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Books & arts
RSS FeedThe roots of political violence go deep in Zimbabwe
Levi Kabwato
2011-04-07, Issue 524
Levi Kabwato interviews Professor Lloyd Sachikonye, the author of a recently launched book, ‘When A State Turns on its People: Violence in Zimbabwe’.
Film screening: 'Inside the Revolution'
AwaaZ Magazine
2011-03-24, Issue 522
AwaaZ Magazine invites you to a FREE screening of Venezulan documentary 'Inside the Revolution' on 4 April in Nairobi. Filmed in Caracas in November 2008, on the eve of the 10th anniversary of Hugo Chavez’s controversial presidency, this full-length documentary takes a journey into the heart of Venezuela’s revolution to listen to the voices of the people driving the process forward.
The London via Lagos Festival at Oval House Theatre
2011-03-24, Issue 522
London via Lagos is a daring festival of new plays by British-Nigerian playwrights offering three radically different visions of the relationship between Nigeria and the UK. Over ten weeks, from London via Lagos brings to the London stage three innovative and contemporary plays; each with its own perspective spanning the political, the personal, and the domestic. All three dramas investigate today’s Britain and all reflect the vigour and passion of Nigeria....
Pandora’s Box
by Ade Solanke
2011-03-24, Issue 522
On holiday with her streetwise son in Lagos, a British-Nigerian mother is in turmoil. Should she leave her only child in a strict Lagos boarding school, or return him to the ‘battlefields’ of inner London…? A family spanning three generations and two continents meet together in Lagos for the first time in over thirty years. But the joy of reunion also unleashes long-suppressed truths. An ...
Long walk down memory lane
Review of Nelson Mandela's 'Conversations with Myself'
Peter Wuteh Vakunta
2011-03-23, Issue 522
Peter Wuteh Vakunta reviews Nelson Mandela’s ‘Conversations with Myself’. He underlines that ‘Countless books have been written and will continue to be written about this memorable man, but this one towers above them all on account of the intimacies and intricacies it contains.’
'The Witches of Gambaga'
Sokari Ekine
2011-03-16, Issue 521
Directed and narrated by Yaba Badoe and produced by Amina Mama, 'The Witches of Gambaga' is a sensitive, excellent film capturing the experiences of women accused of witchcraft in the village of Gambaga in northern Ghana, writes Sokari Ekine.
‘The bottom billion': Defending neoliberalist shock therapy
Erik S. Reinert
2011-03-10, Issue 520
‘Putting Paul Collier, the former chief economist of the World Bank and one of the architects of this folly, in charge of explaining what went wrong with globalisation is akin to putting Attila the Hun in charge of the Ministry of Roman Reconstruction,’ writes Erik S. Reinert in this review of 'The Bottom Billion'.
Reclaiming China's ‘open sea’ foreign policy?
A critical reading of Abdul Sheriff’s ‘Dhow Cultures of the Indian Ocean: Cosmopolitanism, Commerce and Islam’
Chambi Chachage
2011-03-01, Issue 519
In a review of Abdul Sheriff’s ‘Dhow Cultures of the Indian Ocean: Cosmopolitanism, Commerce and Islam’, Chambi Chachage urges readers ‘get hold of the book and navigate through its fascinating pages’.
Migritude
Sokari Ekine
2011-02-16, Issue 517
Sokari Ekine reviews Shailja Patel’s ‘Migritude’, a collection of ‘beauty’ and a ‘poetic masterpiece’.
Representing the will of the people?
Zimbabwe's 2008 election
Nilani Ljunggren de Silva
2011-02-16, Issue 517
Nilani Ljunggren de Silva reviews ‘Defying the Winds of Change: Zimbabwe’s 2008 Election’, edited by E.V. Masunungure, which she describes as ‘a useful book for anyone who is interested in reading about the Zimbabwean election process and about the political environment in depth’.
Philo Ikonya: Inkhorn of a Kenyan poet in prison
2011-02-17, Issue 517
The poems of Kenyan human rights campaigner Philo Ikonya inspire a sense of urgency and provide a melodious and metaphorical wake-up call to courageous men and women in the struggle for justice, writes Khainga O’Okwemba.
A skimming flight over Mozambican memory
Review of ‘Memórias em Vôo Rasante’
Wilson Gomes de Almeida
2011-02-02, Issue 515
The memoirs of Jacinto Veloso, Frelimo supporter and former general, are a rich introduction to Mozambican history by a knowledgeable man with ‘plenty of stories to tell’, writes Wilson Gomes de Almeida.
Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem: Brilliant African mind
Kenyantraveller
2011-01-19, Issue 513
Reviewing Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem's 'Speaking Truth to Power: Selected Pan-African Postcards', Kenyantraveller lauds Tajudeen's wise yet accessible style: 'The book is never condescending or overly academic, just knowledgable and acerbic enough to get you thinking things through twice.'
Excellence and erudition: Ekpo Eyo’s 'Masterpieces of Nigerian Art'
Kwame Opoku
2011-01-19, Issue 513
Ekpo Eyo’s ‘From Shrines to Showcases: Masterpieces of Nigerian Art’ – a book on the country’s myriad artistic works – is a ‘masterpiece in its own right’, writes Kwame Opuku. But while Eyo exhibits masterful knowledge of Nigeria’s rich gamut of artistic endeavour, the fact that so many of these works remain held outside of the country – seemingly not to be returned – is scandalous, Opuku concludes.
