The poet and author Chris Abani talks about alienation and poetry.
Edem Awumey is an awarded author from Togo who has written short stories and two novels. The central theme in his works is the exile.
One of South Africa’s most interesting young poets, Gabeba Baderoon reads her own poems. Astrid Asefa reads some in Swedish.
Badoe is an author, a documentary filmmaker and researcher with bases in Ghana and England.
The young generation in Uganda is now beginning to make their voices heard. What themes are of interest? Meet Doreen Baingana and Monica Arac de Nyeko.
Biyi Bandele, Nigeria, author and playwrighter talks about his novel Burma Boy, about a boy’s entry into adulthood.
Maïssa Bey discusses her new novel 'Bleu Blanc Vert', about time after the Algerian independence struggle with translator Monica Malmström.
The choreographer Birgit Åkesson wrote a groundbreaking book about African dance. It will now be launched in Tanzania. The publisher Walter Bgoya presents it.
Lukas Bärfuss critically acclaimed novel 'Hundert Tage' takes place during the 1994 Rwandan genocide, where two people fight for their innocence.
What is happening with Mozambique’s literature today? Paulina Chiziane, the first woman to publish novel in the country, in conversation with Henning Mankell.
This open access book uses Swedish literature and the Swedish publishing field as recurring examples to describe and analyse the role of the literary semi-peripheral position in world literature from various perspectives and on meso, micro and macro levels, using both quantitative and qualitative methods. This includes the role of translation in the semi-periphery and the conditions under which literature travels to and from that position. The focus is not on Sweden, as such, but rather on the semi-peripheral transitional space as exemplified by the Swedish case.
Consisting of three co-written chapters, this study sheds light on what might be called the semi-peripheral condition or the semi-periphery as an area of transition. As part of the Cosmopolitan and Vernacular Dynamics in World Literatures series, it makes continuous use of the concepts of 'cosmopolitan' and 'vernacular' – or rather, the processual terms, cosmopolitanization and vernacularization – which provide an overall structure to the analysis of literature and literary phenomena. In this way, the authors show that the semi-periphery is an ideal point of departure to further the understanding of world literature, because it is a place where the cosmopolitan (the literary universal) and the vernacular (the rootedness in a particular culture or place) interact in ways that have not yet been thoroughly explored.
The transformation of the publishing world in recent decades—which includes, among other things, the increasing significance of large retail outlets, the emergence and establishment of literary agents, and the merger of publishing houses into large media corporations—has been amply documented. Among the consequences for postcolonial literary fiction, and African English-language fiction, which is the subject here, are increasing use of the author as a public figure and marketing device, and heightened expectations on cultural representativity that link authors to particular places and cultures. With a focus on the initial and middle phases of his career, this article discusses the ways in which East African author Abdulrazak Gurnah has responded to such pressures in his novels and in essays and articles. It shows how both the form and the content of Gurnah’s writing exemplify a double effort to complicate ideas which frame authors and their texts through culture-specific identities and the seemingly opposite, generalizing notion of the postcolonial’ author which flattens history—a strategy of ‘self-authorization’ which can be seen as Gurnah’s critical resistance towards received categories used in both book marketing and postcolonial authorship. In a further twist, this resistance is in some tension with Gurnah’s choice to write in English and use an unmarked linguistic style and register since these seemingly align with marketing interests and enable easy translation which facilitates the global circulation of his books.
This article starts from two premises: that the almost exclusive reliance on the novel in several of the dominant elaborations of world literary models gives a very partial view of the global circulation of literature and, consequently, that much can be gained through analyses of complementary or alternative media and, secondly, that certain arguments within postcolonial literary studies on the circulation and audiences of African literature are inadequately grounded empirically. Taking the literary magazine Transition as an example – and more precisely its first, Ugandan, period –, this article seeks to make a contribution to both fields. Through discussion of the publication’s content and its circulation pattern, it shows that most of the authors published came from African countries, but also included British, American and Caribbean contributors; that poetry was its most represented literary genre, even as the magazine published seminal prose material; that the magazine’s readers, many of whom interacted actively, were found across the African continent and in Europe and the U.S.A.; and that Transition combined characteristics of "little" and "big" magazines. These empirical findings, the article argues, raise questions about key issues in world literary as well as postcolonial literary conceptualization – such as the status of the nation or the national field in world literary studies, the limitations of the notion of "literature" they use, and the relationship between (post-)colonial and "imperial" channels for production and circulation of literary artefacts.
