episode, Dr Ayodele Sogunro who has completed his doctoral studies at the Centre for Human Rights, walks us through the academic journey of attaining his PhD with the Centre for Human Rights. His PhD thesis is titled ‘Advocacy, Social Control and the criminalisation of same-sex relationships: The Evolution and enforcement of ‘anti-gay laws in Nigeria'. His research focuses on a critical legal studies perspective of LGBTIQ+ issues in Nigeria, around political homophobia, socio-economic issues, and the need by advocates to understand wider state dynamics of homophobia and transphobia in systems of power. Dr Ayodele Sogunro is a Nigerian writer, lawyer and the Manager of the SOGIESC Unit at the Centre for Human Rights in the Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria. He is a legal and policy analyst with over ten years of field and courtroom experience in human rights law and advocacy in the African human rights system. Before joining the Centre, he was the Senior Legal Advisor with the Initiative for Equal Rights, a LGBT+ NGO in West Africa. His books include the short stories The Wonderful Life of Senator Boniface and other Sorry Tales and the collection of essays Everything in Nigeria is Going to Kill You. His literary essay, ‘One more nation bound in freedom: Themes from the Nigerian “anti-gay” law' was shortlisted for the 2016 Gerald Kraak Award for African Writing. He has written an article ‘Why #EndSARS won't quit' in relation to the protests. Visit Dr Ayodele Sogunro's blog: www.ayosogunro.com This conversation was recorded on 20 June 2022 Music: Inner Peace by Mike Chino https://soundcloud.com/mike-chinoCreative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported — CC BY-SA 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/0nI6qJeqFcc
Continuing our coverage of Kenya's upcoming presidential election, Africa Today comes from Kakamega, where agriculture is a big issue. We examine Kakamega's tradition of bullfighting, and how politicians use it come election time in order to garner votes. And we meet Kenyan author Idza Luhumyo, winner of the prestigious AKO Caine Prize for African Writing.
Guest: Rachel Zadok | Convener, Editor, and Fundraiser for Short Story Day AfricaSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Damon Galgut's novel, The Promise, explores the decline of the white Afrikaner Swart family and their failed promise to their black domestic servant. The family resist giving her, her own house and her own land as South Africa emerges from the era of apartheid. Land also occupies Julia Blackburn in her new book Dreaming the Karoo, which explores traces of the indigenous /Xam people who were driven from their ancestral lands in the 1870s. And, New Generation Thinker Jade Munslow Ong has been looking at the evolution of the farm novel and the ways in which South African literature maps experiences of displacement. They join Anne McElvoy to explore the ways in which writing has charted the personal and political histories of modern South Africa. Damon Galgut is a is a South African novelist and playwright. He was awarded the 2021 Booker Prize for his novel The Promise. Two of his previous novels were shortlisted in 2003 and 2010, The Good Doctor and In a Strange Room. He has written several plays. Julia Blackburn has written both fiction and non-fiction, including her memoir The Three of Us and the Orange Prize nominated novels The Book of Colour and The Leper's Companions. Her latest book, Dreaming the Karoo: A People Called the /Xam is published on 16th June 2022. Dr Jade Munslow Ong is a BBC Arts and Humanities Research Council New Generation Thinker. lectures in English literature and environmental literature at the University of Salford, specializing in colonial and post-colonial writing and fin de siècle cultures. She has published Olive Schreiner and African Modernism. Producer: Ruth Watts
Sudanese writer Leila Aboulela spoke with host Bhakti Shringarpure about East African and Sudanese literature, about Abdulrazak Gurnah's Nobel prize win, on writing about Muslim lives and Muslim cultures, and the ways in which the exciting shifts in readership across the Muslim world are shifting publishing paradigms. She commented on the ways in which the events of 9/11 and the ensuing wars altered the reception of books by her and other Muslim authors. Leila Aboulela is a writer from Sudan and currently lives in Aberdeen, Scotland. She has published five novels, two short story collections and many radio plays. She was the first every recipient of the Caine Prize for African Writing in the year 2000 for her short story "The Museum" and her novels have been long-listed for the Women's Prize for Fiction. Aboulela's short-story collection Elsewhere, Home was the winner of the 2018 Saltire Fiction Book of the Year Award. Bhakti Shringarpure is the Creative Director of the Radical Books Collective and the host for their BookRising podcast.
Meg Arenberg is joined by Kenyan novelist Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor to celebrate the momentous occasion of Abdulrazak Gurnah's Nobel Prize, in her words, "a family win." Owuor talks about Gurnah the man and the mentor, the textures of his writing and how it has influenced her own, and reflects on the cartographic imagination that nourishes both poetry and prose born from the Swahili seas. The conversation between Owuor and Arenberg is followed by a short reading from By the Sea (2001), one of Gurnah's most poignant depictions of the migrant experience and the rippling effects of colonial violence in the lives of ordinary people. In a few deft strokes, the passage orients us to the layered histories of Zanzibar's encounters with the world in both their raucous beauty and their brutality. Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor was born in Nairobi, Kenya. She studied English and History at the Kenyatta University, earned a Master of Arts degree at the University of Reading, UK, and an MPhil (Creative Writing) from the University of Queensland, Brisbane. From 2003 to 2005, she was the executive director of the Zanzibar International Film Festival under the remit of which a literary forum was established. Her short story, The Weight of Whispers, earned her the Caine Prize for African Writing in 2003. She is the author of two novels, Dust (2014) and The Dragonfly Sea (2019). Meg Arenberg is a writer, translator and scholar. She is a postdoctoral fellow in AMESALL at Rutgers University and Managing Director of the Radical Books Collective.
On November 30th, 2021, the Lannan Center presented a reading and talk featuring author Tope Folarin Introduction by Aminatta Forna.About Tope FolarinTope Folarin is a Nigerian-American writer based in Washington, D.C. He won the Caine Prize for African Writing in 2013 and was shortlisted once again in 2016. He was also recently named to the Africa39 list of the most promising African writers under 40. Folarin was educated at Morehouse College and the University of Oxford, where he earned two Masters degrees as a Rhodes Scholar. He is the author of A Particular Kind of Black Man (Simon & Schuster, 2019), and is currently the Lannan Creative Writing Visiting Lecturer at Georgetown University and Director of the Institute for Policy Studies.From A Particular Kind of Black ManShe told me I could serve her in heaven.She accompanied me to school each day. School was about a mile away, and a few hundred feet into my trek, just as my family's apartment building drifted out of view behind me, she would appear at my side.I don't remember how she looked. Memory often summons a generic figure in her place: an elderly white woman with frizzled gray hair, slightly bent over, a smile featuring an assortment of gaps and silver linings. I do remember her touch, however—it felt cool and papery, disarmingly comfortable on the hottest days of fall. She would often pat my head as we walked together, and a penetrating silence would cancel the morning sounds around us. I felt comfortable, protected somehow, in her presence. She never walked all the way to school with me, but her parting words were always the same:“Remember, if you are a good boy here on earth, you can serve me in heaven.”I was five years old. Her words sounded magical to me. Vast and alluring. I didn't know her, I barely knew her name, but the offer she held out to me each morning seemed far too generous to dismiss lightly. In class I would think about what servitude in heaven would be like. I imagined myself carrying buckets of water for her on streets of gold, rubbing her feet as angels sang praises in the background. I imagined that I'd have my own heavenly shack. I'd have time to do my own personal heavenly things as well.How else would I get to heaven?One day I told my father about her offer. We were talking about heaven, a favorite subject of his, and I mentioned that I already had a place there. “I've already found someone to serve,” I said.“What do you mean?”Dad smiled warmly at me. I felt his love. I repeated myself:“Daddy, I'm going to heaven.”“And how are you going to get there?”I told him about the old lady, my heavenly shack, the streets of gold. My father stared at me a moment, grief and sadness surging briefly to the surface of his face. And then anger. He leaned forward, stared into my eyes.“Listen to me now. The only person you will serve in heaven is God. You will serve no one else.”Music: Quantum Jazz — "Orbiting A Distant Planet" — Provided by Jamendo.
Michael talks with Tope Folarin about his first trip back to Salt Lake City in 27 years, decolonizing art, the whiteness of autofiction in the critical sphere, directing The Institute of Policy Studies, his debut novel A Particular Kind of Black Man, the naming of main characters in autofiction, a next book in progress, and more.Tope Folarin is a Nigerian-American writer based in Washington DC. His debut novel, A Particular Kind of Black Man, was published by Simon & Schuster in 2019, and he has garnered many awards for his work, including the Caine Prize for African Writing and more recently the Whiting Award for Fiction.If you'd like to hear Tope Folarin talk more about autofiction and whiteness (and more), check out his previous conversation with Teresa Carmody and Ryan Rivas on the Autofocus YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qc7T0yQ45fg.Podcast theme: DJ Garlik & Bertholet's "Special Sause" used with permission from Bertholet.
