Heinemann African Writers Series
![]() African Writers Series colophon, which was intended to look like an Africanised version of Heinemann's windmill logo, as well as incorporating the letters A.W. | |
Parent company | Heinemann |
---|---|
Founded | 1962; 62 years ago (1962) |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Key people | Alan Hill Chinua Achebe Van Milne Keith Sambrook Aigboje Higo Henry Chakava James Currey |
The African Writers Series (AWS) is a collection of books written by African novelists, poets and politicians. Published by Heinemann, 359 books appeared in the series between 1962 and 2003.[1]
The series has provided an international audience for many African writers, including Chinua Achebe, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, Steve Biko, Ama Ata Aidoo, Nadine Gordimer, Buchi Emecheta, and Okot p'Bitek.
History
1958 – William Heinemann publishes Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart. 2,000 hardcover copies were printed and sold at a price of 15 shillings. The book receives widespread acclaim.[2][3][4]
1959 – Alan Hill, head of Heinemann's educational department, visits West Africa. He finds that Achebe remains largely unknown in his home country of Nigeria due to the small print run and high price of his first novel.[4]
1960 – Heinemann Educational Books (HEB) is set up as a separate company run by Alan Hill with Tony Beal as his deputy, and begins to publicise Achebe in Africa. They start to receive manuscripts from other African authors. Alan Hill recruits Evan McKay Milne, known as Van Milne, a West Africa specialist. He becomes HEB's Overseas Director.[5][4][6][1]
1961 – Van Milne originates the idea of the African Writers Series. Hill explains that the plan was "to start a paperback series, confined to black African authors; the books were to be attractively designed with high quality production, and sold at a very cheap price—as low as 25p at the outset".[6][7]
1962 – Alan Hill, Tony Beal and Van Milne launch the African Writers Series with a paperback edition of Things Fall Apart, followed by Cyprian Ekwensi's Burning Grass, and then Kenneth Kaunda's autobiography Zambia Shall Be Free. Chinua Achebe is appointed Editorial Advisor with a salary of £150 a year. This is increased to £250 in 1967.[5][4][1]
1963 – Van Milne leaves Heinemann and is replaced by Keith Sambrook.[5][8]
1964 – Sambrook is concerned that the early selections for the series will not reach the educational market, particularly after the inclusion of Zambia Shall Be Free. He begins collaborating with African and non-African academics to produce publications that would more clearly meet this aim. The first result is A Book of African Verse edited by Clive Wake and John Reed, teachers at the University College of Rhodesia.[8]
1965 – Aigboje Higo is appointed as manager of HEB Nigeria.[5]
1967 – James Currey is appointed to work with Keith Sambrook to develop the series.[5]
1970 – Henry Chakava is appointed as editor of HEB East Africa and becomes managing director in 1975.[5]
1972 – Chinua Achebe leaves his position following the publication of his short story collection Girls At War as the hundredth book in the series. Sambrook, Currey, Higo and Chakava take over editorial duties collectively with the support of Akin Thomas, editorial director of HEB Nigeria.[5][9]
1983 – Heinemann Group is taken over for the first time and goes through a series of takeovers in the coming years.[5]
1984 – James Currey steps down after new management reduces new publications to only one or two a year. Of the 270 titles in the series, 15 are put out of print.[5]
1986 – the series is relaunched by Vicky Unwin, who targets the western academic market due to the drop in spending in the African educational market.[10]
1988 – Keith Sambrook steps down.[5]
1992 – Caroline Avens begins to oversee the series, reducing the backlist and starting to publish more new authors.[11]
1993 – Adewale Maja-Pearce appointed general editor.[12]
1994 – Abdulrazak Gurnah appointed as editorial advisor.[12]
2002 – Only 70 of the more than 300 titles in the series remain in print.[5]
2003 – Heinemann announces no new titles will be added to the series. By 2008, only 64 titles remain in print.[5]
Content
The African Writers Series reissued paperback editions of works previously only available as more expensive hardbacks, translated books that had been published in other languages, and published the first works of unknown writers.
