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CLMP Firecracker Awards 2025 finalists announced
The finalists for the CLMP Firecracker Awards 2025, including Edwidge Danticat, Mubanga Kalimamukwento, Yalie Saweda Kamara, JoAnne McFarland, and The Weganda Review, were announced on Wednesday, May 21, 2025 The Community of Literary Magazines and Presses (CLMP) is an organisation of independent literary publishers and magazines founded in the USA in 1967. The CLMP Firecracker…
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African Literature Association conference 2025 for Nairobi in June
The African Literature Association conference 2025 will be held in Nairobi, Kenya, from June 25 to 28, 2025. The African Literature Association (ALA) is an independent, non-profit organization that promotes the study and appreciation of African literature and culture, open to scholars, teachers, and writers globally. It facilitates understanding and appreciation of African works of…
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Jacana’s From Pitch to Publication winners announced
Philisiwe Twijnstra, Kirsten Clark, and Greta Nangammbi won at the Jacana Literary Foundation’s From Pitch to Publication competition in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Wednesday, May 21, 2025. From Pitch to Publication is an initiative from South African publisher Jacana Literary Foundation (JLF) designed to give southern African writers a stage to present their writing to…
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BCA African Business Book of the Year 2025 shortlist announced
The Business Council for Africa Business Book of the Year Awards 2025 shortlist was announced in London, UK on Thursday, May 15, 2025. The Business Council for Africa (BCA) is a not-for-profit organisation connecting Africa to the international business community and investing in Africa’s next generation of business leaders, based in London, UK, founded in…
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Book Digest: Bilguissa Diallo, Edify Yakusak, Jo Ingabire Moys, K. Ancrum
Our regular Book Digest segment spotlights new books by Bilguissa Diallo, Edify Yakusak, Jo Ingabire Moys, and K. Ancrum. Transhumances by Bilguissa Diallo Publisher: Les EditricesDate: May 26, 2025Genre: FictionLanguage: FrenchWhere to find it: Indigo, Bilguissa Diallo Bilguissa Diallo is a French journalist, activist, and novelist who was born in France and lives near Paris.…
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Yvette Lisa Ndlovu is DAG Prize for Literature 2025 Finalist
Yvette Lisa Ndlovu was announced as a DAG Prize for Literature 2025 Finalist on Monday, May 12, 2025. The DAG Foundation, founded by US citizens Doug and Alyssa Graham, aims to support innovative arts with a focus on music, visual arts, and literature. One of its flagship projects is the DAG Prize for Literature, worth…
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Caine Prize announces “Best of the Caine” Award
The Caine Prize for African Writing announced the Best of the Caine Award, the best of the stories from the last quarter century, on Wednesday, May 21, 2025. No new Caine Prize awardee will be announced this year. The Caine Prize for African Writing is an annual literary award that recognizes excellence in African storytelling.…
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Zabu Wamara, Kristien Potgieter win Island Prize 2025
Zabu Wamara and Kristien Potgieter jointly won the Island Prize for a Debut Novel from Africa 2025 on Monday, May 19, 2025. The Island Prize for a Debut Novel from Africa is from Holland House Books (UK), Karavan Press (SA), and Booker Prize longlistee Karen Jennings. It aims to give writers from Africa (or the…
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Abi Daré wins Climate Fiction Prize
Abi Daré’s novel And So I Roar was declared the winner of the inaugural Climate Fiction Prize in London, UK, on Wednesday, May 14, 2025. The Climate Fiction Prize is a new literary prize which rewards the best novel-length work of fiction published in the UK engaging with the climate crisis, worth £10,000. The first…
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Nairobi Litfest 2025 starts June 26
The Nairobi Litfest 2025, formerly known as NBO Litfest, will be held in Kenya’s capital city from June 26 to 29, 2025. In 2021, the first edition of the NBO LitFest was hosted as a celebration of public libraries as spaces for art, culture, and knowledge production by the civil society organisation Book Bunk. The…
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Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie to headline Things Fall Apart Festival 2025
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie will headline the Things Fall Apart Festival 2025 in Enugu, Nigeria, from June 29 – July 5, 2025. The Centre for Memories (Ncheta Ndigbo) was founded to preserve and showcase the history and culture of the Igbo people in 2017. It has held memorials for key historical moments, hosted book clubs, readings,…
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Jamaica Kincaid, Maaza Mengiste are Berlin Prize 2025-26 recipients
Jamaica Kincaid and Maaza Mengiste were announced as Berlin Prize 2025-26 recipients on Wednesday, May 7, 2025. The Berlin Prize is a residential fellowship at the Hans Arnhold Center awarded by the American Academy in Berlin to US-based scholars, writers, composers, and artists who represent the highest standards of excellence in their fields, from the…
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Sisonke Msimang withdraws from Sydney Writer’s Festival over Palestine
Sisonke Msimang has withdrawn from the Sydney Writers’ Festival 2025 over its sponsorship by Airbnb, which actively operates in illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank. South African-Australian Sisonke Msimang is an award-winning writer, activist, and political analyst with a focus on race, gender, and politics. The South African who was born in Zambia and…
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Henri N’koumo wins Prix Jean-Marie Adiaffi de la Littérature Ivoirienne 2025
Henri N’koumo won the inaugural Prix Jean-Marie Adiaffi de la Littérature Ivoirienne 2025 in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire on Saturday, May 3, 2025. Jean-Marie Adé Adiaffi was an Ivorian writer, screenwriter, filmmaker, and critic who studied film at the Sorbonne in Paris, France, before returning to Côte d’Ivoire to teach. He passed away in November 1999.…