| Breakout Deal
for Zim Writer |
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Petina
Gappah, the Geneva-based Zimbabwean writer has been
signed by Faber and Faber in a joint deal by the publishing
giant’s UK and US houses. The cooperative acquisition
was a first for the two publishers and lucrative deals
have already been signed for Italian, Finnish, French,
Dutch, Swedish and Norwegian translations of the first
book of the contract, An Elegy for Easterly,
which is scheduled to appear in UK shops in April, 2009.
An Elegy for Easterly is a collection of short
stories.
Petina's story, At the Sound of the Last Post, was
placed second in the 2007 edition of the HSBC/SA Pen
Prize. She had previously won the Mukuru Nyaya prize
for comic writing
The second of the two-book deal, the novel, The
Book of Memory, is already scheduled to appear
in bookshops in 2010. 
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| Eghosa reads
to Saint Patrick |
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Eghosa
Imasuen, Nigerian medical doctor and writer, reads
from his debut novel, To Saint Patrick,
at an event to launch the book. It held
at the Bambuddha Lounge in Lagos on 18th October,
2008. In the background is a member of the audience.
The novel is published by Kachifo
Ltd, Lagos.
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Niyi
Osundare at
Inaugural Cameroonian Prize
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| Prof.
Niyi Osundare (left), Dr. Kenneth Nsor, Nigerian
Counsel-General, and Dr. Joyce Ashuntantang in Buea,
Cameroon |
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The first
literary award for books published in Anglophone
Cameroon was presented in Capital Hotel, Buea,
at a ceremony attended by Nigerian poet, Niyi
Osundare, as special Guest of Honour. The event,
was hosted by EduArts, the US-based non-governmental
organisation, founded by Joyce Ashuntantang.
Three separate awards were established:
the Victor E. Musinga Award for Drama, the
Jane and Rufus Blanchard Award for Fiction, and
the Bate Besong Award for Poetry.
The Bate Besong award for poetry
was judged by a panel led by the poet, Tanure
Ojaide and won by John Ngong Kum for his poetry
collection Walls of Agony. He received
half a million francs CFA, a trophy and a certificate.
In Prof. Ojaide's words:
Ngong’s Walls of Agony is superior
in its use of English and poetic language. It
has consistency of imagery in the symbolic “wall”
that permeates the poet’s vision of life,
society, and politics as he explores personal
and public concerns... He deserves the poetry
prize.”
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The
two runners up, Mr. Mathew Takwi and Mr. Kamara Kimvala
received certificates as well. Sankie Maimo, the first
Anglophone Cameroon published writer, received a lifetime
achievement award.
The Rufus & Jane Blanshard prize for fiction and
the Musinga Drama prize were not awarded as the entries
were deemed insufficient to make for a credible competition.
Future awards will be made biennially and will include
a category for poetry in manuscript. |
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| Lullabies
against Xenophobia |
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| Cover
Art, Orphan's Lullaby |
| It started as a an idea
for a picture book. South African writer, Alex Smith
(Algeria's Way, Drinking from the Dragon's Well),
had written a 21 line lullaby. Each line was to be illustrated
with a painting on a facing page, yielding a 21-page
book
However, after the wave of Xenophobia that swept the
region, the idea balloned into a continent-wide project
involving dozens of volunteer translators across the
world. The new idea: to make a strong statement against
xenophobia by translating the lullaby into 50 major
languages of the more than 2000 spoken in Africa.
The project, whose profits are earmarked for orphans,
refugees and migrant workers in need, is building bridges
already, having attracted widespread support from writers
and translators across the continent. It has spawned
a Facebook group incarnation and The project leader,
Alex Smith still requires translators in Wolof, among
other languages. Potential translators can contact her.
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