The decision to reissue paperback editions of English-language hardbacks followed the early success of Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart and continued for many years. However, it became clear very quickly that there were not enough works in English, so translations began to be made from French of works by Ferdinand Oyono, Mongo Beti and others. This was followed by translations from Portuguese, Zulu, Swahili, Acholi, Sesotho, Afrikaans, Luganda, and Arabic.[13][14]
At the same time, they published new authors. This started with Ngũgĩ, who helped to expand the reach of the series into East Africa.[15]
This approach provided opportunities for authors from across most of Africa. More than 80 titles published in the series were by Nigerian writers, who were followed by South Africans, Kenyans, Ghanaians, and Zimbabweans. In the first two decades, nearly all were men and it was only in the 1990s that books by women began to appear regularly. Some exceptions to this are early books by Flora Nwapa and Buchi Emecheta.[1]
Novels would make up the bulk of the series, but it extended to poetry, anthologies, short stories, autobiographies, drama, non fiction, and oral traditions.[1]
Design
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/87/Six_AWS_covers%2C_showing_the_shift_in_the_design.png/220px-Six_AWS_covers%2C_showing_the_shift_in_the_design.png)
Between 1962 and 1986 all the books in the African Writers Series were colour-coded: orange for fiction, blue for non-fiction, and green for poetry and drama. While this highlighted the different genres, all books in the series during this period were numbered to give a clear indication that they belonged to a collection of works by African writers.[16]
Some evolution in cover design did take place during these years. Between 1962 and 1965 a heavy black band was featured at the top of the covers, with a black-and-white illustration below. The black was then replaced by a solid orange block. Later a colophon was added that was intended to look like an Africanised version of Heinemann's windmill logo. In 1971 George Hallett was employed to produce cover photography, which began to replace the use of illustrations.[17]
In 1986, the design was changed to appeal more in western markets. Orange was replaced by a white background with a boxed abstract image. In 1993, it was changed again to incorporate full-colour images.[16]
Reception
The African Writers Series includes five winners of the Nobel Prize for Literature: Wole Soyinka (1986), Naguib Mahfouz (1988), Nadine Gordimer (1991), Doris Lessing (2007), and Abdulrazak Gurnah (2021). Books in the series have also won the Commonwealth Prize, the NOMA Award for African Writing, the Caine Prize for African Writing, and Guardian Fiction Prize. In 2002, at a celebration of Africa's 100 Best Books of the Twentieth Century, Heinemann was given a prize, as 12 of the titles chosen were from the series.[18]
Bibliography
A definitive bibliography of the series was prepared by Nourdin Bejjit as part of his PhD research at the Open University and included in James Currey's book-length treatment of the series, with some additional information from Heinemann.[19]
Number | Author | Year | Title |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Achebe, Chinua | 1962 | Things Fall Apart |
2 | Ekwensi, Cyprian | 1962 | Burning Grass: a story of the Fulani of Northern Nigeria. Illustrated by A. Folarin; cover drawing by Dennis Duerden. |
3 | Achebe, Chinua | 1963 | No Longer at Ease. Illustrated by Bruce Onobrakpeya. |
4 | Kaunda, Kenneth D. | 1962 | Zambia Shall Be Free: an autobiography |
5 | Ekwensi, Cyprian | 1963 | People of the City. Revised edition. (Originally published London: Dakers, 1954.) |
