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#ReclaimHerName – or maybe don’t?
In 1939, Ann Petry published her first short story “Marie of the Cabin Club” though the name “Ann Petry” was not listed as the author, instead, it was “Arnold Petry”. Like her, throughout history, women have taken on masculine pen names in order to publish their writing in a sexist and misogynistic (publishing) world. To celebrate its 25th birthday the Women’s Prize for Fiction has put together a box of books by authors who had been published previously under masculine pen names. In these new editions, their (supposedly) ‘real’ names are used. The cover designs – all by female designers – look striking and many people have been fanning over…
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Mami Watas, president’s wives, and a stew – The 2020 Caine Prize Stories
The AKO Caine Prize for African Writing is awarded each year to one short story by an African/ African-diasporic writer. You can read all the stories online via the Caine Prize website. The winner will be announced on July 27th with a film by Joseph Adesunloye. Of course, the question had to come up at yesterday’s 2020 AKO Caine Prize Conversation organized by Africa Writes and chaired by Ifeanyi Awachi: What about the dominance of Nigerian writers? Rémy Ngamjie and Erica Sugo Anyadike – the two non-Nigerian writers shortlisted, though Ngajie in a humorous act just claimed Nigerian-ess and Anyadike revealed to much laughter that she is married to a Nigerian – shifted their gaze away from Nigeria.…
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July, August, September 2020: 15(+) Most-Anticipated Books
We are already in the third quarter of – what the hell is this year – 2020. But one thing I can say: the next three months promise a lot of great books in a wide array of genres from horror to philosophy, historical novels to queer memoir. Here are some, I am particularly excited about: July Empire of Wild: A Novel (Cherie Dimaline) Synopsis: “Broken-hearted Joan has been searching for her husband, Victor, for almost a year–ever since he went missing on the night they had their first serious argument. One terrible, hungover morning in a Walmart parking lot in a little town near Georgian Bay, she is drawn…
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April, May, June 2020: 15(+) Most-Anticipated Books
A new quarter is starting tomorrow and I think most of you share the feeling that the first one of this year has been going on forever… But here we are now and persumably the next three months will be pretty taxing aswell. Of course, there are always books for some comfort, for learning, for getting engaged. As quite a few books’ release dates have been pushed to later this year (or even next year) due to the current crisis, I have double-checked all of the books I feature … but change fast. April Beyond Survival: Strategies and Stories from the Transformative Justice Movement (Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha und Ejeris Dixon)…
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January, February, March 2020: 15(+) Most-Anticipated Books
Here we are again: Finally, I put together my list with most-anticipated books for the first three months of 2020. I am very much excited for all the books listed (and I am also excited to still discover books I don’t know of yet). I share brief descriptions of the book (either from Goodreads or the publisher’s page, sometimes abridged) and in a few words why I am excited about this book in particular! January The Magical Language of Others: A Memoir (E. J. Koh) Synopsis: “After living in America for over a decade, Eun Ji Koh’s parents return to South Korea for work, leaving fifteen-year-old Eun Ji and her…
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Why I Don’t Read White Men And You Do Not Need To Either
The new year is barely four days old and it is still that time of the year in which people think about their New Year’s resolution. (Hopefully) Many readers might say to themselves that in 2020 they really need to read “more diversely”. I am not a fan of the term itself – though this would warrant a blog post of its own – but basically it is a shorthand for reading more books by historically marginalized authors, especially BIPoC authors. Some might go so far and vow to not read white men at all. If you are out here on the Internet stating either of these things you might…
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My Best Books 2019
When I think about my reading year 2019, I first and foremost think about big, big books. For someone whose general preference lies with shorter books (250 pages just seems pretty ideal), I did pick up a lot of books going on 400 pages and far beyond – and in a lot of cases, I did love these books. Altogether I read more than 180 books in 2019 and picking favourites was not easy at all. So instead of forcing myself to cut my list down to a top ten or any other arbitrary number, I give you these assortments of lists with books which moved me, taught me something,…
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Podcast #10: Panashe Chigumadzi
Panashe Chigumadzi is an essayist and novelist. Her first novel, Sweet Medicine, was published in 2015 (Blackbird Books) and won the K. Sello Duiker Literary Award in 2016. In 2018 her second book These Bones Will Rise Again was published as the first book of The Indigo Press. She is the founding editor of Vanguard magazine, a platform for young black women coming of age in post-apartheid South Africa, and a contributing editor to Johannesburg Review of Books. Panashe has written for several outlets and she was also the curator of the inaugural Abantu Book Festival in South Africa. Her writing is also included in the New Daughters of Africa anthology.…
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Podcast #9: Ayesha Harruna Attah
Ayesha Harruna Attah is the writer of three novels. Her debut novel, Harmattan Rain, was shortlisted for the 2010 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, Africa Region. Her most recent novel, The Hundred Wells of Salaga, is a wonderful historical novel set in pre-colonial Ghana following two women whose fates intersect. This novel has been translated into several languages already. Her writing is also included in the grand New Daughters of Africa anthology. In this episode recorded during the African Book Festival Berlin, we talk about the making of The Hundred Wells of Salaga, the joys of research and the difficult task to decide what to keep out, what kind of history we are…
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October, November, December: 15(+) Most-Anticipated Books
October and November are brimfull with exciting releases and that’s why I focussed on these two months and less in December. But these two month have everything from stimulating theory over captivating memoirs to wonderfully strange stories. Like always, I share brief descriptions of each book (either from Goodreads or the publisher’s page, sometimes abridged) and in a few words why I am excited about it! I introduce my five top picks for each month and name a few additional titles because there are just so many promising books. October Ordinary Girls (Jaquira Díaz) Synopsis: Ordinary Girls is a fierce, beautiful, and unflinching memoir from a wildly talented debut author.…
