Contemporary African Writers with their write-ups

Hope that it will help you, I only put some of their write-ups. I encourage you to add some research for the examples and information. Thank you! Enjoy...

1. CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN WRITERS BY: RUEL L. MONTEFOLKA

2. In a continent as ethnically and culturally diverse as Africa, it comes as no surprise that the literature that has emerged from it be equally diverse and multifaceted. Dealing with a range of social and cultural issues, from women’s rights and feminism to post-war and post-colonial identity, here are some of Africa’s best contemporary writers.

3. CHINUA ACHEBE One of the world’s most widely recognized and praised writers, Chinua Achebe wrote some of the most extraordinary works of the 20th century. His most famous novel,  Things Fall Apart  (1958), is a devastating depiction of the clash between traditional tribal values and the effects of colonial rule, as well as the tension between masculinity and femininity in highly patriarchal societies. Achebe is also a noted literary critic, particularly known for his passionate critique of Joseph Conrad’s  Heart of Darkness  (1899), in which he accuses the popular novel of rampant racism through its othering of the African continent and its people .

4. LOVE CYCLE (A Poem) by Chinua Achebe Posted on  2013/25/04  by  sueddie At dawn slowly the sun withdraws his long misty arms of embrace. Happy lovers whose exertions leave no aftertaste nor slush of love’s combustion; Earth perfumed in dewdrop fragrance wakes to whispers of soft-eyed light… Later he will wear out his temper ploughing the vast acres of heaven and take it out of her in burning darts of anger. Long accustomed to such caprice she waits patiently for evening when thoughts of another night will restore his mellowness and her power over him . ( From  Beware Soul Brother and Other Poems  – 1971. Published in the United States of America as  Christmas in Biafra and other Poems  -1971)

5. RIVER OF VOICES I saw the rays of the sun beaming, as I watched by the riverside. I saw the drops of rain splashing, as I watched by the riverside, and I saw the rays of the sun kissing the raindrops, as I watched by the riverside. I saw colours of the rainbow in the sky rising, as I watched by the riverside. But I saw no reflection of these colours on the rippling river – as I wondered by the riverside Throwing a probing stone, I see ripples – ripples of voices rising on the river – Clamouring , troubled tides rushing to my feet, as I waited by the riverside – disillusioned . (“ River of Voices“ selected from Colourless Rainbow, Coast2Coast, Lagos, p. 104)

6. Related articles STUBBORN SOUL (A POEM) by Kator Hule  (sueddie.wordpress.com) Celebrating a Literary Giant: Rest In Peace, Chinua Achebe!  (wholewomannetwork.org) Prof Chinua Achebe is dead  (vanguardngr.com) River of Voices (for Chinua Achebe)  (senatorihenyen.wordpress.com) Senator Ihenyen : Chinua Achebe Died Unfulfilled  (senatorihenyen.wordpress.com) Chinua Achebe: “If you don’t like someone’s story, write your own.”  (rave2.wordpress.com)

7. CHIMAMANDA NGOZI ADICHIE Born in Nigeria in 1977, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is part of a new generation of African writers taking the literary world by storm. Adichie’s works are primarily character-driven, interweaving the background of her native Nigeria and social and political events into the narrative. Her novel Purple Hibiscus (2003) is a bildungsroman, depicting the life experience of Kambili and her family during a military coup, while her latest work  Americanah   (2013) is an insightful portrayal of Nigerian immigrant life and race relations in America and the western world. Adichie’s works have been met with overwhelming praise and have been nominated for and won numerous awards, including the Orange Prize and Booker Prize .

8. AYI KWEI ARMAH Ayi Kwei Armah’s novels are known for their intense, powerful depictions of political devastation and social frustration in Armah’s native Ghana, told from the point of view of the individual. His works were greatly influenced by French existential philosophers, such as Jean Paul Sartre and Albert Camus, and as such hold themes of despair, disillusionment and irrationality. His most famous work,  The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born  (1968) centers around an unnamed protagonist who attempts to understand his self and his country in the wake of post-independence.

9. MARIAMA BÂ One of Africa’s most influential women authors, Mariama Bâ is known for her powerful feminist texts, which address the issues of gender inequality in her native Senegal and wider Africa. Bâ herself experienced many of the prejudices facing women: she struggled for an education against her traditional grandparents, and was left to look after her nine children after divorcing a prominent politician. Her anger and frustration at the patriarchal structures which defined her life spill over into her literature: her novel  So Long A Letter  (1981) depicts, simultaneously, its protagonist’s strength and powerlessness within marriage and wider society.

10. “Friendship has splendors that love knows not. It grows stronger when crossed, whereas obstacles kill love. Friendship resists time, which wearies and severs couples. It has heights unknown to love.”  ―  Mariama Bâ ,  So Long a Letter “The flavour of life is love. The salt of life is also love.”  ―  Mariama Bâ , So Long a Letter “In a word, a man's success depends on feminine support.” ― Mariama Bâ , So Long a Letter “A woman must marry the man who loves her, but never the one she loves; that is the secret of lasting happiness.” ― Mariama Bâ

11. NURUDDIN FARAH Born in Somalia in 1945, Nuruddin Farah has written numerous plays, novels and short stories, all of which revolve around his experiences of his native country. The title of his first novel  From a Crooked Rib  (1970) stems from a Somalian proverb “God created woman from a crooked rib, and anyone who trieth to straighten it, breaketh it”, and is a commentary on the sufferings of women in Somalian society through the narrative of a young woman trapped in an unhappy marriage. His subsequent works feature similar social criticism, dealing with themes of war and post-colonial identity .