6 | Abrahams, Peter | 1963 | Mine Boy. Illustrated by Ruth Yudelowitz. (London: Crisp, 1946; London: Faber, 1954; New York: Knopf, 1955.) |
7 | Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o (as Ngugi, James) | 1964 | Weep Not, Child |
8 | Reed, John, Wake, Clive, eds | 1964 | A Book of African Verse. Later edition published (1984) as New Book of African Verse. |
9 | Rive, Richard, ed. | 1964 | Modern African Prose. An anthology compiled and edited by Richard Rive. Illustrated by Albert Adams. Contributions by Peter Abrahams, Chinua Achebe, Es'kia Mphahlele, Abioseh Nicol, Richard Rive, Alfred Hutchinson, Efua Sutherland, Jonathan Kariara, Peter Clarke, Luis Bernardo Honwana, Jack Cope, Cyprian Ekwensi, Amos Tutuola, Camara Laye, James Matthews, Alf Wannenburgh, William Conton, Onuora Nzekwu, and Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o. |
10 | Equiano, Olaudah | 1967 | Equiano's Travels: His Autobiography; The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa the African. Abridged and edited by Paul Edwards |
11 | Aluko, T. M. | 1965 | One Man, One Matchet |
12 | Conton, William | 1964 | The African. (Previously published London: Heinemann, 1960. Boston: Little Brown, 1960.) |
13 | Beti, Mongo | 1964 | Mission to Kala: a novel. Translated by Peter Green from the French novel Mission terminée (1957). US edition (New York, Macmillan) published as Mission Accomplished. |
14 | Rive, Richard, ed. | 1963 | Quartet: New voices from South Africa. Short stories by Alex La Guma, James Matthews, Richard Rive and Alf Wannenburgh. |
15 | Cook, David | 1965 | Origin East Africa: a Makerere anthology devised and edited by David Cook. Prose and verse. |
16 | Achebe, Chinua | 1965 | Arrow of God |
17 | Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o (as Ngugi, James) | 1965 | The River Between |
18 | Obotunde Ijimere | 1966 | The Imprisonment of Obatala, and other plays. |
19 | Ekwensi, Cyprian | 1966 | Lokotown and Other Stories. |
20 | Gatheru, Mugo | 1966 | Child of Two Worlds. |
21 | Munonye, John | 1966 | The Only Son. |
22 | Peters, Lenrie | 1966 | The Second Round. |
23 | Beier, Ulli, ed. | 1966 | The Origin of Life and Death: African creation myths. |
24 | Kachingwe, Aubrey | 1966 | No Easy Task. |
25 | Amadi, Elechi | 1966 | The Concubine. Heinemann: London. |
26 | Nwapa, Flora | 1966 | Efuru. |
27 | Selormey, Francis | 1967 | The Narrow Path. |
28 | Cook, David, Lee, Miles, eds | 1968 | Short East African Plays in English: Ten plays in English. |
29 | Oyono, Ferdinand | 1966 | Houseboy. Translated by John Reed from the French Une vie de boy |
30 | Aluko, T. M. | 1967 | One Man, One Wife. |
31 | Achebe, Chinua | 1966 | A Man of the People. (Originally published: Nigerian Printing and Publishing, 1959.) |
32 | Aluko, T. M. | 1967 | Kinsman and Foreman |
33 | Samkange, Stanlake | 1967 | On Trial for my Country |
34 | Pieterse, Cosmo, ed. | 1968 | Ten One-Act Plays. Includes "Encounter" by Kuldip Sondhi; "Yon Kon" by Pat Maddy; "The Game" by Femi Euba; "Blind Cyclos" by Ime Ikeddeh; "With Strings' by Kuldip Sondhi; "The Deviant" by Ganesh Bagchi; "Fusane's Trial" by Alfred Hutchinson; "The Opportunity" by Arthur Maimane; "Maama" by Kwesi Kay; and "The Occupation" by Athol Fugard |
35 | La Guma, Alex | 1967 | A Walk in the Night and other stories. |
36 | Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o (as Ngugi, James) | 1967 | A Grain of Wheat. |
37 | Peters, Lenrie | 1967 | Satellites |
38 | Oginga Odinga | 1967 | Not Yet Uhuru: the autobiography of Oginga Odinga. With a foreword by Kwame Nkrumah. |
39 | Oyono, Ferdinand | 1969 | The Old Man and the Medal. Translated by John Reed from the French Le vieux nègre et la médaille. |
40 | Konadu, Asare | 1967 | A Woman in Her Prime |
41 | Djoleto, Amu | 1968 | The Strange Man. |
42 | Awoonor, Kofi and Adali-Mortty, G. | 1970 | Messages: Poems from Ghana. |