Pilgrimage to the cradle of civilisation
Marvels and musing in Egypt
Khainga O’Okwemba
2011-01-20, Issue 513
Kenyan writer and poet Khainga O’Okwemba shares insights and experiences gained during a visit to Cairo, for a conference organised by the Egyptian Supreme Council of Culture in collaboration with Egypt PEN.
Deification of poetic craft: the last of the Egypt trilogy
Khainga O’Okwemba
2011-01-20, Issue 513
Poet Khainga O’Okwemba provides insight into the language of poetry.
Imperialism’s consequences for Africa
Review of ‘The Curse of Berlin: Africa after the Cold War’
Nilani Ljunggren De Silva
2011-01-20, Issue 513
Adekeye Adebajo’s book is recommended reading for anyone interested both in contemporary Africa and in how the Berlin Conference continues to influence the future of the continent, writes Nilani Ljunggren De Silva.
A startling new voice on postcolonial disintegration
Adeola Adams
2011-01-12, Issue 512
Sanya Osha’s ‘Naked Light and the Blind Eye’ breathes new life into the popular theme of the transition from a tribal culture to modernity, writes Adeola Adams.
Music takes off in southern Africa
Cre8
2011-01-06, Issue 511
Cre8, a non-profit music project working in southern Africa, discuss their latest tour around Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe. An audio clip from the second movement of their composition 'Notes to Africa' is available here.
Captured in poetry and prose
2011 promises to be year of interesting books
Chuka Nnabuife
2011-01-06, Issue 511
‘No Land! No House! No Vote! Voices from Symphony Way’, Sylvia Tamale’s ‘African Sexualities: A Reader’, ‘African Women Writing Resistance: An Anthology of Contemporary Voices’ and Mahmood Mamdani’s ‘From Citizen to Refugee: Uganda Asians come to Britain’ are among the forthcoming titles from Pambazuka Press reviewed by Chuka Nnabuife.
A tale of meteoric rise to power
Review of Femi Ojo-Ade’s ‘The Obama Phenomenon: Change We Can!’
Peter Wuteh Vakunta
2011-01-06, Issue 511
Femi Ojo-Ade’s ‘thought-provoking collection of essays’ and poetry addresses three fundamental questions, writes Peter W. Vakunta: Who is Barack Obama, what makes him tick and what does his victory mean both for the US and for the global community?
If African women do not tell their own narratives, no one else will
Rasna Warah
2010-12-16, Issue 510
While male voices continue to dominate public discourse across the continent, Rasna Warah finds that a new documentary and anthology of stories have allowed women ‘to speak as honestly and as truthfully about their experiences as they can’.
A tale of double estrangement
Review of Benjamin Kwakye’s ‘The Other Crucifix’
Peter Wuteh Vakunta
2010-12-01, Issue 508
Peter W. Vakunta reviews Benjamin Kwakye’s ‘The Other Crucifix’, a book which he regards as ‘the handiwork of a literary virtuoso’.
‘Ugandan Asians: Then and Now’
Vali Jamal
2010-12-02, Issue 508
Vali Jamal writes about his forthcoming book on Ugandan Asians. The book is called ‘Ugandan Asians: Then and Now’ and should be available in July 2011.
The Ransom Letters (Part 1 of 6)
2010-12-02, Issue 508
Writer Chuma Nwokolo recently launched a creative venture that mixes the power of blogging with story-telling. He published a brand new story on his blog, but the story was told in six letters, each of which he published daily throughout this week, w...
The ugly face of capitalism in Africa
Udo W. Froese
2010-12-02, Issue 508
Patrick Bond’s ‘The Elite Transition: From Apartheid to Neo-liberalism in South Africa’ provides a useful framework for thinking about the effects of the country’s economy policy on the poor, writes Udo W. Froese.
Dialogue among Civilisations
The art of human rights
2010-11-25, Issue 507
The 'Dialogue among Civilisations' project forms the basis for a new initiative by Art for Humanity. It involved collaboration between artists and poets from across Africa. A collection of the art is available for viewing on the website of Art for Hu...
Lives and challenges: Debut works of three female African writers
Solomon Gebre-Selassie
2010-11-18, Issue 505
Discussing the works of Maaza Mengiste, Tsitsi Dangarembga, and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Solomon Gebre-Selassie explores the characters and plots of three African novels by female writers.
Protest arts revisit Zimbabwe
Deep Roots
2010-11-18, Issue 505
A new generation of activists is being inspired to find creative ways to ‘manage diversity and promote pluralism’, thanks to an annual arts and culture festival aimed at promoting protest, writes Deep Roots.
Between defiance and empathy: A battle cry for justice
US launch of Shailja Patel's 'Migritude'
2010-11-11, Issue 504
Internationally acclaimed Kenyan poet, playwright and activist Shailja Patel has launched 'Migritude' in the US. 'Part memoir, part political history, part performance tour-de-force', the project 'weaves together family history, reportage, and monologues of violence, colonisation, and love, to create an achingly beautiful portrait of lives and migrant journeys undertaken in the boot print of Empire.’
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