Welcome back to Got Books, the podcast about books, booksellers and bookmakers. Today I'll share with you 5 articles I read this week from the world of books, and then we'll chat to my guest Emily Feetham about one of her favourite books this year. Let's get to it. The Marginalian gives us a wonderful list of best books https://www.themarginalian.org/2012/01/30/writers-top-ten-favorite-books/ 11 New Books to be grateful for this week: https://lithub.com/11-new-books-to-be-grateful-for-this-week/ Samir Mansour is rebuilding his bookstore in Gaza: https://www.khaleejtimes.com/mena/sharjah-palestinian-publisher-to-rebuild-destroyed-library-after-sheikha-bodours-support Book-Ish, a Welsh indie bookstore, is crowdfunding https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-keep-bookish-on-the-high-street?utm_campaign=p_cf+share-flow-1&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer And finally, what a year for African Writing: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/nov/20/from-the-booker-to-the-nobel-why-2021-is-a-great-year-for-african-writing --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/gotbooks/message
Nigerian-British writer Irenosen Okojie and host Miriam Robinson discuss what would have happened if, in her early 20s, Irenosen had accepted a job as an editorial assistant at a magazine in New York. Along the way they discuss why mentors matter, the importance of embracing mess and why everything good starts with a fabulous lunch.Irenosen Okojie is a Nigerian-British author. In 2021 she was awarded an MBE For Services To Literature, and she is an RSL Fellow. Her debut novel Butterfly Fish won a 2016 Betty Trask Award. Her short story collection Speak Gigantular, was published was shortlisted for the inaugural Jhalak Prize and the 2017 Edge Hill Short Story Prize. Nudibranch, her collection of short stories, was longlisted for the Jhalak Prize 2020, and its story ‘Grace Jones' won the 2020 AKO Caine Prize for African Writing. Make sure to subscribe to hear the rest of Season 1 – in each episode, Miriam interviews a guest about a path their life might have taken and together, step by step, they write the stories of their unlived lives.Produced by Tess Davidson.#MyUnlivedLife Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Have you ever wanted to give up because you questioned if all the effort you've put into creating was worth it at all? My guest knows all about this and shows us how to remain committed to creating, despite the challenges along the way. In this episode, author Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond teases nuggets of gold from the toughest lessons she learned not just before but also after the debut of her novel “Powder Necklace”. Lessons like: Accepting that there's never going to be a perfect set of circumstances to make creating easier Learning to follow your creative spark even if it switches gears Knowing when something you've created has missed its time. Embracing the new parts of yourself you'll discover on your creating journey. Realizing that decision points don't just come once. They come again and again. Seeing that creating isn't an easy road that gets easier. It's not even a hard road that will get easier. It's often a hard road that gets harder. Even so. Keep going. It's still worth it. Even if you've never felt like you had "a book inside you waiting to come out" there's so much you're going to learn from this episode about committing to a creating journey that's windy, twisty, and gloriously imperfect! If you've never read Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond's debut novel “Powder Necklace” then you're missing out and need to "run not walk" to grab your copy! Learn more about what Nana is doing next by visiting: www.nanabrewhammond.com My Guest: Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond is an American-Ghanaian writer of novels, short stories, and a poet. In 2014 she was chosen as one of 39 of Sub-Saharan Africa's most promising writers under the age of 40, showcased in the Africa39 project. Nana has been featured on MSNBC, NY1, SaharaTV, ARISE TV and has been published in Ebony Magazine. Her writing has also appeared in New Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Writing by Women of African Descent, Everyday People: The Color of Life-A Short Story Anthology, African Writing, Los Angeles Review of Books, Sunday Salon, and the short story collection, Women's Work. Coming up next from Nana is a new novel, a children's picture book, and a short story in the anthology Accra Noir. About: The Reframe to Create podcast is hosted by Joy Spencer, an Executive Leadership and Storytelling Coach, Speaker, and Organizational Development Consultant working with professionals and leaders at all levels within organizations. Joy leverages over 17 years of experience she gained while working to champion change in social justice movements, including those related to global access to essential medicines and consumer advocacy for online privacy. This work required a dogged commitment to not merely challenging the status quo, but to reimagining and working towards creating an ideal future. It is this commitment to creating that has shaped Joy's coaching philosophy and approach today. Using her signature C.R.E.A.T.E. framework, Joy guides her clients through a process to become incomparable in work so they can get paid to be themselves. Follow Joy on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/joy-spencer/
Publishing a book is a long and unpredictable process that can seem opaque to new writers. Tope Folarin, author of A Particular Kind of Black Man, takes us on his journey from winning the 2013 Caine Prize for African Writing to landing a book deal to being awarded the 2021 Whiting Award for Fiction. We laugh at the Oscar-style ceremony in which he won his first prize, and then cry when we hear his editor slashed 50 pages of his manuscript. Plus, Tope, Courtney, and Rachel take a stab at magical realism during our signature writing exercise.
Rémy Ngamije is a Rwandan-born Namibian writer and photographer. He is the founder, chairperson, and artministrator of Doek, an independent arts organization in Namibia supporting the literary arts. He is also the cofounder and editor in chief of Doek! Literary Magazine, Namibia's first and only literary magazine. His work has appeared in AFREADA, The Johannesburg Review of Books, Brainwavez, American Chordata, Azure, Sultan's Seal, Columbia Journal, New Contrast, Lolwe, and many other publications. He was shortlisted for the AKO Caine Prize for African Writing in 2020 and 2021. He was also longlisted for the 2020 and 2021 Afritondo Short Story Prizes. In 2019, he was shortlisted for Best Original Fiction by Stack Magazines. More of his writing can be read on his website, RemytheQuill.com.
This week on The Cultural Frontline, Tumi Morake looks at writing from her country, South Africa – focussing on fiction, poetry, and language reflecting the country's history, politics, social make-up, and identity. Multi-award-winning author Damon Galgut's latest novel, The Promise, is his third to be nominated for the Booker Prize, and is in the final running. Set during South Africa's transition from apartheid, it explores its legacy through the decline of a white farming family, whose promise to their black maid - to give her the house she lives in - remains unfulfilled, as we follow them from the height of apartheid to the present day. Lebo Mashile is an acclaimed poet, actress and writer. It's been a tough year in South Africa – with the pandemic, political scandal, and violent civil unrest – but Lebo uses her poetry to try to make sense of what's happening in the world. She's been performing at the recent Poetry Africa international festival at the University of KwaZulu Natal, and spoke to reporter Mpho Lakaje about tackling big issues in her work. Plus, how a new dictionary - with the help of hip hop - can overcome inequality. The South African Kaaps language is commonly used by working class people, however speakers can be negatively stereotyped and suffer discrimination. Now a new Dictionary of Kaaps - in Kaaps, English, and Afrikaans - is being launched by the University of the Western Cape and a hip hop charity, Heal The Hood. Shaquile Southgate of the charity explains the difference he hopes the dictionary will make. And South African actor, activist, and playwright Dr John Kani. In spring 2020 he was in London performing in his new play, Kunene And The King, when the pandemic sadly brought it to a close. He speaks about the art that lifted his spirits in lockdown, and his love for the jazz of Hugh Masekela. Presented by Tumi Morake Produced by Emma Wallace, Mpho Lakaje, Mugabi Turya and Jack Thomason (Photo: Damon Galgut)
If I should stay, I would only get in your way. Caroline and Irenosen Okojie get extremely giddy about The Bodyguard, arguably the best date movie of all time. We talk about the tragic history of Whitney, the power of sister relationships in art, and the psychological weight of assassinations within contemporary culture. Irenosen is the author of several books, including the most recent Nudibranch. She is the winner of the Betty Trask award, the Caine Prize for African Writing, and was recently awarded an MBE for her services to literature. Caroline is an author and eats trash for dinner See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
