2014 Africa Reading Challenge

My fellow blogger, KinnaReads, is once again hosting the Africa Reading Challenge, which of course I can’t ignore!

I have not yet chosen the books I will read, though I am very sure that I will read more than five “African” books this year.

And if someone wants more details about this great challenge, the best place to go is http://kinnareads.wordpress.com/2014/01/14/2014-africa-reading-challenge/

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2013 books with a Ghana or an Africa focus

I read quite a lot of different types of books, though I readily admit to a weakness for mysteries/crime/thrillers.

But I do also live in Ghana, and have always felt the desire to read books written by Ghanaians – both living here and in the diaspora – and also books about Ghana. To a lesser extent that has also applied to books by Africans and about Africa.

Out of a total of 68 books completed during 2013, 29 (approx 43%) were either with a Ghana or an Africa focus, as detailed below:

Ghana fiction

• Mr Happy and the hammer of God and other stories, by Martin Egblewogbe
• Ghana must go, by Taiye Selasi [one of my favourite reads of the year]
• Children of the street, by Kwei Quartey [a Ghana mystery]
• Akosua and Osman, by Manu Herbstein [a winner of the Burt prize]
• The deliverer, by Kwabena Ankomah-Kwakye [another Burt prize winner, not sure whether this is really fiction though]

Ghana non-fiction

• Pilgrims of the night: development challenges and opportunities in Africa, edited by Ivor Agyeman-Duah
• Bright lights, no city, by Max Alexander [very entertaining view of a social enterprise based in the Eastern Region of Ghana]
• Interventions: a life in war and peace, by Kofi Annan with nader Mousavizadeh [illuminating]
• Lose your mother, by Saidiya Hartman [on the slave trade, but also the story of one African-American’s journey to understand some of its legacies. Very personal]
• No worries, 5th ed, NAWA [great guidebook to Accra]
• Defeating dictators, by George B N Ayittey
• The library tree, by Deborah Cowley

Africa fiction

• Open city, by Teju Cole [even though it takes place mostly in the US]
• Chicago, by Alaa al Aswany [again takes place in the US]
• Nairobi heat, by Mukoma wa Ngugi [another African crime story!]
• Broken glass, by Alain Mabanckou
• No time like the present, by Nadine Gordimer
• Every day is for the thief, by Teju Cole [actually written before Open City]
• Americanah, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie [another of my favourite reads of the year]
• Waiting for the barbarians, by J M Coetzee [the author is South African]

Africa non-fiction

• Yes, Chef – a memoir, by Marcus Samuelsson
• This child will be great, by Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
• Of Africa, by Wole Soyinka
• Chocolate nations – Living and dying for cocoa in West Africa, by Orla Ryan
• The boy who harnessed the wind, by William Kamkwamba and Brian Mealer
• There was a country – A personal history of Biafra, by Chinua Achebe
• Birds of our land, by Virginia Dike
• The beautiful tree, by James Tooley [one of my favourite non-fiction books of the year]
• One day I will write about this place, by Binyavanga Wainaina

I hope these lists give a flavour of some of the range of books I’ve read.

The Burt Award for African Literature, 2014: Call for submissions

I meant to post this call for submissions earlier, but somehow got sidetracked!  I am all for supporting local authors – and encouraging young readers is essential!

The following is taken from the Ghana Book Trust website, and the link is below

The Ghana Book Trust and CODE, a Canadian NGO, have the pleasure to invite Ghanaian authors and publishers to participate in a competition to produce story books for the young between the ages of 12-15.

The Award is sponsored by CODE, a Canadian NGO, with generous support from Canadian patron Bill Burt.

Prizes:

• 1st Gold – CAD9,000
• 2nd Silver – CAD 7,000
• 3rd Bronze – CAD5,000

These would be paid at the prevailing exchange rate at the time of the award in Ghana Cedis.

Winning publishers are guaranteed the purchase of 3,000 out of 5,000 copies expected to be published. The books will be distributed to Ghana Book Trust’s network of CODE-supported schools, community libraries and other schools.

Deadline for Submission
The manuscripts should be submitted through publishers to the Ghana Book Trust in one soft copy with five hard copies on or before 27th June, 2014 by 4.00pm.(Email address: info@ghanabooktrust.com)

They will be reviewed and assessed by a panel of qualified judges to determine the winners.

The Ghana Book Trust is not obliged to award any or all the three prizes if the judges deem work unsatisfactory.

Winners:The winners will be announced through the media.

for more information see Ghana Book Trust website

Bookish activities for December 2013

On the reading front, I read quite a lot – mainly because of the holidays and being off work from 20 December (well the evening thereof) – 12 books, with thee having a Ghana focus, and four an Africa one.

1. The year of the flood, by Margaret Atwood [part 2 of her trilogy of a post-apocalyptic world. Pretty good, though I have to admit to not remembering much about part 1 – Oryx and Crake]
2. The night gardener, by George Pelecanos [another crime story/mystery set in the totally non-glamorous part of Washington, DC. With many flawed characters; in fact all of them are, including the geographical location itself]
3. Among others, by Jo Walton [somewhat disappointing in my view; I had thought there would be more SF/fantasy than there was]
4. Defeating dictators: Fighting tyranny in Africa and around the world, by George B N Ayittey [passionate advocacy for citizen involvement in government]
5. Waiting for the barbarians, by J M Coetzee [chosen as “speculative fiction” for  Goodreads “Great African Reads” group; I suspect it might grow on me. But I still wonder at how “African” it is – maybe because the author is South African? ]
6. One day I will write about this place, by Binyavanga Wainaina [memoir of the Kenyan author. In parts not very chronological, which can be a bit confusing]
7. The hangman’s daughter, by Oliver Potzsch [entertaining, historical mystery taking place in 17th century Bavaria]
8. Americanah, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie [a love story, but also stories of being in the African diaspora in the US and UK]
9. The deliverer, by Kwabena Ankomah-Kwakye [fictionalized account of the founder of the Asante nation]
10. The library tree, by Deborah Cowley [inspirational story of the Kathy Knowles libraries and books]
11. Hurt machine, by Reed Farrel Coleman [crime/mystery – fairly light stuff, set in New York]
12. I speak of Ghana, by Nana Awere Damoah [commentaries on contemporary Ghanaian society]

Physical book-buying was minimal – I only bought one, but then I did somewhat overcompensate in stocking up on my Kindle [12 titles – mostly fairly lightweight, but well, who cares?]

Book related events – again fairly light on the ground:

I attended the book launch of Nana Awere Damoah’s book, I speak of Ghana. And there was an Accra Book Club gathering which didn’t work out. See my previous post .

So it wasn’t a bad month to round up the year.

Looking forward: well, I think a little more reading is definitely on the cards, and I do need to visit some of our local bookshops – maybe this weekend!