Africa
Friday – 28th June 2019
Mozambique Hell Run: Trucking Tales of the War by Miguel Mitras
An unforgettable memoir about driving through Africa’s most treacherous roads during the Mozambican civil war. They called it the ‘Hell Run’.
Cover reveal! An Image in a Mirror by Ijangolet S Ogwang is the latest novel to receive a BlackBird Books redesign
BlackBird Books has revealed its latest cover redesign – featuring the publisher’s bold new look!
Monday – 24th June 2019
Two Short Story Day Africa writers shortlisted for the 2019 Caine Prize For African Writing
Short Story Day Africa is extremely proud to have first discovered and published two of the five stories shortlisted for the 2019 Caine Prize for African Writing – for the second time since the project’s inception.
Short Story Day Africa needs you!
Short Story Day Africa is a small non-profit organisation that relies on donations to fund our development projects. These include the SSDA Editing Mentorship, the annual prize and anthology, and the writing workshops we hold across the African continent.
Thursday – 20th June 2019
Under the Camelthorn Tree: Raising a Family Among Lions by Kate Nicholls – a 21st-century My Family and Other Animals with a dark side
Under the Camelthorn Tree: Raising a Family Among Lions – a mother’s gritty yet often humorous account of bringing up her five children in a lion research camp – is out now from Jonathan Ball Publishers.
Tuesday – 11th June 2019
The lottery of life and love in Lagos – find out more about Toni Kan’s new short story collection Nights of the Creaking Bed
Corruption, religious intolerance, gratuitous violence and the importance of joy are some of the big themes that underlie Toni Kan’s memorable collection, Nights of the Creaking Bed.
Wednesday – 5th June 2019
As You Like It, anthology featuring African LGBTQI+ voices and allies, wins international Lambda Literary Award
Jacana Media and the Other Foundation are thrilled to announce that the Gerald Kraak Anthology As You Like It has won the 2019 Lambda Literary Award for LGBTQ Anthology – Fiction.
Tuesday – 4th June 2019
Find out which authors will be at the 2019 Open Book Festival in Cape Town
The Open Book Festival has announced the first group of authors that will be at the event this year!
OluTimehin Adegbeye wins the Gerald Kraak Prize for her essay ‘Mothers and Men’
OluTimehin Adegbeye has won the R25,000 Gerald Kraak Prize, which honours African writing and photography that ‘provokes thought on the topics of gender, social justice and sexuality’.
Thursday – 23rd May 2019
WIN 1 of 3 pairs of impeccably written novels by the award-winning authors Masande Ntshanga and Lauri Kubuitsile
Shake up your shelf life! Three lucky winners will each receive a copy of Triangulum AND But Deliver Us From Evil, courtesy of Penguin Random House!
Wednesday – 22nd May 2019
Don’t miss the launch of Soft Magic, the debut collection of prose and poetry from Malawian writer Upile Chisala, at The Book Lounge (30 May)
Soft Magic is the debut collection of prose and poetry by Malawian writer, Upile Chisala. This book explores the self, joy, blackness, gender, matters of the heart, the experience of Diaspora, spirituality and most of all, how we survive. Soft Magic is a shared healing journey.
Kenyan author and activist Binyavanga Wainaina dies, aged 48
Kenyan author and activist Binyavanga Wainaina has passed away, at the age of 48.
Presenting The Mourning Bird, the unflinching and assured debut novel by Zambian writer Mubanga Kalimamukwento
Mubanga Kalimamukwento’s debut novel The Mourning Bird – winner of the 2019 Dinaane Debut Fiction Award – will be published in June by Jacana Media.
Monday – 20th May 2019
2019 Caine Prize for African Writing shortlist announced
The shortlist for the Caine Prize for African Writing has been announced, featuring writers from Cameroon, Ethiopia, Kenya and Nigeria.
Wednesday – 15th May 2019
‘I’ve spent a lifetime trying to forget, yet the smallest thing takes me back to the time the Dragon Lady was shot.’ Read an excerpt from Louisa Treger’s new novel
Jonathan Ball Publishers has shared an excerpt from Louisa Treger’s new novel, The Dragon Lady.
Join Lauri Kubuitsile for the launch of But Deliver Us from Evil at Exclusive Books Rosebank (23 May)
Penguin Random House and Exclusive Books invite you to the launch of But Deliver Us from Evil, a moving work of historical fiction by Lauri Kubuitsile.
Tuesday – 14th May 2019
‘You know witchcraft is powerful, more powerful than your Jesus.’ – Read an extract from Lauri Kubuitsile’s new novel But Deliver Us from Evil
Penguin Random House has shared an extract from Lauri Kubuitsile’s new book But Deliver Us from Evil, a moving work of historical fiction.
Monday – 13th May 2019
Asymptote Journal announces a new essay writing contest judged by JM Coetzee
Asymptote, a journal dedicated to world literature in translation, has announced a new contest, to be judged by JM Coetzee.
Friday – 10th May 2019
‘I want to go back to Rwanda but I don’t want to go back to be Rwandan’ – Read an excerpt from The Eternal Audience of One by Rémy Ngamije
BlackBird Books has shared an excerpt from The Eternal Audience of One, the debut novel by Rwandan-born Namibian writer Rémy Ngamije!
Disruption: Short Story Day Africa Announces 2019 Theme
In 2019, Short Story Day Africa is seeking short fiction exploring disruption, especially but not limited to climate and environ[mental] disruption.