Everyone expects us to fail, and to succeed is to be the exception. The space between renders us unremarkable.
African
“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.
Finding Myself in a Teenager: Empress & Aniya by Candice Carty-Williams
Friendship and black girl magic permeate these pages, shaped by Candice Carty-Williams’ deep understanding of the nuances that set apart the haves from the have-nots.
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.
Friendship, Womanhood, and Identity in Nikki May’s WAHALA
In its tale of these three women, Wahala is a riveting exploration of friendship, belonging, and identity that will have you drinking from its palm until the very last page.
5 Fun Facts with Lizzie Damilola Blackburn
From the blog post that inspired her to Yinka’s abiding love for her local chicken shop, Lizzie Damilola Blackburn gives us five fun facts about one of the first Black British romantic comedies.
“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 is 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 Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi’s great Ugandan novel shows us other ways of knowing
It may surprise a few to know that Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi's debut, a now-established classic of African literature, was rejected by British publishers for being ‘too African’.
My Darling from the Lions by Rachel Long: A Critical Summary
My Darling from the Lions is a remarkable debut collection with plenty to say and the ability to say it in a unique, witty, and fresh manner.
“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 by Bolu Babalola
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.
Travelling While Black: Opening readers’ eyes to a unique conversation on what it means to travel in this disoriented world
An insightful read for the average traveller who wants a broader perspective on what it’s like to travel in a world that privileges some but restricts many others from moving around.
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.
Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen 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 letter to the younger you and a map for the next generation
You may laugh, you may tear up a little, and you just might remember lessons from your younger self that were long forgotten.
Black Girl Finance: Let’s Talk Money offers us the vital tools we need for better financial well-being
Within a swarm of finance books like Rich Dad Poor Dad and How to Get Rich, it’s been difficult to find a beginner-friendly finance book that speaks directly to me.
“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.
Dear Black Girl gives Black girls encouragement at the time they need it the most
Have you ever read a book and knew that it was going to be an experience you would remember forever? Dear Black Girl: Letters from Your Sisters on Stepping Into Your Power was just that for me.
“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.
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.
A stunning legal thriller with a medical conspiracy that will keep you on the edge of your seat
While Justice Sleeps follows Avery, a law clerk who’s just been made power of attorney over the Supreme Court judge she serves. But she has no idea why.
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.
Prolific romance author Alyssa Cole delivers a chilling thriller about gentrification
When No One is Watching is strongest once readers understand they're being asphyxiated in the protagonist's psyche as forcefully as Black residents are being plucked out of Gifford Place.
Addis Ababa Noir: A dark, gritty collection of short stories set in the shadow of the city
These stories draw you to the side of a city that is filled with greed, power, death, and despair.
“I am not a planner”: A conversation with Chibundu Onuzo
Chibundu Onuzo on her relationship to writing as a profession, what it's like for a non-planner to fashion a novel out of a PhD, and how Sankofa relates to the cultural coordinates that orient it in modern-day Ghana.
Chibundu Onuzo’s third novel, 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.
“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.
“I learned to read between the lines”: A conversation with Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa
Dahlma Llanos-Figueroa's pioneering novels have put Afro-Latinx history on the literary map. She shares her inspirations and expands on the power of historical fiction.