By James Currey
“[The book] is full of the drama of that enterprise, the drama of dealing with the mother house, the drama of dealing with the often intractable political constraints dominating the intellectual space across Africa, and not least of all dealing with the writers themselves—with their ambitions, their temperaments, their financial needs and, at times, their perception of a colonial relationship between themselves and a European publishing house.”
Clive Wake, Emeritus Professor of Modern Languages, University of Kent at Canterbury
“An essential history of African publishing and literature in the early post-colonial period, Africa Writes Back is filled with fascinating titbits and useful information. While certainly of interest to anyone involved in publishing, it should be of particular interest to readers (and scholars) of African literature, providing an extensive literary history and a great deal of context. Very nicely done.”
The Complete Review
“Highly recommended.”
CHOICE
“A fascinating read and an irreplaceable reference....”
Research in African Literatures
June 17, 2008, is the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart by Heinemann. This publication provided the impetus for the foundation of the African Writers Series in 1962 with Chinua Achebe as the editorial adviser.
Africa Writes Back: The African Writers Series and the Launch of African Literature captures the energy of literary publishing in a new and undefined field. Portraits of the leading characters and the many consultants and readers providing reports and advice to new and established writers make Africa Writes Back a stand-out book. James Currey’s voice and insights are an added bonus.
CONTENTS
Publishing and selling the African Writers Series
The African Writers Series Portfolio & George Hallett’s covers
Main dates for the African Writers Series
INTRODUCTION: The establishment of African Literature
Publishing Chinua Achebe
1. WRITERS FROM WEST AFRICA
Nigeria: The country where so much started
Negritude from Senegal to Cameroun
Magic & realism from Ghana, The Gambia & Sierra Leone
2. WRITERS FROM EASTERN AFRICA
Towards the oral & the popular in Kenya, Uganda & Tanzania
Publishing Ngugi
3. WRITERS FROM THE HORN & NORTH-EASTERN AFRICA
Emperors in Ethiopia
Publishing Nuruddin Farah
Arab authors in Egypt & Sudan
4. WRITERS FROM SOUTH AFRICA
Resistance in South Africa
Publishing Alex la Guma
Publishing Dennis Brutus
Publishing Bessie Head
Publishing Masizi Kunene
5. WRITERS FROM SOUTHERN AFRICAN
Guns & Guerrillas in Mozambique &Angola
Zambia Shall be Free
Death & detention in Malawi
The struggle to become Zimbabwe
Publishing Dambudzo Marechera
CONCLUSION: Is there still a role for the African Writers Series?
James Currey was the editorial director at Heinemann Educational Books in charge of the African Writers Series from 1967 to 1984. He is the recipient of the African Literary Association’s 2008 Lifetime Achievement Award. More info →
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Paperback
978-0-8214-1843-7
Retail price: $32.95,
S.
Release date: August 2008
320 pages
·
6 × 9 in.
Rights: World (exclusive in Americas, and Philippines) except British Commonwealth, Continental Europe, and United Kingdom
Hardcover
978-0-8214-1842-0
Retail price: $80.00,
S.
Release date: August 2008
320 pages
·
6 × 9 in.
Rights: World (exclusive in Americas, and Philippines) except British Commonwealth, Continental Europe, and United Kingdom
Electronic
978-0-8214-4792-5
Release date: October 2022
320 pages
Rights: World
Swahili beyond the Boundaries
Literature, Language, and Identity
By Alamin Mazrui
Africa is a marriage of cultures: African and Asian, Islamic and Euro-Christian. Nowhere is this fusion more evident than in the formation of Swahili, Eastern Africa’s lingua franca, and its cultures. Swahili beyond the Boundaries: Literature, Language, and Identity addresses the moving frontiers of Swahili literature under the impetus of new waves of globalization in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
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Literary Criticism, Africa · South Africa · Literature · African Studies
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Literary Criticism, Africa · South Africa · Literature · African Studies · African Literature
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Critical Readings
By Chikwenye Okonjo Ogunyemi and Tuzyline Jita Allan
The Twelve Best Books by African Women is a collection of critical essays on eleven works of fiction and one play, an important but belated affirmation of women writers on the continent and a first step toward establishing a recognized canon of African women’s literature.
Literary Collections | African · African Studies · African Literature
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