really interesting thread here

My mother bought me this book when I was like 13. Had me on my Hotep s*** for a minute.

in

⭐

Recommended if: you like a love story with a Vanilla twist. Okay so it's not just a love story, it's got politics, culture clash, religion.

3.5/5

Never read African literature but might start with Things Fall Apart by Achebe. Good first read or do you guys have any recommendations?

Yes, definitely a good start!

I'd also recommend A Question of Power by Bessie Head

It's prolly the go to, but also look into Half of a Yellow Sun.

a book on the women of the Second Italo-Ethiopian War

A gripping novel set during Mussolini’s 1935 invasion of Ethiopia, The Shadow King takes us back to the first real conflict of World War II, casting light on the women soldiers who were left out of the historical record.

haven't read it yet but I got it ordered, so its coming soon!!

why would you say that word
It's Zimbabwe

Not a good look saying otherwise even if it was before the end of colonisation

@BlackStar I finally got Maru

An editor I know just came outta nowhere and said 'I think you'd like this' 😮💀 idk how she sensed I was looking for that book

gonna start reading this weekend!

Damn that’s a good person to know, free book plugs Lemme know what you think!

Have any y’all read Song of Solomon

she's sweet, and yea will do! 🙌🏾

btw do you know any good recs for Zambian fiction or folk tales? I've read some folk tales from SA and Zimbabwe in compilations. I know the southern African countries have cultures that are big on that but most of it is oral? Haven;t seen much written stuff translated to English though

I need to read more Zambian writers too, the only books I read were the ones in school when you are learning the local languages so these were not in English obviously
Only one I’ve read is A cowrie of hope by binwell sinyangwe and I think you’ll enjoy this one!
Otherwise there’s quite a few Zambian writers who have been popular recently and I need to make a google search myself to delve deeper

Thanks, added that Sinyangwe to the list! The premise sounds interesting.

I also mostly got those folk genres in school and they were not in English but I see a resurgence in the new books released which are translated to more languages.

edit: not a book but this film called I Am Not A Witch by Rungano Nyoni looks great I think you'd be interested.

great thread

Do you mean those old school books are being translated to English now?

And yes I watched that film last year, I do wish such a critically acclaimed film based in the country wasn’t on witchcraft but she crafted it v well

Some have been translated yes, here's a couple lists with some stuff dating back to the 1900s to 1910s I found.

worldoftales.com/African_folktales.html#gsc.tab=0

english-for-students.com/African-Folk-Tales.html

OH you saw it Would love to see more diverse projects getting funded fr! African govts hardly get invested in the arts/literature sectors like we'd all like to see but I hope that changes soon

Oh wow this is amazing!! thanks for sharing I'm definitely gonna work my way through these

Agree on the investment, you see so many people in the diaspora who are so creative and naturally people back home are going to be just as creative too but they just don't have the resources

Yw! if I find more books I'll add them itt

the response is even worse right now with the pandemic the talent is definitely there but not enough interest from the higher ups. Meanwhile you see billions wasted through corruption time and time again

Here's a crazy true story about the paedophile network in South Africa that they have tried so hard to cover up for 30+ years. So much so that shortly after the book was published, co-author and former detective Mark Minnie was found dead in his home outside Port Elizabeth from an apparent 'suicide'.

In March 2020, the book was retracted from the market by its publishers

It is the late 1980s. Serious allegations surface against three prominent National Party cabinet ministers, one of them the second-most powerful man in the country. They are, it is said, regularly abusing young boys on an island just off the coast of Port Elizabeth. From opposite ends of South Africa, a brave cop and a driven journalist investigate. Mark Minnie and Chris Steyn independently uncover evidence of a dark secret. But the case only surfaces briefly before it disappears completely. Thirty years later, the two finally connect the dots to expose this shocking story of criminality, cover-ups and official complicity in the rape and possible murder of children, most of them vulnerable and black.

Don’t get me started on the corruption. Funnily enough I’m watching the documentary on putin by Alexei Navalny and this is some extreme level corruption! dude built himself a palace like Mobutu youtu.be/ipAnwilMncI

bruh I was just watching news on this earlier cause of the protests happening rn in Russia but they didn't go too in-depth with the story, damn gonna peep this asap!