In this week's episode, Kendra talks with Meron Hadero about her short story, “Street Sweep”, which recently won the AKO Caine Prize for African Writing. Plus, Didi sent along questions for Meron too! #TeamWork Thanks to our sponsors! House of CHANEL, creator of the iconic J12 sports watch. Always in motion, the J12 travels through time without ever losing its identity. Try MUBI for 30 Days at MUBI.com/ReadingWomen Check out our Patreon page to learn more about our book club and other Patreon-exclusive goodies. Follow along over on Instagram, join the discussion in our Goodreads group, and be sure to subscribe to our newsletter for more new books and extra book reviews! Things Mentioned AKO Caine Prize for African Writing - About the Prize Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing Didi's Introduction to the AKO Caine Prize Didi's Q&A with Iryn Tushabe Didi's Q&A with Meron Hadero Didi's Q&A with Doreen Baingana Books Mentioned “Street Sweep” by Meron Hadero A Down Home Meal for These Difficult Times: Stories Meron Recommends The Other Shortlisted Cain Prize Authors What it Means When a Man Falls from the Sky by Lesley Nneka Arimah The Office of Historical Corrections: A Novella and Stories by Danielle Evans The Shadow King by Maaza Mengiste Addis Ababa Noir (Akashic Noir) edited by Maaza Mengiste About the Author Meron Hadero is an Ethiopian-American who was born in Addis Ababa and came to the U.S. via Germany as a young child. She is the winner of the 2020 Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing. Her short stories have been shortlisted for the 2019 Caine Prize for African Writing and published in Zyzzyva, Ploughshares, Addis Ababa Noir, McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, The Iowa Review, The Missouri Review, New England Review, Best American Short Stories, among others. Website | Twitter | Facebook CONTACT Questions? Comments? Email us hello@readingwomenpodcast.com. SOCIAL MEDIA Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Website Music by Miki Saito with Isaac Greene Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Rwandan born Namibian writer Rémy Ngamije discusses his debut novel THE ETERNAL AUDIENCE OF ONE set in Windhoek, Namibia. Shortlisted for the Caine Prize for African Writing. More information about this author: www.realfictionradio.com
Today we're talking about getting comfortable in our own skin and overcoming self-doubt. Being an outsider doesn't mean you don't belong! Join Alisa, Rosa, and Dr. Merary as they chat with Elizabeth Colón-Revera, President & CEO of Metaphrasis Language & Cultural Solutions LLC, about how to own your reality by reframing it in a powerful way. Or as she puts it, "You don't have to compete with anyone. Not even yourself. You just have to be you." ––– "You can actually leverage being an outsider, in order to be the most unique and be the biggest voice in the room, and bring a new perspective to things that everybody else takes for granted." — Namwali Serpell, 2015 winner of the Caine Prize for African Writing ––– https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13927541/ (Join our LinkedIn group!) More from Elizabeth Colón-Rivera: https://metaphrasislcs.com/ (Metaphrasics.com) More from Rosa Santos: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rosa-santos-7b6ab02/ (LinkedIn) More from Dr. Merary Simeon: https://merarysimeon.com/ (MerarySimeon.com) More from Alisa Manjarrez: https://www.thehappycactus.club/ (The Happy Cactus) Get transcripts and more at https://www.colorforward.com/ (colorforward.com)
On this week's Cultural Frontline we consider the pleasure and the pain of literature in lockdown from the perspective of both writers and readers. Meron Hadero, the first Ethiopian writer to win The Caine Prize for African Writing, tells presenter Datshiane Navanayagam how she found refuge on the page in the pandemic and why she is drawn to write about displacement. The award-winning Australian novelist Tara June Winch reveals the impact of the coronavirus on her writing routine. The British actor and Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke discovered the essays of the late British author Jenny Diski during lockdown. Emilia speaks to poet and academic Dr Ian Patterson, who was married to Jenny, to discuss the power of cultural escapism in isolation. And, after revisiting her own early work during the pandemic, the renowned Russian author Ludmila Ulitskaya looks back on the radical reading that made her a writer in the Soviet Union. Presenter: Datshiane Navanayagam Producers: Kirsty McQuire, Olivia Skinner, Paul Waters (Photo: Meron Hadero Credit: Meron Hadero)
Join John Feffer and Tope Folarin as they discuss Feffer's "Songlands," the stand-alone finale to the Splinterlands trilogy. 2052. The world is a mess. The climate change meltdown has triggered an endless cycle of natural disasters. Nationalist paramilitaries battle against religious extremists. Multinational corporations, with their own security forces, have replaced global institutions as the only real power-brokers. Waves of pandemics have closed borders with such regularity that travel has become mostly virtual. describes humanity 's last shot at solving the world 's problems. Can Aurora assemble a team to reverse the splintering of the international community and avert an even more dystopian future? Speakers: John Feffer is a playwright and the author of several books including Aftershock: A Journey into Eastern Europe's Broken Dreams and the novels Splinterlands, and Frostlands. His articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Nation, Salon, and others. He is the director of Foreign Policy In Focus at the Institute for Policy Studies. Tope Folarin is a Nigerian-American writer based in Washington DC. He serves as Executive Director of the Institute for Policy Studies, and as the Lannan Visiting Lecturer in Creative Writing at Georgetown University. He has garnered many awards for his writing, including the Caine Prize for African Writing and the Whiting Award for Fiction. He was educated at Morehouse College and the University of Oxford, where he earned two Masters degrees as a Rhodes Scholar. His debut novel, A Particular Kind of Black Man, was published by Simon & Schuster. Order a copy of Songlands: https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/1654-songlands Watch the live event recording: https://youtu.be/0G3VcvWfzeU Buy books from Haymarket: www.haymarketbooks.org Follow us on Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/haymarketbooks
Percy Zvomuya, a writer and critic who has written for numerous publications, including Chimurenga, the Mail & Guardian, Moto in Zimbabwe, the Sunday Times and the London Review of Books blog. He is a co-founder of Johannesburg-based writing collective The Con and, in 2014, was one of the judges for the Caine Prize for African Writing. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
For a long time, African literature didn't get the recognition it deserved – certainly in the west. But walk into any bookshop nowadays and the shelves are piled high with African authors. More and more are winning international book awards, including Chigozie Obioma and Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi – who we hear from in today's episode. So, what's prompted this change? And what does it take for African writers to get global recognition? Victoria Uwonkunda finds out in today's episode of Africa Daily. Host: Victoria Uwonkunda (@Msuwonkunda on Twitter) Guests: Chigozie Obioma and Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi
Guests: Siphiwo Mahala | Author, Novelist, Short Story, Writer & Oplaywrite Fred Khumalo - Novelist Nokuthula Msimango - Contributor to Imbiza Journal See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
On April 20, 2021, we held a virtual reading and conversation with Irenosen Okojie, winner of the 2020 AKO Caine Prize for African Writing. Moderated by Prof. Lahra Smith, Director of African Studies Program.Irenosen Okojie is a Nigerian-British writer. She is the winner of the 2020 AKO Caine Prize For Fiction for her story, “Grace Jones.” Her debut novel Butterfly Fish won a Betty Trask award and was shortlisted for an Edinburgh International First Book Award. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, the Observer, the Guardian, the BBC and the Huffington Post amongst other publications. Her short stories have appeared internationally in publications including Salt's Best British Short Stories 2017, Kwani? and The Year's Best Weird Fiction. She was named at the London Short Story Festival by Booker Prize winning author Ben Okri OBE as a dynamic writing talent to watch and featured in the Evening Standard Magazine as one of London's exciting new authors. Her short story collection Speak Gigantular, published by Jacaranda Books was shortlisted for the Edgehill Short Story Prize, the Jhalak Prize, the Saboteur Awards and nominated for a Shirley Jackson Award. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Her collection of stories Nudibranch which includes her AKO Caine Prize winning “Grace Jones” is published by Dialogue Books.Lahra Smith is Director of the African Studies Program at Georgetown University. Smith is a Political Scientist with a particular interest in African politics, migration and refugees, and citizenship and equality. Her book, Making Citizens in Africa: Ethnicity, Gender and National Identity in Ethiopia, was published by Cambridge University Press in 2013. She teaches courses on migration, women and politics and theory and policy in Africa. Music: Quantum Jazz — "Orbiting A Distant Planet" — Provided by Jamendo.
