“Books work from the inside out. They are a private conversation happening somewhere in the soul”
Nan Shepherd, The Living Mountain
The sweep of prizes won by African authors in 2021 was largely responsible for the year being regarded as the year of arrival for African literature. Indeed, African authors were the recipients of some of the widely, most high-gloss literary awards in the world, from the Nobel and the Booker Prizes to the Neustadt and International Booker Prizes, the latter awarded to writers from Senegal. The books selected for these ultimate accolades run the gamut of genres, refreshingly, and this is a good thing because no single book can represent the cultural and linguistic diversity of the African continent. As such, it encourages us to read widely and deeply to imbibe the myriad perspectives on those subjects being examined under each writer’s eye – be it nation, selfhood, mental health, race, history or ethnicity.
So read you must! Here are three superb books by African authors to get stuck into in 2022.
At Night All Blood Is Black – David Diop (translated by Anna Moschovakis)
‘This slight book is an extraordinarily powerful exploration of what happens to the souls of men sent to kill and be killed’ — The Times, Historical Fiction Books of the Year
This book was selected for Barack Obama’s summer reading list, so if it’s great enough for him…
Described by the Nigerian author Ben Okri as a “vital decolonisation of the narrative tyranny of the Great War” this heart-breaking yet poetic book’s core message, to me, is that our humanity and inhumanity are inextricably entwined.
It tells the forgotten history of French African soldiers in World War 1, and is a gripping, raw exercise in expressing trauma and anguish. Not an easy read, but an important one that invites the reader to think deeply and feel deeply. In so doing, it expertly balances the universal and the particular so as to be true to real places without surrendering artistry.
History made: Diop is the first French winner of the International Booker Prize.
The History of Man – Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu
“Ndlovu’s perceptive portrayal of her central
character at once highlights both the complexities and subtleties of the
colonial endeavour. Her strength is enabling her readers to feel both
anger and sympathy for him, for he is a real character and certainly no
stereotype. Ndlovu looks beyond the limits of race, revealing the
sadness, the vulnerability, the sheer joy of being human.”
Bryony Rheam, author of This September Sun
Through a unique vantage point, Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu explores decades of history through the gaze of one man, Emil, a White and civil servant on the wrong side of history, tracing his journey through love, loss, and war. With compassion, complexity, and penetrating insight, The History of Man offers insight into what it is to be a man, to be a father, to be a nation.
The Wanderers – Kindle Edition
This beautifully written book combines deep understanding of the divisions among Xhosa people during the 19th century with contemplation of how its main character, Ruru, mourning a father she never knew, finds new forms of cross-generational intimacy in her search for answers.
Oh, and! If you haven’t already done so, I recommend taking a look at our interview with award-winning Somali-British author Nadifa Mohamed.
What’s on your summer reading list?
