My dear friend Kinna is hosting the 2014 Africa Reading Challenge form January 1 to December 3. Now read on and be sure to participate for a fun time. As Kinna says, āI have absolutely no reason for hosting nor urging you to participate in this challenge save for the joy of discovering and reading African literature!ā
Are you in? š
Region
The entire African continent, including its island-states, which are often overlooked. Please refer to this Wikipedia ālist of sovereign states and dependent territories in Africaā. Pre-colonial empires and regions are also included.
Reading Goal
5 books.Ā Thatās it.Ā There will be no other levels.Ā Of course, participants are encouraged to read more than 5 books.Ā Eligible books include those which are written by African writers, or take place in Africa, or are concerned with Africans and with historical and contemporary African issues. Note that at least 3 books must be written by African writers.
Genres
- Fiction ā novels, short stories, poetry, drama, childrenās books.Ā Note: You can choose to read a number of individual and uncollected short stories.Ā In this case, 12 such stories would constitute 1 book.Ā Individual poems do not count but books of poetry do.
- Non-fiction ā memoirs, autobiographies, history and current events
Reading Suggestions
- Cover at least two regions, pick from North Africa, Southern Africa, East Africa, West Africa and Central Africa
- Include translated fiction from Arabic, Francophone and Lusophone literature
- You can mix classic and contemporary fiction
- If you are intend to read mostly non-fiction, then please include at least one book (out of the five) of fiction
Kinna is not inclined to push any reading philosophy but would however like to encourage participants to broaden their knowledge of African literature. Broadly then:
For the novice, if you have not read any African lit or if youāve read one book (E.g. Achebeās Things Fall Apart):Ā a mix of at least two regions, two languages, classic and contemporary, with both male and female writers is suggested.Ā A sample reading list could be:
- Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih (North Africa, Arabic, classic)
- Maps by Nuruddin Farah (East Africa)
- Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga (Southern Africa, contemporary)
- So Long a Letter by Mariama Ba (West Africa, classic, Francophone)
- Zoo City by Lauren Beukes (Southern Africa, contemporary, modern fantasy)
For the advanced reader of African literature: perhaps there is some gap (country, region, language, theme, gender) you want to fill or author(s) whose works you want to explore further?
You could also, for example:
- Read only collection/anthologies of short stories
- Stick to the literary tradition of one country
- Explore literature written in African languages
- Read only Lusophone literature
- Explore the literature of contemporary South Africa
- Read the books of North African countries of the Arab Spring
- Read wherever the urge takes you!
These suggestions notwithstanding, the most important thing is to have fun and to explore Africa through books.
Other Details
- Overlap with other challenges is allowed.
- E-books and audio books are allowed.
- There is no need to make a list beforehand.Ā Although most of us love lists, donāt we?
To Sign up:
Leave a comment here to sign-up. You can list the books you intend to read if youāve already decided.
For those with blogs: write a post on your blog about the challenge (with or without your list) and link to this post.
Please for more details readĀ here
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