50 Books By African Men That Everyone Should Read: Part 2
Back in July, I got to work with Dele Fatunla, the editor for Royal African Society’s Gateway for Africa blog, to compile a list of 50 books by African women everyone must read. Well we are back with another list – this time of 50 African men everyone must read. When Dele asked me if I would like to put another list together, I couldn’t say no – if it was not already clear, I love lists. Still, similar to the last one, I also found it extremely hard to narrow it down. I started with probably over 40 authors (we both decided we would make a list of 25 and see what overlapped and what didn’t). I obviously failed that task.
As challenging as it was, the list was really fun to put together and while what we have compiled is not an exhaustive list of all that is out there (stealing a line from the post on women authors ‘what’s “missing” could lead to some very interesting conversations’), it is a beautiful one that shows the diversity of African literature – new and old, from different regions and languages – from our own perspectives.
Part 2 of the list has works from Angola, Cameroon, Ghana, Guinea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Mali, Nigeria, Somalia, South Africa, as well as the South American African diaspora. I also love that the stories span a time period from late 18th century to well, today. There are stories about gods and spirit children, corrupt civil servants, detectives and immigrants. We hope you will read, enjoy and share the list amongst your friends, family and loved ones. Happy reading!!!
26. A Walk in the Night and Other Stories
About the Author: Alex La Guma was a South African writer, leader of the South African Coloured People’s Organisation (SACPO) and a defendant in the 1956 Treason Trial. La Guma is considered one of South Africa’s major twentieth century writers. His first book, A Walk in the Night (1962) was followed by And a Threefold Cord (1967), The Stone Country (1969), The Fog at the Season’s End (1972) and Time of the Butcherbird (1979). A native of District Six, Cape Town, La Guma was also an important political figure. Charged with treason, banned, house arrested and eventually forced into exile, he was chief representative of the African National Congress in the Caribbean at the time of his death in 1985.
About the book: A Walk in the Night and Other Stories reveals La Guma as one of the most important African writers of his time. These works reveal the plight of non-whites in apartheid South Africa, laying bare the lives of the poor and the outcasts who filled the ghettoes and shantytowns.
27. Foreign Gods, Inc.
About the Author: Novelist, Political columnist and essayist Okey Ndibe was born in Yola, Nigeria. He worked as a journalist and magazine editor in Nigeria before relocating to the US in 1988 where he served as founding editor for African Contemporary. He currently teaches African and African Diaspora literatures at Brown University. His poetry is published in New West African Poets, edited by the Gambian writer, Tijan Sallah.
Read the entire list at bookshy: 50 Books By African Men That Everyone Should Read: Part 2.