Africa authors biography

As a Lagosian, books from Nigeria have always featured on my shelves. However, I’m curious to learn more about authors from other West African countries / of West African descent. So, I’ve put together this reading list to find a brilliant range of books from each country in the region.

I’m pleased with the range of books from historical fiction to thrillers, dystopia to family saga, and canonical classics to contemporary authors. Again, I’ve had to choose books in English or available in English translation, but I hope that makes this list accessible to range of readers.

I’ve struggled to find a good book for Niger so please comment / email / DM me on social media if you have a great book to highlight from a Nigerien Author that’s available in English translation.

Benin

Fortune’s Favoured Child by Raouf Mama

This novel is based on the real life experiences of the author, who was born in Benin. Through a harrowing experience with sickness, an encounter with a clairvoyant traditional healer, and astonishing twists of fortune, the protagonist struggles to get an education and make his own way in the world.

Genre / Themes: Coming of age, rags to riches, self-discovery, identity

Burkina Faso

The Parachute Drop by Norbert Zongo

Written by the country’s most respected journalist, this novel was originally suppressed for being subversive. It&#;s set in the fictional West African nation of Watinbow which is led by a corrupt and immoral President.

Genre / Themes: Dystopia, counterfactual history, alternative reality

American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson

Written by a U.S. black female author, I wanted to include this book due to its amazing storyline. Set in , the heart of the Cold War, Marie Mitchell is an intelligence officer with the FBI. She&#;s brilliant, but she&#;s also a young black woman working in an old boys&#; club. So, when she&#;s given the opportunity to join a shadowy task force aimed at undermining Thomas Sankara,

Black History Month is a period of meditation as it is of celebration. Across the world, Black peoples and communities continue to be under attack, from repressive governments to errant institutions, crime and poverty. In Africa, the past few years have been intense and excruciating, economies of countries like Nigeria and Ghana crashing against itself. Local currencies are going scarce at the same time our music fills out stadiums across the world. With all the consistently bad leadership our societies have had to endure, the election booth seems a reasonable place to take back power. More than ever citizens are confident in the power of their votes and it’s not in the least surprising that Nigeria recorded a record-high increase in registered voters since last year. 

It is election season throughout Africa as more than 20 countries will be having presidential polls. Nigeria is the most followed all over the world, reasonably due to the country’s influence and size. Under President Muhammadu Buhari, the standard of living has reduced drastically, with economic catastrophes accentuated by the increasing insecurity. Just as many Nigerians would hope to change their fortunes through electing the right personality and party, so would African countries such as Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe, Liberia, Sudan, Madagascar, Gabon and many others, be looking forward to achieving. 

Here’s a list of African authors who have written extensively about the history of their countries and the Black world at large. Through their novels, poems, non-fiction and lectures, they contribute to the archive of Africa’s intellectual history, covering vast subject matter in distinct styles. Through understanding their stories and ideas, the reader comes upon a goldmine of social awareness that would surely improve one&#;s decisions throughout the year. 

5 African Writers. Whether you’ve got your African holiday booked or not, the literary canon of African literature is vast and well worth reading into. In a continent that spans such a wide range of ethnicities and cultures, it comes as no surprise that the literature it creates is equally diverse. Much of the continent is steeped in a painful history and therefore draws literature that is often, inevitably, written from a colonial and postcolonial perspective. Other important social and political issues are also dealt with, from women’s rights to post-war identity.  As entertaining as they are educational, here are 5 African authors and their books that you should read.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie &#; African Writers

My personal favourite is Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, a Nigerian writer born in who is best known for her novels following strong themes of politics, race, gender and culture. The book of hers that I always recommend is Half of a Yellow Sun (), which received critical acclaim and won the Women’s prize for Fiction. This gripping tale tells the story of the Biafran War of , which was catalysed by the remnants of British colonialism, through several different perspectives.

Adichie’s depiction of the brutality faced by the elite and peasants alike raises pertinent questions of moral responsibility and the emotional impact of a conflict like the largely forgotten Biafran War. She says that almost every incident in the novel is based on something real. This adds a certain horror to the narrative. Despite the serious and shocking context of the novel, Adichie wraps her tale in a beautiful story of love, loyalty, resilience and hope in the face of despair.

If you’ve already read this one, I would also recommend her other novels; Purple Hibiscus. This depicts the life of a family during a military coup and Americannah, which portrays Nigerian immigrant life and race relations in America. Her TED talks have

Earlier this month the Swedish Academy announced Abdulrazak Gurnah as this year's winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, making Gurnah the first Black African writer to win the most esteemed prize in international literature since Nigerian writer Wole Soyinka won in The Nobel Prize in Literature is open to authors from around the globe, awarded for a body of outstanding work in any language. But the Eurocentric history of the prize-winners reflects that it hasn’t always lived up to its mandate of being a genuinely global honor.

To celebrate this year’s win, we are looking back through our list of international literature to put a spotlight on five African writers and their stand-out books.

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Alain Mabanckou (Republic of Congo)
Alain Mabanckou is an award winning writer born in Congo-Brazzaville in the coastal city of Pointe-Noire. The bustling port town often becomes a character in his work. His novel Black Moses, an orphan story set in the s, journeys through the Pointe-Noire underworld. His most recent novel in English, The Death of Comrade President, chronicles life in the Pointe-Noire neighborhood Voungou through the eyes of teenage protagonist Michel. A poignant and riotous tale of family and revolution, The Death of Comrade President captures the tensions between the forces of capitalism and the regime of dictator Marien Ngouabi. Mabanckou left Congo in , at the age of twenty-two, not to return until a quarter of a century later. His memoir The Lights of Pointe-Noir, in many ways a love letter to the city, meditates on homecoming, memory, and belonging.

Zoë Wicomb (South Africa)
Lauded by writers like Toni Morrison and J.M. Coetzee, Zoë Wicomb's fiction often examines racial politics and history in South Africa—her novel Playing in the Light follows travel agent Marion Campbell as she negotiates the complexities of post-aparthied society in s Cape Town. In her later work