Leila Mottley bounces into the hotel waiting room to meet me. I waste no time with my questions on Nightcrawling, which was longlisted for the Booker Prize in 2022, making this twenty-year-old the youngest author ever to have been nominated.
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Carefree Black Girls: Black Women are Popular Culture
The truth is no matter how often the media attempts to mute our voices and discredit our influence, pop culture is irrelevant without black women.
“She wrote exactly how it was to live, love, and be in endz”: A conversation with Lemara Lindsay-Prince
“For so many of us Black Brits, the anonymous writer of Keisha The Sket—Jade LB—is as fundamental to the canon as Shakespeare or Dickens.”
A rapid-fire Q&A with Abi Daré
In her latest conversation with her favourite author, literary influencer Hena J. Bryan (some know her as Bookish Babe) asks the questions we’ve all been wanting answered.
“Children’s books should be for all children”: A conversation with Jasmine Richards
Storymix is an inclusive fiction studio with social purpose that creates high-quality, original concept series with inclusive casts of characters, putting children of colour at the centre of the action.
How to Manage Your Relationship’s Relationship with Social Media
The Hive opens with a confession: Charlotte has killed her ex-boyfriend's partner, and now invites you to vote on whether he should live or die via Instagram.
Dear Senthuran explores the highs and lows of being a god
It would be hard for anyone to finish Dear Senthuran without a change—a change in perspective, understanding, knowledge. Knowing your identity is one thing, but living it is another. Emezi does both.
Why I Write
I write to call their names. The same way we say Breonna, Sandra Bland, George Floyd, Trayvon, Botham Jean, Dante Wright, Nizah Morris. I write in celebration.
The Nail Polish Theory: I broke up with my boyfriend when he started wearing it
For a long time, I thought she’d insulted me. Today I think she was trying to define me. "Pédé" must have been the only word she knew. It was the only word she had.
Cassava Republic Press collects the stories of Nigeria’s queer women
A rich resource that allows Nigeria’s queer women to speak their truths as honestly, as openly, and as safely as they can.
An illustrated extract from Yinka, Where Is Your Huzband?
A novel that will make you laugh out loud as you cheer for a loveable heroine looking for love, and herself, between two cultures.
The Self-Publishing Trials and Triumphs of Chinedu Achebe
It was neither purely a Nigerian immigrant story nor an African American romance—not even an urban tale. Reader, I decided to self-publish.
Finding Freedom in Fallibility with Raven Leilani
Everyone expects us to fail, and to succeed is to be the exception. The space between renders us unremarkable.
“Books work better when illustrators are allowed to shape the story”: A conversation with Dapo Adeola
Dapo Adeola spills on everything from how the publishing industry mistreats its illustrators, to how he pulled off publishing an 18-illustrator picture book in under a year.
“I really wanted to write the book that I wish I’d had at 15”: A conversation with Danielle Jawando
Danielle Jawando on mental health, the need for Northern representation, and the impact of covid on And the Stars Were Burning Brightly.
“We’re not getting fresh voices, we’re getting fresh faces”: A conversation with Formy Books
What makes Formy Books different is that they are an independent, family-run CIC (Community Interest Company). The core team consists of Editorial Director, Curtis Ackie, and their partner, Ebony Lyon serving as Head of Marketing.
Finding Myself in Empress & Aniya
Having grown up in an area of relative poverty, Empress's life really struck a chord with me. I got her. I knew what it was like.
When Mr Mandela Came to Town: The Story Behind the Book
I explicitly remember my dad saying: “this is history in the making, better than any book you will ever read.” Ironically, 25 years later, I have now written about this very experience.
“I wanted to write about how black societies could evolve without white hegemony”: A conversation with Okezie Nwọka
Okezie Nwọka on what and who inspired God of Mercy, the difficulties of duality, and adapting Igbo language and culture for the foreign page.
Why is there no Igbo translation of Things Fall Apart?
It’s hard to believe that out of 50 translations of Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, not one is in the novel’s mother tongue: Igbo.
How this great Ugandan novel shows us other ways of knowing
Where most African literature must harness Western critical acclaim before being celebrated back home, Kintu marks an important first in African literary history.
6 Unforgettable Black Poetry Collections
From the sticky facets of girlhood and the concrete heights of a North Peckham estate to the azure shores of the Zambezi River, these poetry collections instruct us to continually look at our experiences through a multifaceted and human lens.
10 Classic Epic Poems from the Black Atlantic
So begins the project of chronologising and mapping the epos of the Black Atlantic across the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
“I needed to write a book that reflected reality”: A conversation with Lọlá Ákínmádé Åkerström
Lola Ákínmádé Åkerström talks freely about how In Every Mirror She’s Black upends mainstream ideas about Nordic society, her difficult journey to publication, and writing Black women.
“This book was the way to offer a kind of solidarity”: A conversation with Emmanuel Iduma
A Stranger's Pose is a dreamy travelogue and memoir through west and north Africa that explores the nature of estrangement, identity, and grief.
To love is to see, and to be loved is to be seen: Love in Colour
Love in Colour challenges you to be loved loudly and unashamedly. Bolu Babalola wants readers to know that to love is to see, and to be loved is to be seen.
In Every Mirror She’s Black is the perfect read
Solitude is the real story of In Every Mirror She’s Black, a unique distillation of commercial and literary fiction that ultimately hits like a tragedy.
Travelling while black in this disoriented world
An insightful read for anyone who wants a broader perspective on what it’s like to travel in a world that privileges some, but restricts many others.
Shadow Forward: A Review of My Monticello
Who and what are we the product of, and what is the future of this current birthing? I want us to exercise patience as we wait for the arrival of answers.
