African writers

London, 19 May 2020 - The shortlist for the 2020 AKO Caine Prize for African Writing has been announced, featuring five stories that "speak eloquently to the human condition" through a diverse array of themes and genres. This year's shortlist was determined virtually by the judging panel.

The shortlisted authors for this year's Prize are from Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda and Tanzania.  Read more

More than 200 people from 40 countries attended the International Publishers Association's Africa Rising summit on June 13 and 14 in Nairobi. The event featured panel discussions and presentations on the challenges of professional publishing, both trade and educational, in Africa.  Read more

In a focus session on "Digital Transformation and Disruption in African Publishing" at the International Publishers Association‘s (IPA) "Africa Rising" seminar in Nairobi, hosted by the Kenya Publishers Association, two panelists will have the same last name-and almost the same face.  Read more

Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart has been translated into over 50 languages, making it the most translated African novel. But almost 60 years after it was first published, there is no authoritative translation into Igbo, Achebe's mother tongue. An equivalent instance would be if Conrad's Heart of Darkness had not been translated into Polish. But even then, the comparison would not work.

African literature is the object of immense international interest across both academic and popular registers. Far from the field's earlier, post-colonial association with marginality, a handful of star "Afropolitan" names are at the forefront of global trade publishing.