The Somali author constantly depicting his home country talks about his just finished trilogy.
Petina Gappah is a writer with law degrees from Cambridge, Graz University, and the University of Zimbabwe. She was one of the featured writers at this year’s Gothenburg Book Fair. Gappah's debut short story collection, An Elegy for Easterly (2009), was awarded the Guardian First Book Award and the collection was published in Swedish by Albert Bonniers Förlag in 2010. Its Swedish title is 'Sorgesång för Easterly'.
Meet 1991 Nobel Laureate in Literature in a conversation with Per Wästberg, chairman of the Nobel Committee.
This year’s Peter Pan Prize winner Piet Grobler from South Africa shows his headstrong pictures and talks to Britt Isaksson.
Helon Habila discusses his novel Measuring Time and his writing with Kirsten Holst Petersen.
This book contains contributions from African writers who discuss current issues in African literature, such as the role of the writer in society, the writers commitment to society or to the craft, a new woman's voice in literature, and recent South African literature, superseding the protest tradition.
Brian James is a Sierra Leonean short story and screen writer. He has won a number of local short story and poetry competitions and is a recipient of the Sierra Leone Pen’s Most Promising Writer award. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mass Communication. James’ publications include short stories On the Road to Godiva (2005), Devils at the Door (2008), and Simple Economics (2009) He is based in Freetown, Sierra Leone, where he also works as a consultant editor and documentary film maker.
East Africa’s most important cultural magazine is presented by the Managing Editor Billy Kahora and its founder Binyavanga Wainaina. In conversation with Madeleine Grieve.
Meet John Kilaka, author and illustrator of children’s books and Tingatinga artist in a conversation with Sven Hallonsten.
Henning Mankell and Mia Couto talk about differences between European and African storytelling.
A conversation with Deon Meyer, author from Cape Town.
Geoffrey Musonda, author and engineer, about the challenge of publishing books in Zambia and to market Zambian literature globally.
Many African countries are caught up in perennial or recurrent political conflicts that often culminate in devastating wars. These flaring conflicts and wars create harrowing economic hardships, dire refugee problems, and sustain a sense of despair in such countries. By their nature, these conflicts and wars affect writers in profound and sometimes paradoxical ways. On the one hand, literature—whether fiction, poetry, drama, or even memoirs—is animated by conflict. On the other hand, the sense of dislocation as well as the humanitarian crises unleashed by wars and other kinds of conflicts also constitute grave impediments to artistic exploration and literary expression. Writers and artists are frequently in the frontline of resistance to the kinds of injustices and abuses that precipitate wars and conflicts. Consequently, they are often detained, exiled, and even killed either by agents of state terror or by one faction or another in the tussle for state control. Writers, Writing Conflicts and Wars in Africa is a collection of testimonies by various writers and scholars who have experienced, or explored, the continent’s conflicts and woes, including how the disruptions shape artistic and literary production. The book is divided into two broad categories: in one, several writers speak directly, and with rich anecdotal details about the impact wars and conflicts have had in the formation of their experience and work; in the second, a number of scholars articulate how particular writers have assimilated the horrors of wars and conflicts in their literary creations. The result is an invaluable harvest of reflections and perspectives that open the window into an essential, but until now sadly unexplored, facet of the cultural and political experience of African writers. The broad scope of this collection—covering Darfur, the Congolese crisis, Biafra, Zimbabwe, South Africa, among others—is complemented by a certain buoyancy of spirit that runs through most of the essays and anecdotes.