12. AMINATTA FORNA Born in Glasgow but raised in Sierra Leone, Aminatta Forna first drew attention for her memoir  The Devil That Danced on Water  (2003), an extraordinarily brave account of her family’s experiences living in war-torn Sierra Leone, and in particular her father’s tragic fate as a political dissident. Forna has gone on to write several novels, each of them critically acclaimed: her work  The Memory of Love  (2010) juxtaposes personal stories of love and loss within the wider context of the devastation of the Sierre Leone civil war, and was nominated for the Orange Prize for Fiction.

13. NADINE GORDIMER One of the apartheid era’s most prolific writers, Nadine Gordimer’s works powerfully explore social, moral, and racial issues in a South Africa under apartheid rule. Despite winning a Nobel Prize in Literature for her prodigious skills in portraying a society interwoven with racial tensions, Gordimer’s most famous and controversial works were banned from South Africa for daring to speak out against the oppressive governmental structures of the time. Her novel  Burger’s Daughter  follows the struggles of a group of anti-apartheid activists, and was read in secret by Nelson Mandela during his time on Robben Island.

14. ALAIN MABANCKOU Originating from the Republic of Congo, Alain Mabanckou’s works are written primarily in French, and are well known for their biting wit, sharp satire and insightful social commentary into both Africa and African immigrants in France. His novels are strikingly character-focused, often featuring ensemble casts of figures, such as his book  Broken Glass , which focuses on a former Congolese teacher and his interactions with the locals in the bar he frequents, or his novel  Black Bazar , which details the experiences of various African immigrants in an Afro-Cuban bar in Paris .

15. Sunday, 12 February 2017 THERE IS NOTHING WORSE Alain Mabanckou there is nothing worse than the grief of black- rhun palms the sleep of swamps the silence of passerines there is nothing worse than the gossiping of red ants the confabs of praying mantis eyes of agate in dark lairs the sky overcast with folded cloth god turns his back on us how can one read the tables of the law translate the omens of night for everything was written Alain Mabanckou (born 1966) Republic of Congo Translated by Patrick Williamson Source:  Rain Poems of London

16. BEN OKRI Ben Okri’s childhood was divided between England and time in his native Nigeria. His young experience greatly informed his future writing: his first, highly acclaimed novels  Flowers and Shadows  (1980) and  The Landscapes Within  (1981) were reflections on the devastation of the Nigerian civil war which Okri himself observed firsthand. His later novels met with equal praise:  The Famished Road  (1991), which tells the story of Azaro , a spirit child, is a fascinating blend of realism and depictions of the spirit world, and won the Booker Prize.

17. The Awakening Age Ben Okri Living is a Fire Living is a cross That any one of the rock-faces Comprehends. We are drawn To many seas. We drown wholesomely In the failures of confrontation. The rain Drenching Our doorsteps Has nothing to do With the simplest desires And lacerations We bring To the smallest acts Of living. The child On the broken catwalk Hearing the sounds of our hunger Without understanding Throws echoes back To the earliest abandonments Of love. Minor devastations preceding Horror Resonate the ineffable. The mothers that wake At the slightest sound And the fathers that Smoke all night And the rest of us who are Vigilantes from the demons Of oppressed sleep Find at dawn the clearest Images of bewilderment. Even the best things Collapse beneath the weight Of ignorance. Living is a fire That any one of the wave-lashes Comprehends. _ __ Source: http://www.universeofpoetry.org/nigeria.shtml

18. NGUGI WA THIONG’O Ngugi wa Thiong’o is one of Africa’s most important and influential postcolonial writers. He began his writing career with novels written in English, which nevertheless revolved around postcolonial themes of the individual and the community in Africa versus colonial powers and cultures. Wa Thiong’o was imprisoned without trial for over a year by the government for the staging of a politically controversial play; after his release, he committed to writing works only in his native Gikuyi and Swahili, citing language as a key tool for decolonizing the mindset and culture of African readers and writers .

19. Many people do not know that Jesus did not speak Latin or English or Hebrew; he spoke Aramaic. But nobody knows that language. So we're talking about the Bible itself being a translation of a translation of a translation. And, in reality, it has affected people's lives in history . - Ngugi wa Thiong'o I was wondering why I was put in prison for working in an African language when I had not been put in prison for working in English. So really, in prison I started thinking more seriously about the relation between language and power . Ngugi wa Thiong'o

20. Evaluation: In ½ sheet of paper. Explain within 100 words the following quotes. “If you don't understand, ask questions. If you're uncomfortable about asking questions, say you are uncomfortable about asking questions and then ask anyway. It's easy to tell when a question is coming from a good place. Then listen some more. Sometimes people just want to feel heard. Here's to possibilities of friendship and connection and understanding.”  ―   Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie ,  Americanah “I think you travel to search and you come back home to find yourself there.”  ―  Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

21. References https ://sueddie.wordpress.com/2013/04/25/love-cycle-a-poem-by-chinua-achebe / https://hellopoetry.com/ben-okri / https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/502766.Mariama_B _ http:// brucespoems.blogspot.com/2017/02/there-is-nothing-worse-alain-mabanckou.html http:// www.azquotes.com/author/36612-Ngugi_wa_Thiong_o https:// www.oldquotes.com/author.php?tag=ng%C5%A9g%C4%A9+wa+thiong%5C%27o