The W. E. B. Du Bois Research Institute Fellows 2022, including Nii Ayikwei Parkes and Panashe Chigumadzi, were announced on May 5, 2022. The W. E. B. Du Bois Research Institute is part of the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research located at Harvard University. Its main work is in the provision of […]
Nii Ayikwei Parkes launched his newest poetry collection The Geez, published by Peepal Press, on October 15, 2020. His discussant on the day was Toni Stuart. Nii Ayikwei Parkes is the author of the hybrid novel, Tail of the Blue Bird (2009) and the poetry collection The Makings of You (2010). He also writes for […]
Nii Ayikwei Parkes kicked off day six of Season 2 of Afrolit Sans Frontières from London, UK on Saturday, April 25, 2020. He was hosted by Asiedu Benneh. Afrolit Sans Frontières, a new initiative by and for writers of African origin, was started in March as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic international lockdown. Like […]
Flipped Eye Publishing, founded by Nii Ayikwei Parkes, was announced a recipient a grant by Arts Council England as part of a programme to diversify the arts and cultural sector on January 23, 2020. The Arts Council England has announced a new funding round to specifically address the under-representation of people with disabilities and those […]
Nii Ayikwei Parkes and Mohale Mashigo are on the judging panel of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize 2020 announced today, September 3, 2019. The Commonwealth Short Story Prize is awarded for the best piece of unpublished short fiction in English in the regions of Africa, Asia, Canada and Europe, the Caribbean, and the Pacific. Each […]
Nii Ayikwei Parkes’ newest book, a short story collection The City Will Love You, is almost here. You can lend your hand to get this book out to the reading public. Nii Ayikwei Parkes isn’t a new name in the world of African writing. His début novel, Tail of the Blue Bird (our review), was […]
Nii Ayikwei Parkes was the keynote speaker at the Bare Lit Festival 2018 giving the address at The Albany, London UK on May 27, 2018. We share the text here in full courtesy of the speaker. Let me start by inviting you to imagine: what would people who just campaign for Greenpeace be called if […]
Gyara is a new literary journal for you to submit your work. The new literary space is looking for creative non-fiction, book reviews, memoirs, essays and interviews while also training editors to manage it. A few months ago whilst at the Mboka Festival 2018, this blogger had a chat with poet, novelist, publisher Nii Ayikwei […]
The Pa Gya! Literary Festival is set to happen at the Goethe Institut in Accra, Ghana from October 20-22, 2017. It’s been a busy time in the Ghana literary scene in recent times with many things happening from festivals like the Ghana International Book Fair and the Nkabom Literary Festival as well as the Ghana […]
Buchi Emecheta the author of numerous novels passed away in London, UK on January 25th 2017. Tributes from all over the African literary community have been shared on social media. Florence Onyebuchi “Buchi” Emecheta OBE (21 July 1944 – 25 January 2017) was a Nigerian novelist, based in Britain since 1960,[1] who had also written […]
The Abena Korantemaa Writivism Prize for Oral History is an annual award for Oral History by emerging African writers and storytellers resident in Ghana administered by the Center for African Cultural Excellence (CACE). Abena Korantemaa, 100 years old, is regarded as the matriarch of her family clan, she is popularly known as ‘Maa Fri’. She […]
It official. Ugandan writer and poet Mildred Barya has been selected as the 2015 winner of the Sylt Foundation African Writer´s Residency Award. The residency includes a two months stay in a subsidized apartment on the German island of Sylt. She follows in the illustrious steps of folks like Nii Ayikwei Parkes (2014) and Chika […]
I remember the joy of hearing that Nii Ayikwei Parkes having being selected for Sylt Foundation Residency in July last year. He went and did his residency and we hope to see his sojourn bearing fruit (I work in Kenyan media and I have to use “bearing fruit” phrase in my reports; its part of […]
The Prix Laure Bataillon is an award that recognizes the best foreign work translated into French in a year. The winners of this year’s award are Nii Ayikwei Parkes for his book Tail of the Blue Bird (Notre Quelque Part) (our review here) and his translator Sika Fakambi. It was a brilliant year for Parkes […]
Ghanaian Meshack Asare is the winner of this years 2015 NSK Neustadt Prize for Children’s Literature. The award was announced by World Literature Today, the award-winning magazine of international literature and culture on Friday. The Neustadt International Prize for Literature awarded every two years recognizes great accomplishments in the world of children’s storytelling. A check […]
