Recap 2025: Books, Literary Magazines and Journals

As part of our 2025 year-in-review, here is a rundown of the literary magazines and journals, as well as books, we tracked here at Writing Africa.

Literary Magazines and Journals

Literary magazines and journals are a vital part of the literary ecosystem. They serve as essential platforms, especially for emerging writers, offering many their first experience of professional editing and publication. These publications are also crucial for new editors beginning their careers. For authors, appearing in these journals allows their work to reach an audience and helps them build a readership. Furthermore, agents and publishers frequently look to these publications to discover promising new talent.

Below is a list of journals and magazines that published at least one issue in 2025.

• Agbowó
• Akpata
• Arablit Quarterly
• Callaloo
• Doek
• Efiko
• Fiyah
• JAY Lit
• Journal of West Indian Literature
• Ipikai
• Johannesburg Review of Books
• Hummingbird Journal Magazine
• Ibua Journal
• Isele Quarterly
• Kweli Journal
• Lolwe
• Lọúnlọún
• Nalubaale Review
• New Contrast
• Nenta
• Okiti Literary
• Omenana Magazine
• PREE
• The Shallow Tales Review
• The Black Orpheus: A Journal of African and Afro-American Literature
• Transition Magazine
• Ubwali
• Weganda Review

Books

Building on our 2024 model, we expanded our “Book Digest” series, featuring four newly published books for you to explore each week. We highlighted writers from across Africa—including Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, South Africa, Ghana, Senegal, Guinea, Zambia, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, and the Republic of the Congo—as well as writers from the diaspora in the United States, Trinidad and Tobago, France, Australia, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Jamaica. Below are the books we featured at Writing Africa this year.

• Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor
• The Believers by A. K. Herman
• Before the Mango Ripens by Afabwaje Kurian
• When Home Calls by Enajite Efemuaye
• You Have to Harden Your Heart by Kim Robinson-Walcott
• Fireflies on the Lagoon Novel By Tunde Leye
• From Glasgow Without Love: A Collection Beyond Fiction by Albrin Junior
• Black Cake, Turtle Soup, and Other Dilemmas by Gloria Blizzard
• At the Fount of Creation by Tobi Ogundiran
• Efraction by Kona Mutombo
• A Season of Light by Julie Iromuanya
• Crossings: Migrant Knowledges, Migrant Forms edited by Natalya Din-Kariuki, Subha Mukherji, Rowan Williams
• Black Mestiza by Yael Valencia Aldana
• Monster by Dzifa Benson
• Boys, Girls and Beasts by Nathaniel Bivan
• My Colouring Book of Rhymes by Njeri Wangari
• Chouf…A Marseille by Hayat Kasdi
• People Like Stars by Patrice Lawrence
• This Ends in Embers by Kamilah Cole
• Dear Yusef: Essays, Letters, and Poems, For and About One Mr. Komunyakaa edited by Nicole Sealey and John Murillo
• Will This Be a Problem Anthology
• Ngambo Ya Congo by Do Nsoseme
• Together Apart: The Story of Living in Apartheid by Athambile Masola and Xolisa Guzula
• I Want To Talk You by Diana Evans
• Casualties of Truth by Lauren Francis-Sharma
• Oromay by Baalu Girma
• Code Noir by Canisia Lubrin
• Isaac’s Song by Daniel Black
• Skin by Ibi Zoboi
• Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
• The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami
• The New Carthaginians by Nick Makoha
• Child of Congo by Laurène Southe
• African Feminist Praxis by Jessica Horn
• Anansi: New & Ancient African Tales (Myths, Gods & Immortals) by Ivana Akotowaa Ofori
• Servil by Tinga Maluvana
• Sotto Lo Sguardo Del Leone by Maaza Mengiste
• The Lives and Deaths of Véronique Bangoura by Tierno Monénembo
• We, the Kindling by Otoniya J. Okot Bitek
• Cursebound By Saara El-Arifi
• Mrs. Kuti by Remilekun Anikulapo-Kuti
• Theft by Abdulrazak Gurnah
• Feeling edited by Beverley Nambozo Nsengiyunva
• Oathbound by Tracy Deonn
• Can’t Get Enough by Kennedy Ryan
• Canary by Onke Mazibuko
• Spur des Geldes by Leye Adenle
• The Possibility of Tenderness: A Jamaican memoir of plants and dreams by Jason Allen-Paisant
• Madame Sosostris & the Festival for the Broken-Hearted by Ben Okri
• Sud Sauvage by Gaelle Belem
• Where Shadows Meet by Patrice Caldwell
• Black Friday: Short Stories from Africa by Cheryl S. Ntumy
• Love, Lagos & Other Complications by Zainab Uche Imam
• Princess Njinga – Bane of the Portuguese by Emily Khalayi Wekulo
• Calamity of the Kasigau by Makenzi K.G
• Queen Mkabayi Zulu Kingmaker by Hellen Akeyo
• Two Faces of Chief Odera by Michael Oluoch
• The Fragile Mental Health of Strong Women by Michelle Myeko Kekana
• Everything is Fine Here by Iryn Tushabe
• Another Mother Does Not Come When Yours Dies by Mubanga Kalimamukwento
• Big Small People by Jesudubami Jemima Aganaba
• Chaos King by Kacen Callender
• Somadina by Akwaeke Emezi
• Braids and Migraines by Andile Cele
• The Jamaica Kollection of the Shante Dream Arkive by Marcia Douglas
• Happy Land by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
• Children of Useyi by Moses Ose Utomi
• Gold Coast Dilemma Book by Nana Malone
• Becoming Afro-Dutch: Hybrid Being in Black Art and Culture by Charl Landvreugd
• Transhumances by Bilguissa Diallo
• On A Day Like This by Edify Yakusak
• 100 Days, 100 Stories edited by Jo Ingabire Moys
• The Corruption of Hollis Brown by K. Ancrum
• Ever Since We Small by Celeste Mohammed
• Piss Corpse by Muthi Nhlema
• Las Visitantes by Yurieth Romero
• The Summer I Ate the Rich by Maika Moulite & Maritza Moulite
• The Search for Othella Savage by Foday Mannah
• Conversations with African Women Publishers
• Harmattan Season by Tochi Onyebuchi
• Zaiire The Prince of Kongo and The Necklace of Destiny by Hrm King Kufulula
• Promises by Goretti Kyomuhendo
• The Catch by Yrsa Daley Ward
• That’s How They Get You: An Unruly Anthology of Black American Humor edited by Damon Young
• Lost and Found: An A-Z of Neglected Writers of the Anglophone Caribbean by Alison Donnell
• Dhulma by Abdulrazak Gurnah
• Sing the Truth edited by Laura Pegram
• Quero Ser os Teus Domingos by José Eduardo Agualusa
• Esperance by Adam Oyebanji
• Letastshe Ke La Badimo by Sabata-Mpho Mokae
• Rosa Mistika by Euphrase Kezilahabi
• Other Worlds by André Alexis
• Lush by Rochelle Dowden-Lord