43 | Armah, Ayi Kwei | 1969 | The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born. (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1968.) |
44 | Amadi, Elechi | 1969 | The Great Ponds. |
45 | Munonye, John | 1969 | Obi. |
46 | Brutus, Dennis | 1968 | Letters to Martha: and other poems from a South African prison. |
47 | Salih, Tayeb | 1969 | The Wedding of Zein, and other stories. London; printed in Malta: HEB, 1969. Translated by Denys Johnson-Davies from the Arabic, and illustrated by Ibrahim Salahi. |
48 | Gbadamosi, Bakare; Beier, Ulli | 1968 | Not Even God Is Ripe Enough. Translated from the Yoruba |
49 | Nkrumah, Kwame | 1968 | Neo-colonialism: the last stage of imperialism. (Originally published London: Nelson, 1965) |
50 | Clark, J. P. | 1968 | America: Their America. London: HEB in association with Andre Deutsch. (Originally published London: Deutsch, 1964.) |
51 | Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o (as Ngugi, James) | 1968 | The Black Hermit. |
52 | Sellassie, B. M. Sahle | 1969 | The Afersata: an Ethiopian novel. London: HEB. |
53 | Palangyo, Peter K. | 1968 | Dying in the Sun.136pp |
54 | Serumaga, Robert | 1970 | Return to the Shadows. |
55 | Konadu, Asare | 1969 | Ordained by the Oracle. 160 pp. Originally published as Come Back Dora, Accra: Anowuo Educational Publ. |
56 | Nwapa, Flora | 1970 | Idu. |
57 | Dipoko, Mbella Sonne | 1969 | Because of Women. |
58 | Beier, Ulli, ed. | 1969 | Political Spider: an anthology of stories from "Black Orpheus". |
59 | Asare, Bediako | 1971 | Rebel. |
60 | Honwana, Luís Bernardo | 1969 | We Killed Mangy Dog and Other Stories. Translated from the Portuguese by Dorothy Guedes. |
61 | Umeasiegbu, Rems Nna | 1969 | The Way We Lived: Ibo customs and stories. |
62 | Okigbo, Christopher | 1971 | Labyrinths. With Path of Thunder. |
63 | Ousmane, Sembene | 1970 | God's Bits of Wood. Translated by Francis Price. |
64 | Pieterse, Cosmo, ed. | 1971 | 7 South African Poets: poems of exile. Collected and selected by Cosmo Pieterse. |
66 | Salih, Tayeb | 1969 | Season of Migration to the North. Translated by Denys Johnson-Davies from the Arabic Mawsim al-hijrah ilā al-shamāl. |
67 | Nwankwo, Nkem | 1970 | Danda. (Originally published London: Deutsch, 1964) |
68 | Okara, Gabriel | 1970 | The Voice. Introduction by Arthur Ravenscroft. (Originally published London: Deutsch, 1964) |
69 | Liyong, Taban lo | 1969 | Fixions, and other stories. |
70 | Aluko, T. M. | 1970 | Chief, The Honourable Minister. |
71 | Senghor, Léopold Sédar | 1969 | Nocturnes. Translated by John Reed and Clive Wake from the French. |
72 | U'tamsi, Felix | 1970 | Selected Poems. Translated by Gerald Moore from the French. |
73 | Ortzen, Len, ed. | 1970 | North African Writing. Selected, translated, and with an introduction by Len Ortzen. |
74 | Liyong, Taban lo, ed. | 1970 | Eating Chiefs: Lwo culture from Lolwe to Malkal. Selected, interpreted and transmuted by Taban lo Liyong. |
75 | Knappert, Jan | 1970 | Myths and Legends of the Swahili. |
76 | Soyinka, Wole | 1970 | The Interpreters. With introduction and notes by Eldred Jones. London: Heinemann. (Originally published London: Deutsch, 1965.) |
77 | Beti, Mongo | 1970 | King Lazarus: a novel. Translated from the French Le roi miraculé (French version originally published Editions Buchet, 1958.) |
78 | Pieterse, Cosmo | 1972 | Short African plays. Including: "Ancestral Power" by Kofi Awoonor; "Magic Pool" by Kuldip Sondhi; "God's Deputy" by Sanya Dosunmu; "Resurrection" by Richard Rive; "Life Everlasting" by Pat Amadu Maddy; "Lament" by Kofi Awoonor; "Ballad of the Cells" by Cosmo Pieterse; "Overseas" by Mbella Sonne Dipoko; "This Time Tomorrow" by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o; "Episodes of an Easter Rising" by David Lytton |
