Recap 2024: Books, literary magazines and journals

As part of our 2024 recap, we list some books, literary magazines, and journals in African and Black Literature published over the year.

Literary magazines and journals

The literary journal or magazine is one of the most important platforms in the literary and publishing sector. A publisher calls for fiction, poetry, nonfiction, art, or photography to be featured in their magazine or journal. Some journals are theme-based while others are open to the imagination to whoever enters. After editing the publication is proffered to the world either as a physical or virtual product. While many African-produced ones do not pay for publication, this form is important, especially for newer writers trying to break into the industry. It allows agents and publishers to find new voices to publish.

Here are literary magazines and journals that published at least one edition in 2024;

• A Long House
• Agbowo
• Akewi
• Arablit Quarterly
• Bakwa
• Baladi
• Brittle Paper
• Doek
• Debunk Quarterly
• Fiyah
• Ipikai
• Journal of African Youth Literature (JAY Lit)
• Journal of West Indian Literature
• Journal of the Writers Project of Ghana
• Johannesburg Review of Books
• Kikwetu
• Maroko
• Michigan Quarterly Review
• Lolwe
• Lounloun
• Lunaris Review
• Obsidian Lit
• Omenana Magazine
• Pepper Coast Lit
• Plough Shares
• Poetic Africa
• PREE
• Women in Islam Journal
• The Shallow Tales Review
• The Weganda Review
• Ubwali
• Will This Be a Problem?

Books

At the industry’s apex is the book that goes through a publishing process with a manuscript submitted and edited by a professional followed by layout and distribution. We found books in fiction, with a growing number in speculative fiction, poetry, and nonfiction in the African metaphysical empire in numerous languages. We did this primarily using our weekly “Book Digest” feature where we would recommend new books to read. With only English and Kiswahili spoken by this blogger, we opted to list names recommended by book influencers, publishers, platforms, and anyone who had an idea about that area.

Here are the books we featured in 2024.

