Whether you’re a reader of African books or an African writer, or aspiring to be either of those two things, here’s a curated list of online resources to help you on your journey.
Philly & Friends
Our children need to see themselves reflected in the pages of the books they read to give them the confidence that they can be whoever and whatever they choose to be.
Philly & Friends is a wonderful children’s brand that offers inclusive children’s books – books that speak to inner confidence and self-love. In addition to empowering literacy, Philly & Friends will give one book to a disadvantaged child for every book sold.
Visit www.phillyandfriends.com
Naniso Media Ltd
Naniso Media is the product of its owners having grown up in Zimbabwe and raised children in the UK. Naniso Media’s aim is to use creative devices such as storytelling, music and events to connect children to their African heritage, a noble goal, regardless of where those children are in the world. Naniso Media is keen to work with other African writers who share the same vision.
Visit www.nanisocreate.com
Romance Writers of West Africa
The established Romance Writers of West Africa (RWOWA) supports writers of African romantic fiction worldwide, with a specific focus on writers of West African origin or those whose fiction is set in Africa.
Visit www.rwowa.org
New Beacon Books
Long-established New Beacon Books has the distinction of being the UK’s first black publisher, specialist bookshop and international book distributor. The company specialises in African and Caribbean literature and stocks an impressively wide variety of works including poetry, fiction, history and politics, sport and children’s books. If you are struggling to know where the start your deep-dive into African literature, the website helpfully posts a curated selection of “recommended” and “important” reads.
Visit www.newbeaconbooks.com
Pluto Press
Pluto Press is a publishing house with a bold and clear mission: to publish “radical, left-wing non-fiction books”. This long-established publishing house has a strong focus on “timely interventions in contemporary struggles” and is “anti-capitalist, internationalist and politically independent.”
Visit www.plutobooks.com
African Books Collective
Per the website, African Books Collective (ABC) is your “one-stop-shop for African books, African writers and African scholarship.” The Collective is wholly African owned and functions additionally as a marketing and distribution outlet of books from the continent. Books range from scholarly to literature and children’s books. ABC also runs readafricanbooks where you can read interviews with African authors, read reviews of a range of books and learn more about African publishers.
Visit www.africanbookscollective.com
Borders Book Reviews
Olatoun Gabi-Williams’s brilliant Borders Book Reviews is the Facebook Page of her online website, bordersliteratureonline.net. You’ll find all things African books here – from reviews (as the name of the Page suggests) to interviews with African authors and African literature event coverage. A warm and gregarious journalist, Olatoun Gabi-Williams also has extensive experience delivering spoken and written word content around literary culture, advocacy and education. She has delivered numerous assignments for TV and radio on Channels TV Sunrise and NTA 2 Channel 5 AM Express, Close Flow, City Lace and Smooth Radio’s Smooth Review. Grab hold of My Africa Reads, an essay she wrote for LOGOS (Brill), which presents her reading history as a ‘journey of liberation from deep eurocentrism to an empowering Africa consciousness’. Also highly recommended is her outstanding Sustainable Development Goals Book Club
African Books Club
This is a subscription African books service (but you do get 10% off your first order – at the time of writing, at least). The concept is a good one: to encourage you to discover new, interesting books, the club will send you one book a month. The African Books Club has found a good way of encouraging readers to read more while discovering new and exciting authors – from well-known authors of the Chimamanda ilk to superb writers who are just starting out. Club members are also encouraged to share what they are reading and write reviews, too.
Sankofa Book Club
Another great resource is the Sankofa Book Club. This digital book club takes the format of a podcast, where you will hear discussions about African books written by authors such as Yaa Gyasi( eg, Homegoing), Teju Cole (eg, Everyday is for the Thief) and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (eg, The Thing Around Your Neck). You can look forward to a new episode every month covering African literature, African history and African culture.
Fun fact: ‘Sankofa’ is actually an Adinkra symbol (part of a collection of symbols that are part of the Akan tradition in Ghana. The founders of Sankofa are of Ghanaian descent). The word ‘Sankofa’ translates as ‘return and get it’ from the Twi language, and alludes to the value of learning from one’s past. So, this is much more than a book club, it is an opportunity to also tap into your cultural roots – priceless for Africans who are living in the diaspora.
Chimurenga
Chimurenga is a fascinating pan-African platform for writers, artists, thinkers and anyone with an interest in politics. Founded by Ntone Edjabe, Chimurenga is essentially an overarching platform for African narratives on a range of topical subject matters. Within it are additional ‘platforms’: African Cities Reader, which reflects urban life and style; Chronic, a quarterly magazine that poses existential questions and reflects on their answers; Chimurenga Magazine, which explores ideas and political reflection; The Chimurenga Library –which seeks to “re-imagine the library as a laboratory for extended curiosity, new adventures, critical thinking, daydreaming, socio-political involvement, partying and random perusal” and the Pan African Space Station (PASS) – an online space for broadcasting, performance and exhibitions.
Visit chimurengachronic.co.za
Sunbird Journal Publishing
An independent, grassroots publishing House, Sunbird promotes and amplifies a diversity of African voices, perspectives and narratives. Sunbird also has three journals: Open Door Magazine, a magazine that seeks to open the dialogue’ on masculinity; Grey Areas, a podcast that challenges norms and provides ‘food for thought’; and A World of Our Own, a downloadable publication that features short stories (up to 5,000 words) from emerging, talented multicultural writers.
www.sunbirdjournalpublishing.com
Contribute to this list of literature resources – let us know (using the comments section below) if we’ve left out any.
