The Street, The Icarus Girl, and Everything Good Will Come
Nigerian Sefi Atta’s novel Everything Good Will Come charts the fate of two african girls, one born of privilege (Enitan Taiwo) and the other (Sheri Bakare) a lower class “half-caste”. One is prepared to manipulate the traditional system while the other attempts to defy it. the tale traces this unusual friendship into their adult lives, against the backdrop of tragedy, family strife, and war-torn Nigeria. » Read more…
Benjamin Kwakye - The Sun By Night
Benjamin Kwakye has scored another winner with his second book, The Sun By Night. A prostitute has been found murdered and Manu, a wealthy, happily married businessman is the prime suspect. Secrets begin to unravel as the story unfolds, leaving Manu’s life exposed to the public. As the trial unfolds the attention turns to the issues that affect the trial, including the social standing, the stigmas attached to a prostitute, and the views on marriage and infidelity. As the drama unfolds, one is drawn into the contrasting worlds, and, just as soon as you think that you know how it is going to end, the story takes an unexpected turn. » Read more…
Ngugi wa Thiongo - Wizard of the Crow
There is an old adage from the Yoruba tribe of West Africa that says “A reversing ram will gather momentum and charge with more power.” Ngugi is the reversing ram, gathering momentum and charging powerfully with his latest release; Wizard of the Crow after a 20 year break. » Read more…
Inua “Phaze” Ellams - Word Artist
Jamati: INUA? What does your name stand for?
I think you mean what my name means; it is a word in the Hausa language, whose literal transition is ‘shade’. What Can I say, I was born cool. I google-searched the name (think everyone should at some point) and found out “Inua’ is a character in Inuit mythology, the Arctic dwellers commonly known as ‘Eskiom’ believe that ‘Inua’ is the force of life, movement and change in all things. People pray to it, there is even a folk band called ‘Inua’. Now I have no idea if the name traveled up there, or down there, but both meanings are nature related, so there is gotta be a link. When I found out, I told my sister I was a god. She slapped me. Nothing like a sibling to bring you down to earth.
Jamati: Were you raised on the continent? If not, have you ever visited?
Yeap, born in Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria, moved to Lagos, secondary schooled in Odogbolu, Ogun state before coming to the UK. I have not been back since I left, but will do so. » Read more…
Dayo Forster - Reading the Ceiling
Dayo Forster Dayo was born in Gambia and now lives in Kenya. She has published a short story in Kwani?, Kenya’s literary magazine, and was one of twelve African writers selected as a participant for the 2006 Caine Prize Writer’s Workshop. The story produced as a result of the ten-day workshop will be published in a Caine Prize anthology in July 2006. » Read more…
Jack Mapanje - Imprisoned but not silenced
Malawian poet Jack Mapanje taught in Malawi Secondary Schools before he joined the Department of English at Chancellor College, University of Malawi, in 1975, first as a lecturer, then as Head of the Department of English. He has a BA and Diploma in Education from the University of Malawi, an M.Phil. in English and Education from The Institute of Education London, and a Ph.D. in linguistics from University College London in 1983. » Read more…
Judith Stone - When She Was White: The True Story of a Family Divided by Race
In 1966, a 9-yr old Sandra Laing was expelled from an all white school South African school due to a reclassification of her complexion–DARK. This is despite her being the daughter of white-skinned, European, Afrikaaner parents. Over the next couple of years, Sandra was once again reclassified as white as a result of her father’s efforts to separate his child from what was considered a stigmatized black race. This story is a documentation of some of the effects of the Apartheid that ripped the country of South Africa during this era.
Bassey Ikpi
Jamati: Can you tell us about your background includig your origin, childhood, education, etc.?
I was born in Ikom, Cross River State in Nigeria. My people are Yakuur from Ugepland. I left Nigeria when I was about 4 years old for Stillwater, Oklahoma. I started writing in Stillwater when I was 8 years old because it was such a culture shock for me. When I was 13 my family and I moved to Maryland (in the DC area) which was a whole other kind of culture shock. I went to the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, for college but I moved to New York to start writing before I had a chance to finish school. As you can probably imagine, my Naija parents are THRILLED! 
» Read more…
Chris Okigbo Conference
New England was alive with poetry as some literary giants came to pay tribute to one of their own. Boston played host to an International Conference on the poetry and life of Christopher Okigbo. He is widely acknowledged as an outstanding postcolonial English-language African poet and one of the major modernist writers of the twentieth century.
The conference was co-hosted by the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute at Harvard University, Boston University, University of Massachusetts and Wellesley College. The event was organized to reiterate literature as a powerful socially transformative force and highlight Okigbos’ poetry, as a mirror of his time but just as significant today. » Read more…
Alek Wek - From Sudanese Refugee to International Supermodel
The rags to riches story of the African is not a new one. People like to tell the story of a poor village African who all of a sudden has luxury and wealth in the West. It is not often that the true in between story is told. In ALEK, the supermodel takes us on her journey between her home country; a war torn Sudan and her current international supermodel global status.
Alek (the 7th of 9 children) was born into a family that was nowhere near wealthy in material things and not quite poor either. The Wek family was rich in the fact that they had a roof over their head, food on the table, and clothes on their back. These things, although basic were not available to many people. Alek’s father was an upright man who loved her mother, and worked hard to provide for his family. » Read more…
African Events Calendar
Upcoming Events
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February 22, 2009
Race Across The World (RAW Africa) : Sossusvlei, Namibia
South Africa
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January 20, 2009
2009 Inaugural Events: President-Elect Barack Obama
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January 8, 2009
Capetown Jazzathon 2009: Capetown, South Africa
South Africa
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December 27, 2008
1st Annual Homecoming Jumpoff: Accra, Ghana
West Africa
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