• All That It Ever Meant, Blessing Musariri
• La Reve Du Pecheur, Hemley Boum
• The House of Broken Bricks, Fiona Williams
• Gaslight: The second Philip Taiwo investigation, Femi Kayode
• Assim Não Senhor Presidente, Ungulani Ba Ka Khosa
• Where We Come From, Aniefiok Ekpoudom
• Revolutionaries’ House, Nthikeng Mohlele
• Parasol Against The Axe, Helen Oyeyemi
• Rinsing Mukami’s Soul, Njambi McGrath
• LET HER BE: An Anthology of Poems on Women’s Sexual Health & Rights edited by Oumar Farouk Sesay and Elizabeth L. A. Kamar
• Engagements with Aimé Césaire: Thinking with Spirits, Jason Allen-Paisant
• The Revolution Will Be a Poetic Act: African Culture and Decolonization, Mário Pinto de Andrade Edited by Lanie Millar, Fabienne Moore
• Faradhi Ya Moyo, Anna Samwel Manyanza
• The House of Plain Truth, Donna Hemans
• Bright Red Fruit, Safia Elhillo
• Bridge, Lauren Beukes
• The Eternal Ones, Namina Forna
• Broughtupsy, Christina Cooke
• How to Make a Space Masquerade and Other Speculative Stories, Mazi Nwonwu
• Brutalism, Achille Mbembe
• Culbuter Le Malheur, Beata Umubyeyi Mairesse
• The American Daughters, Maurice Carlos Ruffin
• The Lost Love of Akbar Manzil, Shubnum Khan
• One for the Road, edited by Pelu Awofeso
• Grow Where They Fall, Michael Donkor
• Julienne, Scholastique Mukasonga
• Daughter Wound, Nkateko Masinga
• Hop Skip and Jump, Scholar V Akinyi
• Blessings, Chukwuebuka Ibeh
• Lost Soul, Magogodi Dingalo
• Une magie ordinaire, Kossi Efoui
• A Mouth Full of Salt, Reem Gaafar
• These Letters End in Tears, Musih Tedji Xaviere
• Nos Peaux en Portent Les Sillons, Ysiaka Anam
• Village Weavers, Myriam JA Chancy
• The Black Girl Survives in This One: Horror Stories, edited by Desiree S. Evans & Saraciea J. Fennell
• Durban Darlings, Shafinaaz Hassim
• La Miel Du Crabe, Inès Senghor
• One of Us Knows, Alyssa Cole
• #ZaKoa, Hary Rabary
• From the river to the sea, Nathi Ngubane
• someone birthed them broken, Ama Asantewa Diaka
• Quando Florirem Salambás No Tecto Do Pico, Conceição Lima
• Blue Exodus, poems, Hussain Ahmed
• James, Percival Everett
• Sister Sister, Efua Traore
• Pour Les Beaux Yeux Du Monde, Ayi Renaud Dossavi
• Chroniques d’un des sables, Khadijetou Sall
• Weiße Wolken, Yandé Seck
• The City is Mine, Niq Mhlongo
• Névoa na Sala, Mélio Tinga
• This Could Be Us, Kennedy Ryan
• Covik One Nine, edited by Ibiso Graham-Douglas
• Salve d’honneur pour orchestre à Papa, Dieudonné Niangouna
• Mutiladas, Eduardo Quive
• An African History of Africa: From the Dawn of Humanity to Independence, Zeinab Badawi
• Ces soleils ardents, Nincemon Fallé
• Flying Through Water, Mamle Wolo
• We Were Once Girls, Aiwanose Odafen
• With Love, Grief and Fury, Salena Godden
• Sinners, Sarah Haluwa
• Ghostroots, ‘Pemi Aguda
• The Smoke That Thunders, Erhu Kome
• Out of Office, A.H. Cunningham
• Like Water Like Sea, Olumide Popoola
• Divorcez, Albert Kokolomami
• Rick Riordan Presents: It Waits in the Forest, Sarah Dass
• Hewa Rwanda, Dorcy Rugamba
• Sweetness in the Skin, Ishi Robinson
• O Acumulador, João Melo
• Lost Ark Dreaming, Suyi Davies Okungbowa
• The Lions’ Den, Iris Mwanza
• Ripples in the Pool, Rebeka Njau
• A Trace of Sun, Pam Williams
• Twelve Words for Moss, Elizabeth-Jane Burnett
• Crook Manifesto, Colson Whitehead
• Amores e outras cores, Armindo António
• Captive: New Short Fiction from Africa, edited by Rachel Zadok and Helen Moffett
• The Incredible Dreams of Garba Dakaskus, Umar Abubakar Sidi
• King of Dead Things, Nevin Holness
• Curandera, Irenosen Okojie
• For Such a Time as This, Shani Akilah
• Dirurubele, Tuelo Gabonewe
• The Seers, Sulaiman Addonia
• Water Baby, Chioma Okereke
• My Parents’ Marriage, Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond
• La Légende de la Dette, Mamadou Socrates Diop
• The Thread That Connects Us, Ayaan Mohamud
• A Quick Ting On: Grime, Franklyn Addo
• Comment tuer dix fois un criminel, Florent Raoul Couao-Zotti
• Masquerade, O O Sangoyomi
• Someone Like Us, Dinaw Mengestu
• No Small Thing, Orlaine McDonald
• Je Mercie La Nuit, Veronique Tadjo
• Let Me Liberate You, Andie Davis
• Setlhare Sa learogi/The Peculiar Tree: Children’s Stories from Botswana, edited by Zukiswa Wanner
• Pinnacle: The Lost Paradise of Rasta, Bill “Blade” Howell and Hélène Lee
• Seeing Our Sisters: Anthology, Munira Hussein, Resh (Rehema Zuberi), Joanna Cockerline, Ellah Hallets, Hellen Mwololo and Jacque Nzioka (TJ)
• Yorùbá Boy Running, Biyi Bandele
• Between Friends & Lovers, Shirlene Obuobi
• Búfalos Selvagens, Ana Paula Maia
• Egypt + 100 Stories from a Century after Tahrir, Edited by Ahmed Naji
• Le Harem Du Roi, Djaïli Amadou Amal
• Bald Dandelions With Their Wishes Blown Clean Off!, Mona Liban, Aisha Ali Haji, Hamdi Ali
• The Legend of Mamlambo, Charles Siboto
• We’re Alone, Edwidge Danticat
• Jacaranda, Gaël Faye
• Parlour Wife, Foluso Agbaje
• Let Us Conspire and Other Stories, edited by Billy Kahora
• The Creation of Half-Broken People, Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu
• Signs, Music, Raymond Antrobus
• Adikou, Raphaelle Red
• Adventures of the Boys with the Happy Feet Dance, Bode Abifarin
• The Road to the Country, Chigozie Obioma
• Sand and Roses, Hamza Koudri
• Amour, Patrie et Soupe de Crabes, Johary Ravaloson
• La Vie Infinie, Jennifer Richard
• Expat Blues, Lucy Mushita
• And So I Roar, Abi Dare
• Golden Girl, Lorato Trok
• Mestre dos Batuques, Jose Eduardo Agualusa
• Love Marry Kill, Zukiswa Wanner
• The Rest of You, Maame Blue
• Onyx & Beyond, Amber McBride
• The Kingdom of Dust, Lisa Stringfellow
• L’eunuque et l’empereur, Solo Niaré
• Le dernier des arts, Fary Ndao
• The Syndicate of 22 Natives: The Stan Sangweni Story, Lindiwe Sangweni-Siddo
• A Place Between Waking and Forgetting, Eugen Bacon
• Passiontide, Monique Roffey
• De Langste Schlaf, Melanie Raabe
• Hammer Blows, David Mandessi Diop
• you get better with love, Duduzile Noeleen Ngwenya
• Blood on the Brain, Esinam Bediako
• Frau Müller, die Migrantin, Evelyne Waithira Müller
• Les aventures de la foufoune, Léonora Miano
• When Love Says Goodbye, Scholastica Moraa
• Weeping Becomes a River, Siphokazi Jonas
• Precious and Impossible, Anthony Joseph
• Kumi: New-Generation African Poets, A Chapbook Box Set, edited by Kwame Dawes and Chris Abani
• Corpo Seco, Nadia Maddy
• Immortal Dark, Tigest Girma
• Sopros Dos Deuses, Fabio Kabral
• Good-for-Nothing Girl, Sefi Atta
• The Legend of Arniston House, TL Huchu
• Island Christmas, Callie Browning
• Ceremony for the Nameless, Theresa Lola
• Obligations to the Wounded, Mubanga Kalimamukwento
• Who Will Bury You, Chido Muchemwa
• Les Blattes Orgueilleuses, Lynda Chouiten
• A Very Gidi Christmas, Tomilola Coco Adeyemo
• Play Dirty, Dreda Say Mitchell
• Dear Zimi, Chiziterem Chijioke
• Tassie Hangbe, Médessè Nathalie Sagbo
• Some of Us Can Go Back Home, Yashika Graham
• Afro-Centered Futurisms in Our Speculative Fiction, edited by Eugen Bacon
• Spud: The Reunion, John van de Ruit
• Contos Míticos Afrobrasileiros, Vanda Machado
• Where the Dead Brides Gather, Nuzo Onoh
• Songs for the Shadows, Cheryl S. Ntumy
• Only Stars Know the Meaning of Space: A Literary Mixtape, Remy Ngamije
• Kinokia et les Ancêtres, Liss Kihindou
• Si j’étais une femme, Nfol
• They Dream In Gold, Mai Sennaar
• Èșù at the Library, Kola Túbọ̀sún
• The Traveller: Crossing Borders and Connecting Africa, Thebe Ikalafeng
• Shadows of Love, Egara Kabaji

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