Tope Folarin is a Nigerian-American writer. He won the 2013 Caine Prize for African Writing for his short story "Miracle". In his first novel, A Particular Kind of Black Man, Tope writes about a Nigerian family, new to America, as they try to assimilate and it takes from themes he had experienced throughout his life in America. Tope shares his grief story about his mother and her struggles with mental illness in this week’s episode. Key Takeaways: Tope shares his grief story. Tope’s mother didn’t pass away, but it felt like she was gone through her illness. When Tope’s mother left, a lot of deep wounds were created and there was just a lack of understanding on why. Tope had to undergo a very tough journey when it came to forgiveness of himself and his mother. How did Tope get over his anger? As a way to cope with Tope’s sadness and grief, he became hyper focused in school. Tope wanted to feel like a whole person again. We are all on this journey together. No one truly has all the answers. Do you believe ‘good things’ don’t happen to you? If you tie your life to achieving specific goals, you will never truly be happy. Tope’s father would always remind him to be thankful for everything you have. In every crisis, there is an opportunity. Grief can come in and then you end up structuring your life around it, not realizing there is a pest in your house. Tope shares some of the benefits he’s received by going through hardship. What advice does Tope have for someone going through grief? Resources: Topefolarin.com Tope Folarin Tope’s book: A Particular Kind of Black Man: A Novel
Anna and Annie discuss the winner of the 2020 Readings Prize for New Fiction, Smart Ovens for Lonely People by Elizabeth Tan. Our book of the week is Nudibranch by Irenosen Okojie. This collection of short stories was a Guardian Must Read Book of 2019. We read the story Grace Jones, which won the 2020 AKO Caine Prize for African Writing. Highly recommended. Coming up: The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters. Follow us! Facebook: Books On The Go Email: booksonthegopodcast@gmail.com Instagram: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie Twitter: @abailliekaras and @mister_annie LItsy: @abailliekaras and @mr_annie Credits Artwork: Sascha Wilkosz
Doreen Baingana is a short story writer and editor who has written popular books and stories like Tropical Fish that won the 2006 commonwealth writer's Prize , she has also worked on short stories and children's books. Some awards Doreen boasts of are the Washington Independent Writers Fiction Prize, and the Caine Prize for African Writing, which she came up as a finalist, twice. She has received fellowships and scholarships to the Bread Loaf Writers Conference and the Key West Writers Seminar, and an Artist's Grant from the District of Columbia. She took some time to talk about her year and the work she has been doing as she awaits 2021. Join us on the writer's lounge on storyzfromyhair to listen to Doreen talk about her craft and the year 2020. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/lucie-chihandae/support
Season 2 Episode 17: #EndSARS: Practical implications of the protests on Nigerian citizens In conversation with Ayodele Sogunro The Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, condemns police brutality and human rights violations in Nigeria. These violations are in response to demonstrations by Nigerians expressing concerns about gross human rights violations by the Nigerian Police Force (NPF), particularly by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), a tactical unit within the NPF designed to tackle incidents of armed robbery in Nigeria. In today’s episode we pick up from last week’s conversation on #EndSARS: The need to end police reform and justice for victims of police brutality in Nigeria. In this week’s episode, we discuss with Ayodele Sogunro (from the Centre for Human Rights), the contested issues surrounding the #EndSARS protests. The discussion assesses the accountability measures which have been taken by the Nigerian government to address protestors’ concerns. Furthermore, the conversation brings to light the real implications of these protests for people at the forefront of the #EndSARS movement. Calls to involve the International Criminal Court (ICC) in investigating the extra-judicial killings of the #LekkiMassacre have been made by Nigerian citizens and we seek to understand whether the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR) might be a better option under the circumstances. Ayodele Sogunro is a Nigerian writer and lawyer and the Manager of the SOGIESC Unit at the Centre for Human Rights in the Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria. He is a legal and policy analyst with over ten years of field and courtroom experience in human rights law and advocacy in the African human rights system. Before joining the Centre, he was the Senior Legal Advisor with the Initiative for Equal Rights, a LGBT+ NGO in West Africa. He is also currently undertaking his doctoral studies at the Centre. His focus is on a critical legal studies perspective of LGBTIQ+ issues in Nigeria, around political homophobia, socio-economic issues, and the need by advocates to understand wider state dynamics of homophobia and transphobia in systems of power. His books include the short stories The Wonderful Life of Senator Boniface and other Sorry Tales and the collection of essays Everything in Nigeria is Going to Kill You. His literary essay, ‘One more nation bound in freedom: Themes from the Nigerian “anti-gay” law’ was shortlisted for the 2016 Gerald Kraak Award for African Writing. He has written an article ‘Why #EndSARS won’t quit’ in relation to the protests. Ayodele Sogunro’s blog: www.ayosogunro.com This conversation was recorded on 29 October 2020. Music: Inner Peace by Mike Chino https://soundcloud.com/mike-chinoCreative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported — CC BY-SA 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/0nI6qJeqFcc
We Need New Names is the 2013 debut novel of expatriate Zimbabwean writer NoViolet Bulawayo. The first chapter of the book, "Hitting Budapest", initially presented as a story in the Boston Review, won the 2011 Caine Prize for African Writing.when the Chair of Judges, Hisham Matar, said: "The language of ‘Hitting Budapest' crackles. This is a story with moral power and weight, it has the artistry to refrain from moral commentary. NoViolet Bulawayo is a writer who takes delight in language." A coming-of-age story, We Need New Names tells of the life of a young girl named Darling, first as a 10-year-old in Zimbabwe, navigating a world of chaos and degradation with her friends, and later as a teenager in the Midwest United States, where a better future seems about to unfold when she goes to join an aunt working there --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/pbliving/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/pbliving/support
Ever wondered what goes on in the judging panels of literary prizes? We speak to Ebissé Wakjira Rouw, an Ethiopian-Dutch literary editor, publisher, co-founder of Dipsaus – a multi-media organisation that specialises in amplifying the voices and lived experiences of Black and People of Colour in the Netherlands. Ebissé was also a judge for the 2020 AKO Caine Prize for African Writing.In the first of our two-part conversation, we use the music of Destiny’s Child, Luniz & Jodeci to discuss the position that literary prizes occupy within the African landscape, and the process of judging the 2020 Caine Prize for Africa Writing. Ebissé also answers listeners questions submitted via our social media handles. Tune in next week for Part Two of our conversation when we discuss in detail, Black Lives Matter & publishing while Black in the Netherlands and Europe.Keep up to date with Ebissé by visiting dipsaus.org. Follow DipsausPodcast on Twitter: Twitter.com/DipsausPodcast and Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dipsauspodcastGet in touch with us via email: BooksAndRhymes@gmail.comFollow us on Instagram and Twitter: @BooksAndRhymes. Tweet your thoughts by using #BooksAndRhymes.Listen to playlist of the songs referenced in this episode on Spotify and DeezerThe song you heard in the intro and outro of this podcast is titled: Reset by Meakoom (Meakoom) the song is available for purchase on Bandcamp See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Nigerian British writer Irenosen Okojie has been announced as the winner of this year’s £10,000 Caine Prize for African Writing. It was awarded for her story Grace Jones from her recent collection Nudibranch. We speak to her about the story. Kit de Waal discusses Supporting Cast, her new collection of short stories featuring characters from two of her earlier novels - the international bestseller My Name is Leon and The Trick to Time. Shirley Collins is regarded by many as England’s greatest living traditional folk singer. She was a pivotal figure in the English folk song revival of the 60’s and ’70’s but lost her voice to a broken heart and fell silent for 38 years. In 2016, in her eighties, she returned to music with her album Lodestar, and now discusses her latest release - Heart’s Ease. Star of Hollywood's Golden Age Olivia de Havilland has died aged 104. Cultural historian Matthew Sweet celebrates her indomitable spirit, as a person as well as a performer. Presenter: Tom Sutcliffe Producer: Hannah Robins
We conclude our one-to-one conversation with the shortlisted writers for the 2020 AKO Caine Prize for African Writing. Today’s guest is Jowhor Ile, a Nigerian writer, author of the novel And After Many Days and visiting professor at West Virginia university whose story, Fisherman Stew is vying for the £10,000 prize.We use the music of Fela Kuti, Sade, Lauryn Hill, Nina Simone, Onyeka Owenu, Cardinal Rex Lawson and more as selected by Jowhor to discuss food as an expression of love in his story Fisherman's Stew - an intimate otherworldly love story. We also explore the process of conveying intimacy in writing, reflecting older women in romantic relationships and Jowhor’s writing habit.Listen to the playlist of the songs referenced in this episode Spotify, Deezer and YouTubeThe winner of the AKO Caine Prize will be announced online. Read the 2020 AKO Caine Prize shortlisted stories here.Get in touch with us via email: BooksAndRhymes@gmail.comFollow us on Instagram and Twitter: @BooksAndRhymesTweet your thoughts by using the hashtag #BooksAndRhymesThe song you heard in the intro and outro of this podcast is titled: Reset by Meakoom the song is available for purchase on BandcampListen to Rémy Ngamije's playlist to Fisherman on Brittle Paper Books referenced in this episode: Arrow of God – Chinua Achebe And After Many Days - Jowhor Ile What It Means When A Man Fall From the Sky – Lesley Nneka Arimah Quintessentially Efik Recepies: Foods of Nigeria-- Nky Iweka Longthroat Memoirs: Soups, Sex and Nigerian Taste Buds-- Yemisi Aribisala Songs referenced this episode: Berebote - Cardinal Jim Rex Lawson Nothing Even Matters - Lauryn Hill ft D’Angelo Iyogogo - Onyeka Onwenu Look before you Cross - Evi-Edna Ogholi Miles Runs the Voodoo Down - Miles Davis Nights - Frank Ocean Sade - The Sweetest Taboo Trouble Sleep Yanga go Wake Am - Fela Kuti (song) Lilac Wine - Nina Simone Listen to the full playlist on:Spotify,
Prominent Tanzanian opposition figure Tundu Lissu has returned home, three years after surviving an assassination in the capital, Dodoma. In Malawi, several high-profile individuals connected to the government of former president Peter Mutharika are being interrogated in relation to alleged corruption. Nigerian-British author Irenosen Okojie has been announced as the winner of the 2020 AKO Caine Prize for African Writing for her short story about a Grace Jones impersonator with a dark secret.
