Category: Writing Africa
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Recap 2023: African and Black Literature in 2023
We look back at the literary scene across Africa and its diaspora from transitions, literary award winners, festivals, books, journals, and everything in between in 2023. In 2016, we started a series looking back at the year that passed which has since become a tradition here at this website. You can look at the recaps…
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JamesMurua.com is now WritingAfrica.com
The website formerly known as JamesMurua.com will now go with the name WritingAfrica.com. JamesMurua.com was born on April 24, 2013, when I registered a self-titled domain to write about African writers and what they were up to. The African writing community was not being given adequate attention by those who were blogging the way I…
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2022 recap: new books and literary festivals (Part 2)
We look back at the literary scene in 2022 in the second of a two-part series; in this post, we look at the new books from the continent and the literary festivals we covered. In 2016, we here at James Murua Literary introduced what we called the “Outstanding African Literary Awards” where we gave you…
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2022 recap: Transition and Literary Awards across Africa (Part 1)
We look back at the literary scene in 2022 with a two-part series starting with those who left us in 2022 and winners of literary competitions across Africa and its diaspora. In 2016, we here at James Murua Literary introduced what we called the “Outstanding African Literary Awards” where we gave you a look at…
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Kenya Writes with Goethe-Institut: Fatma Shafii.
On Monday, we announced a new initiative, Kenya Writes with Goethe-Institut Kenya, to showcase writers from Kenya. Today we kick off with our first writer Fatma Shafii who lives in Mombasa, Kenya. Fatma Shafii is a Swahili writer who likes to write about human behaviour and emerging issues affecting the continent based in Mombasa. Her…
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Kenya Writes: Showcasing Kenyan writing alongside Goethe-Institut Kenya.
Today we introduce, Kenya Writes, a new project to showcase writing from Kenya in partnership with Goethe-Institut Kenya. In 1964, Weep Not Child the first novel written in English by Ngugi Wa Thiong’o and the first by a Kenyan was published. Since then, there have been a dazzling array of writers on a huge number…
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2021 recap: A look back at literary awards won by writers of African descent.
We look at some of the awards won by writers of African descent from the Nobel Prize for Literature, the Booker Prize, the Camões Award to the Prix Goncourt in 2021. What a year 2021 was for writers of African descent as they scooped many of the most prestigious awards in English, French, and Portuguese…
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2021 recap: The African and Black books of the year
We look back at some of the books that were published across African and Black literary communities in 2021. It was a very productive year for writing in the African and Black community as publications came out in numbers that we haven’t seen in many a year. We saw so many more poetry collections, novels…
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New month, New Theme, Same Content for JamesMurua.com
As August comes through, we have a brand new WordPress theme for those of you who follow us here at JamesMurua.com. We will retain the same content quality and schedule. In 2013, JamesMurua.com was founded to shine a light on African writers that severely needed a spotlight. Since then, we have posted thousands of blogs…
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Platforms in African and Black Literature in 2020.
In which we shine a light on the platforms that raised African and Black literature in 2020. For literary ecosystems to allow writers and their work to blossom, a variety of platforms are needed. These platforms have several roles. Here are a few platform types and their roles. Literary magazines or journals: These publications allow…
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Books in African and Black Literature in 2020.
We shine a light on the many books that were produced in African and Black Literature and give you our top picks. It was a very productive year for writing in the African and Black community as publications came out in record numbers. This year we saw many more poetry collections, novels and novellas, essay…
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Transition in African and Black Literature in 2020
We look at those who passed away in African and Black Literature 2020 in the past year in our annual James Murua Literary Top picks. We always start this segment with the African and Black writers who passed away in the past year to honour them and their contributions. This year was no different as…
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James Murua Literary: Top picks in African and Black Literature in 2020.
We present to you the outstanding players in African and Black Literature 2020 for the past year in our annual James Murua Literary Top picks. In 2016, we here at James Murua Literary introduced what we called the “Outstanding African Literary Awards” where we gave you a look at the year with a focus on…
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Bisi Adjapon, Zoë Beck for James Murua Literary LiveStream
Bisi Adjapon and Zoë Beck are the guests at the James Murua Literary LiveStream on Wednesday, December 9, 2020, at 18:00 GMT/ 19:00 WAT/ 20:00 CAT/ 21:00 EAT. You can join the stream, brought to you in cooperation with Frankfurter Buchmesse with financial support from the German Federal Foreign Office, on Facebook, YouTube, or Twitter.…
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Mariette Tchamda Mbunpi, Annette Michael for James Murua Literary LiveStream
Mariette Tchamda Mbunpi and Annette Michael are the guests at the James Murua Literary LiveStream on Wednesday, November 25, 2020, at 18:00 GMT/ 19:00 WAT/ 20:00 CAT/ 21:00 EAT. You can join the stream, brought to you in cooperation with Frankfurter Buchmesse with financial support from the German Federal Foreign Office, on Facebook, YouTube, or…