We conclude our conversation with Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi by using Labi Siffre’s song, Something Inside So Strong to unpick the migrant narratives in her collection of short stories, Manchester Happened (published in the USA as Let’s Tell This Story Properly), we explore the ways in which Sweet Mother by Nico Mbaga contribute to conversations on…
Culture Interlocutor: Kintu with Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi
What power do editors have in steering a writer’s career? What are the real value of winning literary prizes such as the Kwani! manuscript project? What challenges do African writers encounter when attempting to publish literary fiction that exclude the white gaze? Our guest Jennifer Nansubuga Mamukbi, award winning author whose novels include Kintu (pronounced…
Bridging the Gap: The Deep Blue Between With Ayesha Harruna Attah
What do writers mean when they say they are ‘possessed’ by a character or a story? How much intuitive freedom does MFA courses offer writers, and hwat is it like to discover and translate a 3000 year old Hieroglyphic Egyptian love story? We discuss these and more with writer and researcher, Ayesha Harruna Attah, author…
Literary Romance: If I Don’t Have You with Sareeta Domingo
We explore why romance genre is generally disregarded or overlooked by literary critics, the privileges of being published by a small independent press, and so much more with Sareeta Domingo, an accomplished author whose third novel, If I Don’t Have You, a love story between a Black British journalist and an Afro-Brazilian film-maker is published…
Negotiating Sexuality: Black Sunday with Tola Rotimi Abraham
Do writers of African descent have the freedom to write whimsical and quirky stories? How can readers support the works of under-discussed writers during COVID-19 global pandemic? We discuss these topics and more with Tola Rotimi Abraham, whose debut novel, Black Sunday (a comingof age novel set in Lagos, Nigeria, which tells the story of…
Psychogeography: Poor with Caleb Femi
What is psychogeography? How does architecture affect our emotional, mental, and psychological wellbeing? Caleb Femi, a poet, educator, and multidisciplinary artist whose debut collection of poetry, Poor, celebrate and interrogate youth culture and masculinity, while the articulating the complex lived experiences of working class migrant communities in the UK join us in conversation. We use…
Things Fall Together with Muthoni Muiruri
What is Bookstagram and how is it shaping readers’ engagement with books? What are the strategies for maintaining a healthy reading habit amidst COVID-19 pandemic? Is the term ‘African literature’ a form of self othering? We discuss these and more in today’s episode with Muthoni Muiruri, a Kenyan researcher and literary activist. Muthoni is the…
Literature Infrastructure: De Goede Immigrant with Ebissé Wakjira Rouw
Ebissé Wakjira Rouw, co-founder of the Dutch multimedia powerhouse, Dipsaus (Dipsaus.org) joins us in conversation by using the music of Luther Vandross, Nas, Lil Wayne, City Girls and Mahmoud Ahmed to discuss publishing while Black in the Netherlands and Europe, navigating work-life balance in light of COVID-19, translating writings by Continental and Diaspora African writers…
Ask A Caine Prize Judge with Ebissé Wakjira Rouw
Ever wondered what goes on in the judging panels of literary prizes? We speak to Ebissé Wakjira Rouw, an Ethiopian-Dutch literary editor, publisher, co-founder of Dipsaus – a multi-media organisation that specialises in amplifying the voices and lived experiences of Black and People of Colour in the Netherlands. Ebissé was also a judge for the…
Resistance to Prescription with Jowhor Ile
We conclude our one-to-one conversation with the shortlisted writers for the 2020 AKO Caine Prize for African Writing. Today’s guest is Jowhor Ile, a Nigerian writer, author of the novel And After Many Days and visiting professor at West Virginia university whose story, Fisherman Stewis vying for the £10,000 prize. We use the music of…