This book lays bare the internal woes of existing as a Black woman
This book reminds Black women that we are not superheroes, thus we should not treat ourselves or allow others to treat us as such.
Grown is a map for the next generation
You may laugh, you may tear up a little, and you just might remember long-forgotten lessons from your younger self.
“I want the book to create space, especially psychic space in our imaginations”: A conversation with Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah
Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah gives us her perspective on The Sex Lives of African Women's genesis, ethos, and her best book recommendations.
How Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah’s The Sex Lives of African Women will set you free
The Sex Lives of African Women is a safe space: it is pure, unadulterated freedom, somehow magically distilled and transformed into a 304-page book.
“I hope Black girls will leave the book feeling that alrightness”: A conversation with Tamara Winfrey Harris
Tamara Winfrey Harris talks about her work, the Black girl experience, her reading recommendations, and what she's got coming.
“I felt that I had grown up and become Jewell Parker Rhodes”: A conversation with Dr. Jewell Parker Rhodes
Dr. Jewell Parker Rhodes sheds light on her remarkable journey from not knowing Black people write books to writing some of the best ones around.
“I grew up obsessed with this alternate version of myself”: A conversation with Safia Elhillo
Safia Elhillo on the inspiration behind Home is Not a Country, her roots, and writing a world that reflects the one she grew up in.
Home is Not a Country: A novel-in-verse about identity, belonging, and the true meaning of home
Home is Not a Country is told through the eyes of Nima, a Muslim American girl who finds herself longing to be someone else.
“I’m writing the stories I need to write”: A conversation with Dean Atta
Dean Atta is bright and bubbly, talking effusively about his writing and bouncing between topics with that palpable joy that is so characteristic of his work.
Tami Charles’ Muted explores the music industry’s dark side
A fast-paced coming-of-age story about music, the loss of innocence, and the dangers lurking in the shadows of the entertainment industry.
The first African-language title longlisted for the Booker
A modern take on the origin story of Kenya’s Gĩkũyũ people, The Perfect Nine is one of those rare books about history that has, itself, made history.
Nadifa Mohamed’s The Fortune Men centres humanity in the midst of tragedy and injustice
The Fortune Men is a historical fiction set in 1950s Cardiff that explores the real and distressing story of Mahmood Mattan, the last man to be hanged in Wales.
Accra Noir: Crime in a city of stories, legends, and allegories
Edited by Nana-Ama Danquah, Accra Noir's writers spin a complex and fantastical web of love, intrigue, drama, and crime.
A chilling thriller about gentrification
When No One Is Watching makes it clear that there are heavy physical and emotional tolls to be paid for choosing to actively participate in a history and present of injustice.
A gritty collection set in the shadow of Addis Ababa
The stories within Addis Ababa Noir will shock, scar, and haunt you. This is a place where myth comes to life and shadow walks on its own.
“I am not a planner”: A conversation with Chibundu Onuzo
Borne out of her doctoral research on the West African Student Union of 1920s London, Sankofa marks a departure from Chibundu Onuzo's first two novels.
Sankofa comes at the right time
Following Welcome to Lagos, Sankofa marks a departure from Lagosian life and tells the story of a mixed-race British woman's search for her long-lost West African father.
15 Coming-of-Age Novels in English Translation
From Brazil and Haiti to Rwanda and Madagascar, travel the world via this list of coming-of-age novels in English translation.
Black Moses is a damning portrait of Congo-Brazzaville
Longlisted for the 2017 Man Booker International Prize, this is a cynical coming-of-age story that zeroes in on corruption in 70s and 80s Congo-Brazzaville.
Bernardine Evaristo cuts her teeth on a fun verse novel
The Emperor’s Babe is an irreverent and salacious romp that merges the traditional and the contemporaneous in a startlingly unique way.
This debut is a breathtaking love letter to diaspora
Bad Love has a somewhat misleading title. Though it is about how we hurt and are hurt in love, it is ultimately about the resilience of love across space and time.
The perfect blend of the personal and the political
Black Boy Out of Time is an eloquent and enlightening testament to the ways in which Black authors recraft genre categories that are not truly interested in telling our stories.
“Black queerness gives us space to imagine”: A conversation with Hari Ziyad
The bestselling author of the debut memoir titled Black Boy Out of Time talks at length about the limitations of writing, community care, the role of theory, and the global publishing industrial complex.
A pioneering travelogue about Black Europe
Johny Pitts leads the way in spotlighting the flavour and entangled histories of Europe's Black communities through what may be one of the most comprehensive and transnational studies on the subject to date.
Parsing Freedom: A Review of Kaitlyn Greenidge’s Libertie
Set in Reconstruction-era Brooklyn, this is a book for the sisters who are tired of being strong, for the sisters who have no interest in conditional humanity.
“I learned to read between the lines”: A conversation with Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa
Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa is a veteran of historical fiction whose pioneering work has put Afro-Latinx history on the literary map.
“A Pride and Prejudice Remix” that packs a punch
Pride is a deeply representative retelling that foregrounds Black people’s right to exist in a canon that has always pretended they do not.
Open Water: An ethereal meditation on Black love and art
People like to say that love sees no colour, that love is blind. True as that may be, it is also true that love is about seeing.
The publishing industry cannot continue to hide its anti-Blackness behind #BlackBestseller
Readers should be asking how these Black-authored titles would be different if they were also Black-edited, Black-designed, and Black-publicised.
All I want for Christmas is the death of lazy, “diversity” language
All too often we scroll across well-meaning publishing people using POC when they mean Black, racism when they mean anti-Blackness.