The Neighbourhood Watch is a narrative of five disenfranchised people on their quest for survival on the margins of society. We use the music of Hugh Masekela, Salif Keita, Yemi Alade, Lady Smith Black Mambazo - as selected by Rémy to unpack the intricacies of the story. We address poor representations of female characters in fiction written by men, while Rémy opens up about the triumphs and challenges of spearheading DoekLitMag.com, a literary journal expanding the reach of Namibian literature.We continue our special one-to-one interview with the shortlisted writers for the AKO Caine Prize for African Writing with Remy Ngamije, a Rwandan born, Namibian writer, editor and photographer whose story, The Neighbourhood Watch is vying for the £10,000 prize.Listen to Remy's playlist on Deezer, Spotify and YouTubeGet in touch with us via email: BooksAndRhymes@gmail.comFollow us on Instagram and Twitter: @BooksAndRhymesShare your thoughts on this episode using #BooksAndRhymesThe song you heard in the intro and outro of this podcast is titled: Reset by Meakoom the song is available on BandcampBooks referenced in this episode:The Silver Sword by Ian SerraillierAfrican Book of Short Story Writing – edited by Helon HabilaLittle Family – by Ishmael BeahLiterary Journals Referenced:Doek Lit Mag, Lolwe, Bakwa Magazine, Brittle Paper, Johannesburg Review of Books, Songs referenced this episode:Tomorrow – Salif KeitaSound Check - The MuffinzStimela – Hugh MasekelaMbube - Ladysmith Black MambazoAfrica – Salif KeitaAfrica – Yemy Alade ft. Sauti SolMake The Road by Walking - The Menahan Street Band See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
This week we're celebrating writing from some of the world's leading Black writers. The novelist, essayist and cultural commentator Roxane Gay on the political and personal power of writing. Roxane reflects on the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement, cancel culture and how publishing needs to change to become an industry that celebrates all voices. We hear from two short story writers each offering us a glimpse of very different sides of Africa. Tanzanian author Erica Sugo Anyadike charts the rise to power of an African President's wife while Namibian writer Rémy Ngamije follows the daily routine of a group of homeless people in the suburbs of Windhoek. Both stories are shortlisted for the AKO Caine Prize for African Writing. When British writer Candice Brathwaite couldn't find any books about Black British motherhood she could relate to, she decided to write her own. Candice tells us about her best-selling new book I Am Not Your Baby Mother. Plus: Are there poems that you return to again and again? The pioneering Jamaican dub poet Linton Kwesi Johnson explains what Martin Carter's Poems of Succession mean to him. Presented by Raifa Rafiq (Photo: Roxane Gay. Credit: Reginald Cunningham)
AKO Caine Prize for African Writing shortlisted writer, Erica Sugo Anyadike, the Tanzanian multi-hyphenated creative powerhouse discuss her subversive story, How To Marry an African President.We use selected music curated by Erica to unpack among other things, depictions of female partners of powerful men, Black women with care, and writing against the singular African narrative. We discuss the process of writing the How To Marry An African President, and what it means to truly demystify the process of writing. Read the shortlisted AKO Caine Prize stories including How To Marry and African President online at CainePrize.comListen to playlist of songs exclusively curated by Erica Sugo Anyadike for Books & Rhymes here The winner of the 2020 AKO Caine Prize for African Writing will be announced on Monday 27th of July, the announcement will be accompanied by the screening of a specially commissioned film by renowned filmmaker Joseph Adesunloye. The song you heard in the intro and outro of this podcast is titled: Reset by Meakoom the song is available on Bandcamp: https://meakoom.bandcamp.com/track/reset-books-rhymes-podcast-theme-songGet in touch with us via email: BooksAndRhymes@gmail.comFollow @BooksAndRhymes on Instagram and Twitter Share your thoughts on this episode using #BooksAndRhymes Books referenced in this episode: (Available for purchase online and in bookshops)In Live and Trouble – Alice Walker Songs referenced this episode:Suzanna - Sauti SolControl - Janet JacksonDon’t Let Me Be Misunderstood – Nina SimoneTyrone: Live - Erykah BaduIf I Were A Boy – Beyoncé See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Tope Folarin is a Nigerian-American writer based in Washington DC. He won the Caine Prize for African Writing in 2013 and was shortlisted once again in 2016. He was also recently named to the Africa39 list of the most promising African writers under 40. He serves as Vice President of Content and Storytelling at the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, and as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Institute for Policy Studies. He was educated at Morehouse College and the University of Oxford, where he earned two Masters degrees as a Rhovdes Scholar. His debut novel, A Particular Kind of Black Man, was published by Simon & Schuster
Ian McMillan explores African writing with Maaza Mengiste, Ekow Eshun, Jennifer Makumbi and Ellah Wakatama. Presenter: Ian McMillan Producer: Cecile Wright
English episode, English text below.Het zijn beangstigende en voor sommigen eenzame tijden, de meeste van ons hebben te maken met social distancing and isolation in these coronatimes. Maar Dipsaus is er voor jullie! We zijn in ons archief gedoken en hebben mooie gesprekken over literatoer gevonden! Afgelopen januari vond de 25e editie van het Winternachten Festival plaats in Den Haag en een van de redactieleden was our very own Ebissé. Een van de gesprekken die ze heeft georganiseerd ging over in hoeverre heeft Afrikaanse literatuur zich los kunnen wrikken van linguïstische kolonisatie? En hoe zit het met andere taalgebieden? Is de Engelstalige dominantie nog te stoppen of is het een verloren zaak? De Liberiaans-Nederlandse schrijver en dichter Vamba Sherif gaat in gesprek met de Amerikaans-Keniaanse schrijver, dichter, universitair docent Engels en activist Mukoma WaNgũ gĩ (wanugeh) en met Ellah Wakatama, directeur van de bekende Schotse uitgeverij Cannongate Books. Ze is ook Senior Research Fellow aan de Universiteit van Manchester en voorzitter van de Caine Prize for African Writing.These are frightening and for some of us lonely times. Most of us are having to deal with social distancing, isolation in these coronatimes. But Dipsaus to the rescue! Last January the 25th edition of Writers Unlimited festival took place in The Hague and one of the editorial members was our very own Ebissé. One of the conversations Ebissé organized was about to what extent has African literature been able to wrest itself free of linguistic colonization? And what about other languages? Can the predominance of English still be stopped, or is it a lost cause? Liberian-Dutch writer and poet Vamba Sherif discusses the issue with American-Kenyan writer, poet, university lecturer in English and activist Mukoma Wa Ngũgĩ and with Ellah Wakatama, Editor-at-Large of Scottish publishing firm Cannongate Books. She is also a senior Research Fellow at Manchester University and Chair
On February 18, 2020, the Lannan Center presented "Power and Language," a special event with Caine Prize winning writer Lesley Nneka Arimah. Welcome: Aminatta Forna (Director of the Lannan Center, Georgetown University). Introduction: Scott Taylor (Director of the African Studies Program, Georgetown University).Lesley Nneka Arimah is the author of “Skinned,” winner of the 2019 Caine Prize for African Writing; What It Means When A Man Falls From the Sky (2017), her debut short story collection; and “Light,” winner of the 2015 Commonwealth Short Story Prize for Africa. What It Means When A Man Falls From the Sky was chosen for the New York Times/PBS book club and won both the 2017 New York Public Library Young Lions Fiction Award and the 2017 Kirkus Prize. Arimah holds a BA in English from Florida State University and an MFA in Creative Writing from Minnesota State University. Currently, Arimah is a 2019 United States Artist Fellow in Writing living in Las Vegas.Music: Quantum Jazz — "Orbiting A Distant Planet" — Provided by Jamendo.