79 | Chraibi, Driss | 1972 | Heirs to the Past. Translated by Len Ortzen from the French.(Succession ouverte originally published Paris: Denoël, 1962.) |
80 | Farah, Nuruddin | 1970 | From a Crooked Rib. |
81 | Mboya, Tom | 1970 | The Challenge of Nationhood: a collection of speeches and writings. Foreword by H. E. Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, and postscript by Pamela Mboya. |
82 | Dipoko, Mbella Sonne | 1970 | A Few Nights and Days. (Originally published, Harlow: Longmans, 1966.) |
83 | Knappert, Jan | 1971 | Myths and Legends of the Congo. Nairobi: HEB. |
84 | Ekwensi, Cyprian | 1971 | Beautiful Feathers. (Originally published London: Hutchinson, 1963) |
85 | Onuora Nzekwu | 1971 | Wand of Noble Wood. |
86 | Bebey, Francis | 1971 | Agatha Moudio's Son. Translated by Joyce A. Hutchinson from the French Le fils d'Agatha Moudio. |
87 | Dadié, Bernard B. | 1971 | Climbié. Translated by Karen C. Chapman from the French. |
88 | Beti, Mongo | 1971 | The Poor Christ of Bomba. Translated by Gerald Moore from the French Le pauvre Christ de Bombay. (Original French edition published 1956.) |
89 | Maddy, Pat Amadu | 1971 | Obasai and other plays. |
90 | Liyong, Taban lo | 1971 | Frantz Fanon's Uneven Ribs: poems more and more. |
91 | Nzekwu, Onuora | 1972 | Blade Among the Boys. (Originally published London: Hutchinson, 1962.) |
92 | Ousmane, Sembène | 1972 | The Money-Order; with, White Genesis. Translated by Clive Wake. London: Heinemann. (Translation of Vehi ciosane; ou, Blanche-genèse; suivi du Mandat, Paris: Présence Africaine, 1965.) |
93 | Knappert, Jan, ed. | 1972 | A Choice of Flowers. Chaguo la Maua: an anthology of Swahili love poetry. Edited and translated from Swahili by Jan Knappert. |
94 | Munonye, John | 1971 | Oil Man of Obange. |
95 | Ibrahim, Sonallah | 1971 | The Smell Of It, and other stories. Translated from the Arabic by Denys Johnson-Davies. |
96 | Cook, David, Rubadiri, David, eds | 1971 | Poems from East Africa. |
97 | Mazrui, Ali A. | 1971 | The Trial of Christopher Okigbo. |
98 | Mulaisho, Dominic | 1971 | The Tongue of the Dumb. |
99 | Ouologuem, Yambo | 1971 | Bound to Violence. Translated by Ralph Manheim from the French Devoi de violence. (Originally published London: Secker & Warburg, 1971.) |
100 | Achebe, Chinua | 1972 | Girls At War and Other Stories. |
101 | Head, Bessie | 1972 | Maru. |
102 | Omotoso, Kole | 1971 | The Edifice. |
103 | Peters, Lenrie | 1971 | Katchikali. Poems. |
104 | Themba, Can | 1972 | The Will to Die. Selected by Donald Stuart and Roy Holland. |
105 | Lubega, Bonnie | 1971 | The Outcasts. |
106 | Reed, John, Wake, Clive, eds. | 1972 | French African verse. With English translations by John Reed & Clive Wake. |
107 | Dipoko, Mbella Sonne | 1972 | Black and White in Love: poems. |
108 | Awoonor, Kofi | 1972 | This Earth, My Brother. (Originally published Garden City: Doubleday, 1971.) |
109 | Obiechina, Emmanuel N. | 1972 | Onitsha Market Literature. |
110 | La Guma, Alex | 1972 | In the Fog of the Seasons' End. |
111 | Angira, Jared | 1972 | Silent Voices: poems. |
112 | Vambe, Lawrence | 1972 | An Ill-Fated People: Zimbabwe before and after Rhodes. (Originally published with a foreword by Doris Lessing, London: Heinemann, 1972.) |
113 | Mezu, S. Okechukwu | 1971 | Behind the Rising Sun. |
114 | Pieterse, Cosmo | 1972 | Five African Plays. |
115 | Brutus, Dennis | 1973 | A Simple Lust: selected poems including Sirens Knuckles Boots; Letters to Martha; Poems from Algiers; Thoughts Abroad. |
116 | Liyong, Taban lo | 1972 | Another Nigger Dead: poems. |
117 | Hakim, Tawfiq al- | 1973 | Fate of a Cockroach: four plays of freedom. Selected and translated from the Arabic by Denys Johnson-Davies. |
118 | Amadu, Malum | 1972 | Amadu's Bundle: Fulani tales of love and djinns. Collected by Malum Amadu; edited by Gulla Kell and translated into English by Ronald Moody. |
