Africa39 a project celebrating the top 39 African writers under the age of 40 has announced its best at the London Book Fair today.
The Africa39 project seeks to produce a possible snapshot of our shared African future. The unique part of the project is that it lists not just English but African languages with 25% of the long listed writers from the South of Sahara.
The project started when run by Kenyan writer Binyavanga Wainaina long listed 120 writers who were then selected by a panel that included Elechi Amadi, Tess Onwueme, and Margaret Busby. Their reward will be that they will be commissioned to write a short story or extract that will be published in the anthology that will be edited by Ellah Allfrey with a forward by Nobel Prize winner Professor Wole Soyinka. Publishing house Bloomsbury promises to have the anthology out by October 2014 where it will be presented in Nigeria as part of celebrations for Port Harcourt as the UNESCO World Book Capital 2014..
The 39 writers were announced in the last hour and include some of the most known writers on the continent. They are;
- ADICHIE NGOZIE, Chimamanda
- ALI A MUTU, Richard
- ARAC DE NYEKO, Monica
- BABATUNDE, Rotimi
- BARBOSA, Eillen
- BARRET, Igoni
- BATANDA, Jackee Budesta
- BOTURU, Recaredo Silevo
- BREW-HAMMOND, Nana
- CHICOTI, Shadreck
- DRO, Edwige Renée
- FOLARIN, Tope
- GACHAGUA, Clifton
- GAZEMBA, Stanley
- GOHIL, Mehul
- GOLAKAI, Hawa Jande
- HASSIM, Shafinaaz
- IBRAHIM, Abubakar Adam
- KENANI, Onjezani Stanley
- MENGESTU, Dinaw
- MOHAMED, Nadifa
- MOHLELE, Nthikeng
- MUSITA, Linda
- MZOBE, Sifiso
- NAMUKASA, Glaydah
- NDINDA, Kioko
- ODUOR, Okwiri
- OLISAKWE, Ukamaka
- ONDJAKI
- ONUZO, Chibundu
- PARKES, Nii
- SELASI, Taiye
- SERPELL, Namwali
- SHONEYIN, Lola
- TSHUMA, Novuyo Rosa
- UNIGWE, Chika
- WANNER, Zukiswa
- WATSON, Mary
- YUNUS RAFIQ, Mohamed.
15 replies on “Top African writers under 40 announced”
[…] types of panel. Lucky for us the writer has gone on developing his craft and found himself on the list of Africa39 hottest (prosewise not looks as far as I can tell) writers under 40 announced […]
“English Language Top African Writers Under 40 Announced” would be a more appropriate headline
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[…] tell the story of a daughter’s quest to conjure up memories of her dead mother. She was also one the Africa 39 list and is one of the Jalada […]
[…] Ukamaka Olisakwe was the lady in the banking fraternity until very recently as she joined us in the full time creative business. Just like a typical banker she had already lined up a gig writing The Calabash TV series which is screening on Africa Magic on DSTV. This Ukamaka person has not only written the novel Eyes of a Goddess but she also is listed in the Africa39 project. […]
[…] Golakai is a Liberian writer whose debut novel The Lazarus Effect has been doing very well in the African literature scene. The novel follows the exploits of investigative reporter Voinjama “Vee”Johnson in Cape Town, South Africa and her assistant Chloe. You can read my review of that book here. The writer was also one of the Africa39 writers. […]
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[…] remember, Angolan Ondjaki was one of the few writers not writing in English who was also on the Africa39 list that was universally loved a few years back. Our brothers and sisters who speak in Spanish have the option of Equatorial Guinean Recaredo […]
[…] out as a writer in Kenyan the got continental recognition when she was selected as one of the best African Writers under the age of 40. This was followed by her selection as a Miles Morland Scholar with many looking out for her debut […]
[…] French first came to the notice of English speaking Africans when she was announced as one of the top 39 writers under the age of 40 two years ago. This was off the back of her short story Professor about a long-lasting friendship […]
[…] Portuguese is Ondjaki the writer of Transparent city and Good Morning Comrades who some of us were introduced to by the Africa39 project. Another writer whose language of choice is Portuguese is Dina Salústio the writer of A Louca de […]
[…] listed among the thirty nine writers under the age of 40 likely to make their mark in the future, the Africa39, in 2014. She is the writer of Eyes of a Goddess (2012) and Ogadinma Or, Everything Will be All […]