Skönlitteratur är en utmärkt förmedlare av kunskap om ett land, dess folk, kultur, tankesätt m m. I denna bok beskrivs utförligt över etthundra olika verk av afrikanska författare som finns översatta till svenska. Boken innehåller även biografier över författarna, en förteckning över artiklar om afrikanska författare och deras verk, samt en annoterad förteckning över internationella tidskrifter med kulturellt och litterärt innehåll.
Cletus Nelson Nwadike presents his new poem/photo book 'Tankar ur ett lejons gap' in a conversation with publisher Bengt Berg.
The Angolan author Ondjaki discusses stories and the lessons of life with Marianne Sandels.
Ett bra sätt, kanske t o m det bästa sättet, att skaffa sig kunskap om och förståelse för ett främmande lands kultur, tänkesätt och levnadsförhållanden är att läsa landets skönlitteratur. När det gäller afrikansk skönlitteratur kan det kanske ibland vara svårt att i Sverige skaffa sig en överblick över den rika litteratur som faktiskt finns. För att göra det lättare att orientera sig i afrikansk skönlitteratur har därför Nordiska afrikainstitutet producerat denna lilla vägledning.
Tidigare EU-parlamentarikern Jonas Sjöstedt samtalar med Lena Thunberg, redaktör för tidskriften ‘Västsahara’, om Sjöstedts kriminalroman 'Sahara' som utspelar sig i det ockuperade Västsahara samt EU.
Word artist and illustrator and Véronique Tadjo presents her youth novel about Nelson Mandela and her new novel Away from my Father.
Short presentations of African writers.
Innehåll: Henning Mankell/har/ordet -- Veronique Tadjo/har/ordet -- Föfattarna: Chris Abani -- Lubna Al-Hussein -- Meshack Asare -- Sefi Atta -- Edem Awumey -- Gabeba Baderoon -- Yaba Badoe -- Doreen Baingana -- Biyi Bandele -- Lesley Beake -- Sihem Bensedrine -- Maïssa Bey -- Paulina Chiziane -- Mia Couto -- Bernadette Sanou Dao -- Lassana Igo Diarra -- Ousmane Diarra -- Boubacar Boris Diop -- Unity Dow -- Nawal El Saadawi -- Christian Epanya -- Nuruddin Farah -- Petina Gappah -- Nadine Gordimer -- Miguel Gullander -- Piet Grobler -- Helon Habila -- Jay Heale -- Ayaan Hirsi Ali -- Chenjerai Hove -- Philo Ikonya -- Brian James -- Tahar Ben Jelloun -- Billy Kahora -- Fatou Keïta -- John Kilaka -- Elieshi Lema -- Alain Mabanckou -- Sindiwe Magona -- Kopano Matlwa -- Desbele Mehari -- Maaza Mengiste -- Deon Meyer -- Bienvenu Sena Mongabe -- Geoffrey Musonda -- Wambui Mwangi -- Dominique Mwankumi -- Eyoum N’gangue -- Cletus Nelson Nwadike -- Monica Arac de Nyenko -- Tolu Ogunlesi -- Ondjaki -- Shailja Patel -- Wumi Raji -- Lesego Rampolokeng -- Irene Sabatini -- Ismail Serageldin -- Steeve Sassene -- Jonathan Shapiro -- Patricia Schonstein -- Veronique Tadjo -- Mpho Tutu -- Ngugi Wa Thiong’o -- Binyavanga Wainaina -- Senayit Worku -- Förlagen: -- TACK!
Twenty-four African writers and about as many writers and critics from Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland were invited to an African-Scandinavian Writers' Conference arranged by the Scandinavian Institute of African Studies, the Swedish Institute for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries and the Councl for Swedish Information Abroad. The Conference was held at Hässelby Castle outside Stockholm in February 1967.
This volumne presents some of the papers read to the conference and parts of the discussion, which reflect the dominant theme of the proceedings: the writer in the African society, his individuality and his social commitment.