Great African Reads discussion

Hello fellow African books readers,


I know we've just started getting into The Poisonwood Bible but since the end of October is coming up fast, I thought I'd put a suggestion forward for future readings. (I'm not trying to push anybody to read the Poisonwood Bible faster! ;) )

To pick up on Marieke's thought about choosing a topic or theme for book selections, how about we read a book from each country in Africa? We could do it over a month or two months if people felt one month is not quite enough time for them to get through the selected book.

My suggestion comes from having remembered that I've got this great book A basket of leaves about books that come from Africa. It presents a selection of books by African and non-African writers, and includes non-fiction, fiction, memoirs, travel writings, etc. It lists the books by country (between 1 to 5 books each). It also has an extensive list of suggestions for further readings.

I was thinking we could go through the countries in alphabetical order, starting with Algeria in November (or is Nov too soon?).

To select the next book to read, I'd be happy to post a list of books suggested in A basket of leaves, and this could, of course, be complemented by members' suggestions. Once we've got a selection, we vote on a book.

Of course, we don't have to run with this idea - I just thought it might help us with the selection of readings and could be fun. Also, reading books from countries in alphabetical order means we'd be jumping and skipping across Africa a bit, allowing us to read something from every corner of Africa. :) (And it would also mean we don't have to discuss which country to select next).

How do people find this approach? I'd love to hear people's thoughts! I'm really quite excited about reading books from different countries in Africa. :)

Hi Muphyn -
That book sounds great (just ordered it actually). I am up for trying a book from each country.

Hi Muphyn, hi Melanie, hi all,

I think Muphyn's idea is great!
I just ordered "A Basket Full of Leaves," too, and can't wait to have a look at it!

i echo these sentiments! i must get this book. :)

I'm excited that this book/my suggestion has met with enthusiasm so far!! :) Of course, if anybody disagrees, please feel free to comment.

How do people feel about the timeframe? One month, two months? I realise that people may be engaged in other book clubs, are reading other books and are busy with life in general, so I don't want to be unrealistic here. :)

i tend to read fiction very quickly so i'm comfortable with a one-month timeframe but i can picture myself needing a little more time for a non-fiction book, especially if i have other non-fiction i'm reading for some other purpose...but i'm open to anything. i think i'm game for whatever option attracts the most regular readers/discussants...

Some years ago, before Zimbabwe's collapse into chaos, a list was produced of "Africa's 100 Best Books of the 20th Century", at the Zimbabwe International Book Fair.

It is a highly acclaimed list, and most country's are represented there:
http://emeagwali.com/media/africa/100...

or at Google Docs:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?ke...

Only the top 12 are ranked.

Algeria's foremost author is of course Albert Camus, but we might regard him as a bit too French these days!

Thanks for posting those links, Cyril! I had a quick look at them and I like that the Zimbabwean list is arranged by fiction and non-fiction. Something the book I suggested doesn't do - it just combines them under the respective country.


I think the suggestions from the Zimbabwean list Africa's 100 Best Books and the other link will go nicely with the suggestions in A basket of leaves as well as members' ideas. One thing, I think, we need to be careful of though is to not let our "suggestions list" get out of hands, otherwise we'll never be able to decide on a book! :)


Also, just to make sure (since either list you suggest, Cyril, includes works in languages other than English), I assume we'll be selecting books written in English or translated into English only? Obviously there's quite a volume of African books written in French but I can't say I'd be up to reading anything in French. I guess I had sort of assumed we'd be reading in English only but then I thought I'd better clarify. :) Of course, members may well choose to read the selected book in French (or any other language for that matter) while others read it in English. My thoughts just stem from the fact that there are plenty of (African) books written in languages other than English that have not yet been translated into English, and so our selection of books should perhaps be restricted (?) to books where translations exist.


EDIT: Cyril, I just realised that the links you sent are for the same list of books! :) Sorry I missed that. So the list of selections may not be as a long then. :)

English :)

i stumbled upon this group and coincidentally am reading the poisonwood bible. something serendipitous is in the air. i love the reading a book by country approach and am not sure what the groups requirements are for selections but i can offer high recommendations for Norman Rush's intricate novel Mating for Botswana and Mia Cuoto's Every Man is a Race for Mozambique.

Hi Zahira,

no requirements for selections really! :) I'll make a note of your suggestions for when we get to Botswana and Mozambique! Thanks!!

Great to have you join in - there are some discussion threads going on about the Poisonwood Bible, so feel free to join in the discussion!

As for the reading a book per country - we're really only just getting into it and are starting with Algeria in Nov. There's a list of suggestions for books in the Book Club section, and also a poll if you want to vote for a book to read next month (if you're interested, that is). :)

welcome Zahira! you will love this group! I am going to add those books you suggested to my bookshelves. I had not heard of them before....

thanks! i'm looking forward to learning from everybody here. xoxo

I don't know if this was already here, but I followed Shoshana's thread of Books of the World challenge in the Straight Dope GR group and came upon these links in Julie's comment. They might be helpful for us to come up with authors for polling.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_...
http://www.africanwriter.com/authors

Dana wrote: "I don't know if this was already here, but I followed Shoshana's thread of Books of the World challenge in the Straight Dope GR group and came upon these links in Julie's comment. They might be he..."

Dana, thanks for the links - I totally missed them (only came across your post now as I'm "tidying up" ;) ).

Anyone living in NYC might find this of interest. I hope that the novel Binyavanga is working on will be published by the time we reach Kenya. He's one of Africa's great contemporary writers.

Pan African Literary Forum
A Special Reading featuring
Binyavanga Wainaina
Colin Channer
Thomas Sayers Ellis

Moderated by Jeffery Renard Allen

Event Information:

Date & Time: Tuesday, February 17th, 2009 @ 6:30pm

Location: Wollman Hall, Eugene Lang Building
65 West 11th St., 5th Floor (enter at 66 West 12th St.)

Admission: $5, free to all students and New School faculty, staff and alumni with ID

Thanks Manu! I will try posting this to our events thing in hopes everyone sees it. Wish I could go!