We begin this week's news wrap with a discussion of some of the best literature of the decade - thanks to a curated list by African Arguments - and we are extremely fortunate to feature one of these authors in this episode, Yvonne Owuor. Kim and Rachel also chat about films, China in Africa, cocoa price coordination in Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire, and a call for applicants to the next meeting of the Working Group in African Political Economy. Yvonne Owuor is an acclaimed author, winning the Caine Prize for African Writing in 2003 for her short story, The Weight of Whispers, and short-listed for the Folio Prize for her novel Dust (2014). She has recently published a beautiful coming-of-age story, The Dragonfly Sea (2019), that explores aspects of East African sea imagination in a time of China's return to its milieu. Owuor received the (Kenya) Head of State Commendation in 2016 for her cultural and artistic contributions. Rachel sat down with Yvonne at the Institute for Advanced Study in Nantes, where they are both Fellows, to discuss literary journeys, the "development industry," Kenyan politics, and a global, historical, and encompassing view on transregional exchange. Our featured segment with Yvonne begins at 11:22. … More Ep83. A conversation with Yvonne Owuor on development, politics, storytelling, and more
We love Books, Books, Books / Books, we do adore / Yo put your number on this paper cause we'd would love to date yaDid you miss us? We sure did miss ya! We hebben geprobeerd de leegte te vullen door middel van onze Instagram Stories, zo hebben jullie mee kunnen genieten van wat we allemaal hebben uitgespookt. Ja, lieve mensen, we zijn weer terug met een nieuw seizoen - Seizoen 5! - vol interessante gasten, onderwerpen en essays, reportages en interviews.We hebben de afgelopen maanden niet stilgezeten. In deze aflevering met Sayonara Stutgard een tipje van de sluier van de verschillende Dip-moves die we hebben gemaakt: afgelopen zomer brachten Sayonara en Ebissé een bezoek aan Africa Writes Festival gevolgd door de uitreiking van The Caine Prize for African Writing 2019 in London
The Belgian theatre director Ivo van Hove on staging Ayn Rand's ideas in The Fountainhead. 'The theme of my novel', said Ayn Rand, 'is the struggle between individualism and collectivism, not in the political arena but in the human soul. Plus Shahidha Bari meets Lesley Nneka Arimah, the winner of the 2019 Caine Prize for African Writing and looks at sex lives on screen and in print. How much do women share and how quickly do ideas about shame and acceptance come into play? Zoe Strimpel researches dating and sexual relationships and Lisa Taddeo has spent 8 years finding and tracking Three Women prepared to speak frankly about their desires. The Fountainhead runs at MIF July 10th - 13th performed by Ivo van Hove's Internationaal Theater Amsterdam ensemble. You can read all the stories shortliste for the Caine Prize here http://caineprize.com/ and hear interviews with past winners on Free Thinking https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0b89ssp https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p040rr3n Louise Egbunike looks at Afrofuturism in this Radio 3 Sunday Feature https://bbc.in/2LkSmR9 Three Women by Lisa Taddeo is out now. Irenosen Okojie's film on Black Joy is here https://bbc.in/2Nx5IeY Free Thinking on Consent https://bbc.in/2XCH5St Free Thinking on Women, relationships and the law https://bbc.in/2C3svH1 Producer: Torquil MacLeod
A special live episode recording with the shortlisted writers for the Caine Prize for African Writing, 2019: Lesley Nneka Arimah (Nigeria)‘Skinned’, Meron Hadero (Ethiopia) ‘The Wall’, Cherrie Kandie (Kenya) for ‘Sew My Mouth’ Ngwah-Mbo Nana Nkweti (Cameroon) for ‘It Takes A Village Some Say’, and Tochukwu Emmanuel Okafor (Nigeria) for ‘All Our Lives’; in partnership with the Caine Prize.The stories can be read in written and audio formats here: http://caineprize.com/the-shortlist-2019Tweet your thought on this episode using the hashtag #Booksandrhymes, follow @booksandrhymes on twitter and instagramA playlist of the songs featured in this episode including a specially curated soundtrack to each story is available on Spotify and YouTubeI’m so thankful for your positive feedback on previous episodes of the podcast. Subscribe to the mailing list at booksandrhymes.com.Do me a favour and subscribe, rate, and review Books & Rhymes on iTunes and your favourite podcast listening platforms.Tell your friends about the podcast and continue the conversation by following @booksAndRhymes on twitter, and instagramThe song you heard at the intro and outro is titled Dismembered by Meakoom. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Ellah Wakatama Allfrey is a former deputy editor at Granta magazine and former senior editor at Jonathan Cape, Random House. She has edited anthologies such as Africa 39. New Writing from Africa South of the Sahara and Safe House. Creative Non-Fiction From Africa. Allfrey has been a judge for a variety of literary prizes such as Man Booker, Dublin International Literary Award, and Commonwealth Short Story Prize. This year, she was appointed as the new chairwoman of the Caine Prize for African Writing. Furthermore, Ellah Wakatama Allfrey is the founding Publishing Director of The Indigo Press, a very exciting, fairly new-ish publisher.We sat down in April during the African Book Festival Berlin and talked about Allfrey’s path to becoming an editor, the genesis of Safe House, queer representation, the function of literary prizes, her experiences judging the Man Booker, and last but not least, The Indigo Press’ program.
Nandini Das and John Gallagher look at words for strangers in Tudor and Stuart England and ideas about civility. Plus Shahidha Bari talks to Makena Onjerika the winner of the 2018 Caine Prize for African Writing. And, as the NHS approaches its 70th anniversary, we discuss the relationship between care, institutions, and the concept of medicine with novelist and former nurse Christie Watson, and historian of the NHS Roberta Bivins. Nandini Das is working on the Tide Project http://www.tideproject.uk/ exploring travel and identity in England 1550 - 1700 She and John Gallagher are taking part in the Society for Renaissance Studies conference at Sheffield University this week. Christie Watson is the author of The Language of Kindness: A Nurse's Story. Producer: Luke Mulhall.
Welcome to the African Literary Podcast Episode 6. In this episode, we talk about the winners and shortlists of a series of literary prizes that Africans are eligible in. They include the Caine Prize for African Writing, Short Story Day Africa, Brunel African Poetry Prize, Dylan Thomas Prize, Africana Book Award, South Africa’s The Sunday Times Literary Awards 2018 shortlists, and Commonwealth Short Story Prize. And new books both fiction like Ayesha Harruna Attah by "The Hundred Wells of Salaga" and "My Name is Life" and Karen Bugingo, and nonfiction as well as new covers for Nnedi Okorafor and Zukiswa Wanner. You will also find an interview of Pede Hollist featured on the second section of the Podcast.
Writers have long created networks and connections by exchanging letters or writing back to one another in their poetry and fiction. Letters between Ernest Hemmingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald, or Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes, attest to the rich world of intellectual exchange beyond the pages of published works. In Grounds of Engagement: Apartheid-Era African American and South African Writing (University of Illinois Press, 2015), Stephane Robolin examines the conversations between writers on spatial terms. Paying attention to the transnational crossings and circulations of African American and South African writers through their travels, correspondence and published works, Robolin's study uncovers the metaphoric and sometimes quite literal grounds on which authors in different spaces contested the similar realities of racism and segregation that they experienced in South Africa and the United States. This study weaves together the voices of Langston Hughes, Richard Rive, Peter Abrahams, Richard Wright, Alice Walker, Bessie Head and others in a larger narrative about the spatial dimensions of Black transnationalism in the twentieth century. Stephane Robolin is an Associate Professor of English at Rutgers University where he also directs the Center for African Studies. He teaches courses in African Literature, African Diaspora Studies and Postcolonial Literature and Theory. Annette Joseph-Gabriel is an Assistant Professor of French and Francophone Studies at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Her forthcoming book, Decolonial Citizenship: Black Women's Resistance in the Francophone World, examines Caribbean and African women's literary and political contributions to anti-colonial movements. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/african-american-studies
Writers have long created networks and connections by exchanging letters or writing back to one another in their poetry and fiction. Letters between Ernest Hemmingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald, or Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes, attest to the rich world of intellectual exchange beyond the pages of published works. In Grounds of Engagement: Apartheid-Era African American and South African Writing (University of Illinois Press, 2015), Stephane Robolin examines the conversations between writers on spatial terms. Paying attention to the transnational crossings and circulations of African American and South African writers through their travels, correspondence and published works, Robolin’s study uncovers the metaphoric and sometimes quite literal grounds on which authors in different spaces contested the similar realities of racism and segregation that they experienced in South Africa and the United States. This study weaves together the voices of Langston Hughes, Richard Rive, Peter Abrahams, Richard Wright, Alice Walker, Bessie Head and others in a larger narrative about the spatial dimensions of Black transnationalism in the twentieth century. Stephane Robolin is an Associate Professor of English at Rutgers University where he also directs the Center for African Studies. He teaches courses in African Literature, African Diaspora Studies and Postcolonial Literature and Theory. Annette Joseph-Gabriel is an Assistant Professor of French and Francophone Studies at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Her forthcoming book, Decolonial Citizenship: Black Women’s Resistance in the Francophone World, examines Caribbean and African women’s literary and political contributions to anti-colonial movements. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Writers have long created networks and connections by exchanging letters or writing back to one another in their poetry and fiction. Letters between Ernest Hemmingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald, or Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes, attest to the rich world of intellectual exchange beyond the pages of published works. In Grounds of Engagement: Apartheid-Era African American and South African Writing (University of Illinois Press, 2015), Stephane Robolin examines the conversations between writers on spatial terms. Paying attention to the transnational crossings and circulations of African American and South African writers through their travels, correspondence and published works, Robolin’s study uncovers the metaphoric and sometimes quite literal grounds on which authors in different spaces contested the similar realities of racism and segregation that they experienced in South Africa and the United States. This study weaves together the voices of Langston Hughes, Richard Rive, Peter Abrahams, Richard Wright, Alice Walker, Bessie Head and others in a larger narrative about the spatial dimensions of Black transnationalism in the twentieth century. Stephane Robolin is an Associate Professor of English at Rutgers University where he also directs the Center for African Studies. He teaches courses in African Literature, African Diaspora Studies and Postcolonial Literature and Theory. Annette Joseph-Gabriel is an Assistant Professor of French and Francophone Studies at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Her forthcoming book, Decolonial Citizenship: Black Women’s Resistance in the Francophone World, examines Caribbean and African women’s literary and political contributions to anti-colonial movements. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Writers have long created networks and connections by exchanging letters or writing back to one another in their poetry and fiction. Letters between Ernest Hemmingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald, or Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes, attest to the rich world of intellectual exchange beyond the pages of published works. In Grounds of Engagement: Apartheid-Era African American and South African Writing (University of Illinois Press, 2015), Stephane Robolin examines the conversations between writers on spatial terms. Paying attention to the transnational crossings and circulations of African American and South African writers through their travels, correspondence and published works, Robolin’s study uncovers the metaphoric and sometimes quite literal grounds on which authors in different spaces contested the similar realities of racism and segregation that they experienced in South Africa and the United States. This study weaves together the voices of Langston Hughes, Richard Rive, Peter Abrahams, Richard Wright, Alice Walker, Bessie Head and others in a larger narrative about the spatial dimensions of Black transnationalism in the twentieth century. Stephane Robolin is an Associate Professor of English at Rutgers University where he also directs the Center for African Studies. He teaches courses in African Literature, African Diaspora Studies and Postcolonial Literature and Theory. Annette Joseph-Gabriel is an Assistant Professor of French and Francophone Studies at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Her forthcoming book, Decolonial Citizenship: Black Women’s Resistance in the Francophone World, examines Caribbean and African women’s literary and political contributions to anti-colonial movements. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Writers have long created networks and connections by exchanging letters or writing back to one another in their poetry and fiction. Letters between Ernest Hemmingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald, or Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes, attest to the rich world of intellectual exchange beyond the pages of published works. In Grounds of Engagement: Apartheid-Era African American and South African Writing (University of Illinois Press, 2015), Stephane Robolin examines the conversations between writers on spatial terms. Paying attention to the transnational crossings and circulations of African American and South African writers through their travels, correspondence and published works, Robolin’s study uncovers the metaphoric and sometimes quite literal grounds on which authors in different spaces contested the similar realities of racism and segregation that they experienced in South Africa and the United States. This study weaves together the voices of Langston Hughes, Richard Rive, Peter Abrahams, Richard Wright, Alice Walker, Bessie Head and others in a larger narrative about the spatial dimensions of Black transnationalism in the twentieth century. Stephane Robolin is an Associate Professor of English at Rutgers University where he also directs the Center for African Studies. He teaches courses in African Literature, African Diaspora Studies and Postcolonial Literature and Theory. Annette Joseph-Gabriel is an Assistant Professor of French and Francophone Studies at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Her forthcoming book, Decolonial Citizenship: Black Women’s Resistance in the Francophone World, examines Caribbean and African women’s literary and political contributions to anti-colonial movements. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Fine Music Radio — It’s the first Monday of the month so it’s welcome to BOOK CHOICE on Fine Music Radio 101.3, various other frequencies and on the web: www.fmr.co.za. I’m Gorry Bowes Taylor. This very happy hour Andrew Marjoribanks, Wordsworth Books, brings us a bagful of the best in fiction and non-fiction. Cindy Moritz suggests that you read and reread Forest Dark by Nicole Krauss and Beverley Roos Muller endorses George Saunder's Lincoln in the Bardo, as this year's brilliant winner of the Booker prize, as she takes a larger look at the Booker and its successes and controversies. Mike Fitzjames tries, as always to shred our nerves with three nerve-wracking crime stores. Vanessa Levenstein wonders how you live when your life is reduced to waiting for death as she reviews Asylum by Marcus Low and shares her thoughts on the powerful book, Khwezi - The Remarkable Story Of Fezekile Ntsukela Kuzwayo by Redi Thlabi. Melvin Minnaar suggests that you underestimate the clout of the brilliant short story –try What it Means When a Man Falls from the Sky by Lesley Nneka Ariman and The Accusation by Bandi, and Philip Todres offers us more short stories in a collection by the winners of the Caine Prize for African Writing, in The Goddess of Mtwara and other stories. Do stay awake –theres’s our easy-peasy competition question to win one of two R250 vouchers from Wordsworth Books. Andrew Marjoribanks, a bagful of the best in fiction and non-fiction from Wordsworth Books.
It's the first Monday of the month so it's welcome to BOOK CHOICE on Fine Music Radio 101.3, various other frequencies and on the web: www.fmr.co.za. I'm Gorry Bowes Taylor. This very happy hour Andrew Marjoribanks, Wordsworth Books, brings us a bagful of the best in fiction and non-fiction. Cindy Moritz suggests that you read and reread Forest Dark by Nicole Krauss and Beverley Roos Muller endorses George Saunder's Lincoln in the Bardo, as this year's brilliant winner of the Booker prize, as she takes a larger look at the Booker and its successes and controversies. Mike Fitzjames tries, as always to shred our nerves with three nerve-wracking crime stores. Vanessa Levenstein wonders how you live when your life is reduced to waiting for death as she reviews Asylum by Marcus Low and shares her thoughts on the powerful book, Khwezi - The Remarkable Story Of Fezekile Ntsukela Kuzwayo by Redi Thlabi. Melvin Minnaar suggests that you underestimate the clout of the brilliant short story –try What it Means When a Man Falls from the Sky by Lesley Nneka Ariman and The Accusation by Bandi, and Philip Todres offers us more short stories in a collection by the winners of the Caine Prize for African Writing, in The Goddess of Mtwara and other stories. Do stay awake –theres's our easy-peasy competition question to win one of two R250 vouchers from Wordsworth Books. Andrew Marjoribanks, a bagful of the best in fiction and non-fiction from Wordsworth Books.
Shahidha Bari discusses LGBTQ in the history of philosophy.As part of the BBC's Queer Icons series Philosopher Sophie-Grace Chappell discusses Plato's Symposium, and novelist Adam Mars-Jones talks about Bruce Bagemihl's book Biological Exuberance which explored homosexuality in the animal kingdom. Plus, we hear from the winner of this year's Caine Prize for African Writing. Queer Icons is a project to mark the 50th anniversary of the decriminalisation of homosexuality in which 50 leading figures choose an LGBTQ artwork that is special to them. You can find more details on the Front Row website on BBC Radio 4. You can find the BBC's Gay Britannia season of programmes on radio and tv collected on the website. They include documentaries, Drama on 3 from Joe Orton and exploring Victim the 1961 film starring Dirk Bogarde, episodes of Words and Music and more editions of Free Thinking including Philip Hoare on Cecil Beaton, Jake Arnott on Joe Orton and Peggy Reynolds on Sappho. Producer: Luke Mulhall
Nineveh (Unnamed Press) In Plain View (Unnamed Press) Join Skylight Books and Unnamed Press for a celebration of another year of fantastic independent literature and new novels by Henrietta Rose-Innes and Julie Shigekuni Known throughout the world as one of the new voices of South African writing, Henrietta Rose-Innes is presenting her US debut, Nineveh, alongside Julie Shigekuni, whose brand new novel In Plain View takes readers from Los Feliz to Japan. In Nineveh, Katya Grubbs, proprietor of Painless Pest Relocations, expertly wrangles every manner of wild critter, creature or beast with the help of her unwitting nephew, Toby. When she is hired to remove the exotic beetles that have overrun Nineveh, a new luxury housing development on the coast, Katya finds that bugs aren’t the only unwelcome creatures hiding in the new, and supposedly vacant, apartments. As she investigates further, it becomes clear that Nineveh is fast becoming an environmental, not to mention architectural, blunder. With marshlands encroaching on its borders, and the nearby seaside more menace than attraction, Katya becomes immersed in the world of Nineveh’s few residents—the mysterious caretakers and scavenger crews that survive in its shadow. It is only when her estranged father—a professional exterminator fallen on hard times—reappears in her life, that Nineveh’s deeper secrets are exposed. Henrietta Rose-Innes is a South African writer based in Cape Town and currently based in Norwich, UK. Nineveh was shortlisted for the M-Net Literary Award and the Sunday Times Fiction Prize, and in 2015 (in French translation, Ninive) it won the François Sommer Literary Prize. She's previously published a collection of short stories, Homing, and the novels Green Lion, Shark's Egg and The Rock Alphabet. She was the winner of the Caine Prize for African Writing in 2008. In 2012 her story “Sanctuary” came second in the BBC International Short Story Prize. In In Plain view, Daidai befriends Satsuki, one of her husband Hiroshi’s graduate students who has recently arrived from Japan. New to Los Angeles, Satsuki clings to her Japanese heritage and introduces Daidai, who is half-Japanese and raised in America, to many traditions. But soon, Satsuki is appearing at their home uninvited, and when news that Satsuki’s estranged mother has been found dead at a nearby monastery emerges, Daidai is suspicious of her new friend’s intentions. Daidai begins to investigate the death of Satsuki’s mother—an apparent suicide, but Hiroshi is appalled, and Satsuki feels betrayed. To smoothe things over, Daidai accompanies Satsuki to Mito, Japan to visit her wealthy father. Daidai struggles to better comprehend Satsuki’s troubled past and dysfunctional family, and the trip proves increasingly disastrous. Rattled by the events, Satsuki moves in to Daidai and Hiroshi’s apartment and her dangerous and erratic behavior forces Daidai to uncover the secrets of Satsuki’s past. When Hiroshi is suddenly very seriously ill, Daidai finds herself in a fight to save not just her marriage but her husband’s life. Julie Shigekuni is the author of four novels: A Bridge Between Us, Invisible Gardens, Unending Nora, and most recently In Plain View. Shigekuni was a finalist for the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award and the recipient of the PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Award for Excellence in Literature. She has received a Henfield Award and an American Japanese Literary Award for her writing. She teaches in the creative writing program at the University of New Mexico.
