Congratulations are in order for three of our authors: Barbara Boswell (Unmaking Grace), Joanne Hichens (Divine Justice), and Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu (The Theory of Flight). Each of these talented authors have made the longlist for the 2021 Sunday Times/CNA Literary Awards in South Africa. Barbara and Joanne have both been nominated for their non-fiction books—Barbara for And Wrote My Story Anyway: Black South African Women’s Novels as Feminism (Wits Press), and Joanne for her memoir Death and the After Parties (Karavan Press); Siphiwe makes the fiction list for her novel The History of Man (Penguin Fiction). To celebrate, each of their Catalyst titles are on sale on our site from now through May 31!
This past year, book clubs have been making us feel closer even though we’re far apart. This piece at CNN explores how African book clubs are doing just that for many people.
The New York African Film Festival has a documentary for view on their website that sounds fascinating. “Bronx Princess follows headstrong 17-year-old Rocky as she leaves behind her mother in New York City to reunite with her father, a chief in Ghana.” The site also features a conversation with Rocky.
“When hip hop started to make its way into the stereos of middle class youth with diaspora connections in Dakar, they would find a fertile ground from which they could produce, distribute, promote, and perform their experiments in this new genre.” Africa is a Country on the music of Dakar, Senegal. And if you want a little more music-meets-place history, this piece in The Conversation discusses the history of protest music in Tunisia.
In more music news, WBGO pays tribute to Tony Allen, one of the great icons of Afrobeat. “How many artists can say they helped invent an entire style of music — a sound so potent that it became emblematic of his country (Nigeria) and continent (Africa), while also being a soundtrack for the pan-African movement worldwide?”
“If we get this done,” Godoy says, “we’ve proven that you no longer have to walk through the gate they built in order to get to the main stage.” How Black comic creators are forging their own path
“German officials say they have reached an agreement with Nigeria to return a share of plundered artifacts known as Benin Bronzes,” NPR reports. The Benin Bronzes are a collection of “thousands of plaques and sculptures were looted from the ancient Kingdom of Benin — now southern Nigeria” looted by British soldiers in 1897.
Worried that your cat is more productive than you? You’re not alone. Illustrator on living with a cat who’s really going places.
And finally: there are a lot of choices when it comes to where you buy your books. We love indie bookstores (and, of course, direct from us), but we understand everyone has their choices to make. This guide at the NYTimes helps break down some of the choices from most selection to the best way to support publishers.