• The Girls Who Grew Big by Leila Mottley
• The Forest: A Chase of the Fractured Mind by Babanifesi B. Apata
• When the Harvest Comes by Denne Michele Norris
• Heirloom by Catherine-Esther Cowie
• After 4:30 by David Maillu
• 28th February House by Demi Letsa
• Repatriação by Eve Guerra
• Blau by Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond, Illustrated by Daniel Minter
• O Tempo do Cão by Ondjaki, António Jorge Gonçalves
• Owele by Sihle Ntuli
• O país sem sombra by Abdourahman A. Waberi
• The Devil’s Horsewhip by Damion Spencer
• The Tiny Things Are Heavier by Esther Ifesinachi Okonkwo
• Al Shabah by Khalil Diallo
• Jamaica Road by Lisa Smith
• Visiting Akwa Ibom, Living in Uyo by Nmadiuto James
• Beyond the Watershed by Nadia Alexis
• The Thing with Zola by Zibu Sithole
• Love Lives of Nigerians in partnership with Zikoko!
• In the Late of Night by Ntombi Nkabinde
• Misbehaving at the Crossroads: Essays & Writings by Honoree Fanonne Jeffers
• The Mercy Step Book by Marcia Hutchinson
• Ein Funky-Makossa für die Freiheit by Max Lobe
• Malcolm X in Gaza by Nathi Ngubane
• All the Men I’ve Loved Again by Christine Pride
• Years of Shame by Obinna Udenwe
• Make Your Way Home by Carrie M Moore
• Dealing with the Dead by Alain Mabanckou
• The Reaper by Jackson P. Brown
• Blood Slaves by Markus Redmond
• Displaced by Patrick Ochieng
• Indigene by Sefi Atta
• Die Sehenden by Sulaiman Addonia
• Diese glühenden Sonnen by Nincemon Fallé
• Soleils invincibles by Ndiaye Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba
• Shamiso by Brian Chikwava
• Das schöne Lächeln von Riambel by Priya Hein
• The Quiet Ear An Investigation of Missing Sound: A Memoir By Raymond Antrobus
• The Hand of Iman by Ryad Assani-Razaki
• Diplomatic Ties by Mpho Boshego
• Fabrics of Love: Lebo Mazibuko
• Deep Blue by Veruska De Vita
• Prins by Ryan Pedro
• The Lucky Ones by Alistair Mackay
• Led by Shepherds: An Initiate’s Memoir by Jeffrey Rakabe
• Making A Killing by Bonnie Espie
• The Smallest Ones by Popina Khumanda
• The Nicotine Gospel by Sven Axelrad
• Not Another Samoosa Run! By Nadia Cassim
• I Cry at the Feet of My Other Body By Mustapha Enesi
• Das Jahr der Wunder by Melanie Raabe
• Les Murmures de la Sagesse by Bhouria Diallo
• The Wilderness by Angela Flournoy
• Strength and Sorrow by Oyunga Pala
• Les Confidences de Kakoulima by Mamady Koulibaly
• Root and Bound by Manthipe Moila
• Kingdom of Bastards by Brian Gyamfi
• The Toppling by Cynthia Marangwanda
• Sorry, Not Sorry by Frances Mensah Williams
• Burning Down the House edited by Mbali Mazibuko, Shakeelah Ismail, Charisse Louw, Ijeoma Chidi Opara & Stella Viljoen.
• Make Me a Monster by Kalynn Bayron
• Todo Sobre Deus by José Eduardo Agualusa
• Bosadi by Kopano Matlwa
• Moonbeam edited by Anote Ajeluorou
• Leech by Jasmaine Payne
• Wilderness of Mirrors by Olufemi Terry
• The Nga’phandileh Whisperer: A Sauútiverse Novella by Eugen Bacon
• Coração Sem Medo by Itamar Vieira Junior
• Victor Ehikhamenor: Chronicles of the Enchanted World by Sylvester Okwunodu Ogbechie
• Futility by ‪Nuzo Onoh
• Welcome to Anywhere by Joe Ruzvidzo
• Psychopomp & Circumstance by Eden Royce
• Tall Is Her Body by Robert de la Chevotière
• La Nuit au Cœur by Nathacha Appanah
• The Years of Blood by Adedayo Agarau
• A Kick in the Belly: Women, Slavery and Resistance by Stella Dadzie
• The Natural Order of Things by Donika Kelly
• Hadaa Na Hadithi Nyingine by Muthoni Muchemi
• Beautiful Changelings by Maxine Beneba Clarke
• The King Must Die by Kemi Ashing-Giwa
• Afrofuturism Short Stories (Gothic Fantasy) edited by Isis Asare
• Lonely Crowds by Stephanie Wambugu
• Eternal Ruin by Tigest Girma
• Not This Tender Book by Sarah Uheida
• Bloodmercy by I.S. Jones
• The Witness of Nina Mvungi by Esther Karin Mngodo
• You Who Suffer Because You Love, Love Still More by Serubiri Moses
• Racebook by Tochi Onyebuchi
• Who Knows You by Heart by Christopher John Farley
• The Slaughterhouse of Dreams by Fiston Mwanza Mujila
• The Convoy by Beata Umubyeyi Mairesse
• The Bone River by Nkereuwem Albert
• I, Medusa by Ayana Gray
• The Land Remembers by Amon Chizema
• In Our Own Ways by Yejide Kilanko
• The Wondrous Lives of Nella Carter by Brionni Nwosu
• Firstborn of the Sun by Marvellous Michael Anson
• Cape Fever By Nadia Davids
• Cursed Daughters by Oyinkan Braithwaite
• Bitter Honey by Lolá Ákínmádé
• Crossroad Mirror by Hussain Ahmed