Novelist Namwali Serpell reads from, and explores the meaning of, her short story “The Sack,” winner of the prestigious Caine Prize for African Writing.
New Generation Thinker Victoria Donovan explores the links between Wales and Ukraine. Later this month the Wales Book of the Year Awards take place. We hear from Dr Emma Schofield about the way Welsh fiction has reflected debates since devolution. And talk to Lidudumalingani - winner of this year's Caine Prize for African Writing. And Alex Massie and Professor Richard Wyn Jones discuss the view from Scotland and Wales after the Brexit referendum. Dr Victoria Donovan researches Russian history and culture at the University of St Andrews. The New Generation Thinkers prize is an initiative launched by BBC Radio 3 and the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) to find the brightest minds from across the UK who have the potential to transform their research into engaging broadcast programmes. You can hear more about the research topics of all 10 2016 New Generation Thinkers on our website. You can read the Caine Prize story here http://caineprize.com/2016-shortlist/ The Wales Book of the Year Awards are announced on Thursday 21 July. The shortlists are: The Roland Mathias Poetry Award: Love Songs of Carbon, Philip Gross /Boy Running, Paul Henry /Pattern beyond Chance, Stephen Payne The Rhys Davies Fiction Award: The Girl in the Red Coat, Kate Hamer/ We Don't Know What We're Doing, Thomas Morris / I Saw a Man, Owen Sheers The Open University in Wales Creative Non-Fiction Award: Losing Israel, Jasmine Donahaye / Woman Who Brings the Rain, Eluned Gramich / Wales Unchained, Daniel G. Williams Aberystwyth University Welsh-language Poetry Award: Nes Draw, Mererid Hopwood / Hel llus yn y glaw, Gruffudd Owen / Eiliadau Tragwyddol, Cen Williams Welsh-language Fiction Award: Norte, Jon Gower / Y Bwthyn, Caryl Lewis / Rifiera Reu, Dewi Prysor The Open University in Wales Welsh-language Creative Non-Fiction Award: Pam Na Fu Cymru, Simon Brooks / Dyddiau Olaf Owain Glyndwr, Gruffydd Aled Williams / Is-deitla'n Unig, Emyr Glyn WilliamsProducer: Ruth Watts
*This episode originally aired as Cosmonauts Avenue podcast #8 in March 2015* Binyavanga Wainaina is one of Africa's and the world's most recognized literary figures. He is a highly accomplished and multi-award-winning author, editor, publisher and journalist. He rose to prominence after his short story "Discovering Home" won the 2002 Caine Prize for African Writing, after which he founded the influential literary magazine Kwani? - the first of its kind in East Africa. Following the renown of his 2003 satirical essay "How to Write About Africa," he was given an award by the Kenya Publisher's Association for his contributions to Kenyan literature. From 2008-2012 he was a Bard Fellow and Director of the Chinua Achebe Center for African Literature. His debut novel "One Day I Will Write About This Place" was published in 2011. In April 2014, Time Magazine named him one of the World's 100 Most Influential People.
April 17, 2015. Kenyan author Okwiri Oduor read from her prize-winning short story, "My Fathers Head" and participated in a moderated discussion. Speaker Biography: Okwiri Oduor is an author and winner of the 2014 Caine Prize for African Writing. For transcript, captions, and more information, visit http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/feature_wdesc.php?rec=6809
March 20, 2014. Tope Folarin read selections from his short story "Miracle" and was interviewed by the Library's Angel Batiste on the body of his work and on African contemporary literature. Speaker Biography: Nigerian author Tope Folarin is the winner of the 2013 Caine Prize for African Writing. For transcript, captions, and more information, visit http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/feature_wdesc.php?rec=6308
John Wilson talks to Nigel Havers and director Lucy Bailey about their revival of The Importance of Being Earnest, framed within the confines of an amateur dramatics production of the play. Art critic Charlotte Mullins reviews a major retrospective of Russian modernist Kazimir Malevich at Tate Modern. The winner of the Caine Prize for African writing, Okwiri Oduor, talks about her winning short story and the impact she hopes the prize will have on her Writing, and head judge, Jackie Kay, reveals why Okwiri's story was an unanimous winner. And author Michael Rosen on the enduring appeal of We're Going On A Bear Hunt, 25 years on and a record-beating reading.
Two very different stories with women as the central character. In Mrs. Bolanle Benson an older lady meets her lover for a tryst. in Martha Mauden & Co our central character is a woman with multiple personalities and who has committed a heinous act.
Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor was born in Nairobi, Kenya, and educated at Jomo Kenyatta University and the University of Reading. She received the 2003 Caine Prize for African Writing for her short story, “Weight of Whispers,” described by the BBC as a “subtle and suggestive work of fiction that dramatises the condition of refugees.” She has worked as a screenwriter and was the Executive Director of the Zanzibar International Film Festival from 2003 to 2005. Her writing has appeared in numerous publications worldwide including Kwani? and McSweeney’s, and her story “The Knife Grinder’s Tale” was made into a short film in 2005. She lives in Nairobi. DUST is a novel about a splintered family in Kenya—a story of power and deceit, unrequited love, survival and sacrifice. Odidi Oganda, running for his life, is gunned down in the streets of Nairobi. His grief-stricken sister, Ajany, just returned from Brazil, and their father bring his body back to their crumbling home in the Kenyan drylands, seeking some comfort and peace. But the murder has stirred memories long left untouched and unleashed a series of unexpected events: Odidi and Ajany’s mercurial mother flees in a fit of rage; a young Englishman arrives at the Ogandas’ house, seeking his missing father; a hardened policeman who has borne witness to unspeakable acts reopens a cold case; and an all-seeing Trader with a murky identity plots an overdue revenge. In scenes stretching from the violent upheaval of contemporary Kenya back through a shocking political assassination in 1969 and the Mau Mau uprisings against British colonial rule in the 1950s, we come to learn the secrets held by this parched landscape, buried deep within the shared past of the family and of a conflicted nation.
Join us for an afternoon of reading and conversation with Chinelo Okparanta and Sarah Ladipo Manyika co-presented by Museum of the African Diaspora and Litquake. Chinelo Okparanta will read from her highly acclaimed collection of short stories Happiness, Like Water. Born in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, Chinelo Okparanta earned her B.Sc. from the Pennsylvania State University, her M.A. from Rutgers University, and her M.F.A from the Iowa Writers' Workshop. Her collection of short stories entitled Happiness, Like Water was published this year by GRANTA in the UK and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in the US. She has been nominated for a United States Artists Fellowship in Literature, long-listed for the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award, and short-listed for the Caine Prize for African Writing. Sarah Ladipo Manyika was raised in Nigeria and has lived in Kenya, France, and England. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, and currently teaches literature at San Francisco State University. Her writing includes published essays, academic papers, book reviews and short stories. Sarah's first novel, In Dependence, is published by Legend Press.
Between The Covers : Conversations with Writers in Fiction, Nonfiction & Poetry
Born and raised in Zimbabwe, NoViolet Bulawayo earned her MFA at Cornell University where she was the recipient of the Truman Capote fellowship. In 2011 she won the biggest literary prize in Africa, the Caine Prize for African Writing for her short story “Hitting Budapest,” first published in the Boston Review. Bulawayo talks with Between […] The post NoViolet Bulawayo : We Need New Names appeared first on Tin House.