119 | Kane, Hamidou | 1972 | Ambiguous Adventure. Translated from the French by Katherine Woods. (This translation originally published New York: Walker, 1963. Translation of L'Aventure ambiguë. Paris: Julliard, 1962.) |
120 | Achebe, Chinua | 1970 | Beware, Soul Brother. Revised and enlarged edition. London: HEB. |
121 | Munonye, John | 1973 | A Wreath for Maidens. [S.I.]: Heinemann |
122 | Omotoso, Kole | 1972 | The Combat. |
123 | Mandela, Nelson | 1973 | No Easy Walk to Freedom. |
124 | Dikobe, Modikwe | 1973 | The Marabi Dance. |
125 | Worku, Daniachew | 1973 | The Thirteenth Sun. |
126 | Cheney-Coker, Syl | 1973 | Concerto for an Exile: poems. |
127 | Henderson, Gwyneth, Pieterse, Cosmo, eds | 1973 | Nine African Plays for Radio. |
128 | Zwelonke, D. M. | 1973 | Robben Island. |
129 | Egudu, Romanus, Nwoga, Donatus, eds | 1973 | Igbo Traditional Verse. Compiled and translated by Romanus Egudu and Donatus Nwoga. (Originally published 1971 as Poetic Heritage.) |
130 | Aluko, T. M. | 1973 | His Worshipful Majesty. |
131 | Lessing, Doris | 1973 | The Grass is Singing |
132 | Bown, Lalage | 1973 | Two Centuries of African English: a survey and anthology of non-fictional English prose by African writers since 1769. |
133 | Mukasa, Ham | 1975 | Sir Apolo Kagwa Discovers Britain. Edited by Taban lo Liyong. (First published in 1904 as Uganda's Katikiro in England.) |
134 | Henderson, Gwyneth, ed. | 1973 | African Theatre: eight prize-winning plays for radio. Includes "Make Like Slaves" by Richard Rive; "Station Street" by A. K. Mustapha; "Sweet Scum of Freedom" by J. Singh; "Double Attack" by C. C. Umeh; "Scholarship Woman" by D. Clems; "The Transistor Radio" by K. Tsaro-Wiwa; "Family Spear" by E. N. Zirimu; and "Sign of the Rainbow" by W. Ogunyemi. |
135 | Maran, René | 1973 | Batouala. Translated by Barbara Beck and Alexandre Mboukou; introduction by Donald E. Herdeck. |
136 | Sekyi, Kobina | 1974 | The Blinkards. |
137 | Maddy, Yulisa Amadu | 1973 | No Past, No Present, No Future. |
138 | Owusu, Martin | 1973 | The Sudden Return, and other plays. |
139 | Ruheni, Mwangi | 1973 | The Future Leaders. |
140 | Amadi, Elechi | 1973 | Sunset in Biafra: a civil war diary. |
141 | Nortje, Arthur | 1973 | Dead Roots. Poems. |
142 | Sembène, Ousmane | 1974 | Tribal Scars and other stories. Translated from the French by Len Ortzen. |
143 | Mwangi, Meja | 1973 | Kill Me Quick. |
144 | Fall, Malick | 1973 | The Wound. Translated by Clive Wake from the French La plaie. |
145 | Mwangi, Meja | 1974 | Carcase for Hounds. |
146 | Ekwensi, Cyprian | 1975 | Jagua Nana. (Originally published, London: Hutchinson, 1961.) |
147 | p'Bitek, Okot | 1974 | The Horn of My Love. |
148 | Aniebo, I. N. C. | 1974 | The Anonymity of Sacrifice. |
149 | Head, Bessie | 1974 | A Question of Power. (Originally published London: Davis-Poynter, 1974.) |
150 | Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o | 1975 | Secret Lives, and other stories. |
151 | Mahfouz, Naguib | 1975 | Midaq Alley. Translated from the Arabic by Trevor Le Gassick. |
152 | La Guma, Alex | 1974 | The Stone-Country. (Originally published 1967.) |
153 | Munonye, John | 1975 | A Dancer of Fortune. (London: William Heinemann, 1974.) |
154 | Armah, Ayi Kwei | 1974 | Fragments. |
155 | Armah, Ayi Kwei | 1974 | Why Are We So Blest?: a novel. London: Heinemann. |
156 | Ruheni, Mwangi | 1975 | The Minister's Daughter. |
157 | Kayper-Mensah, A. W. | 1975 | The Drummer in Our Time. |
158 | Kahiga, Samuel | 1974 | The Girl From Abroad. |
159 | Mvungi, Martha | 1975 | Three Solid Stones. |
160 | Mwase, George Simeon | 1975 | Strike a Blow and Die: the classic story of the Chilembwe Rising. Edited and introduced by Robert I. Rotberg. |
161 | Djoleto, Amu | 1975 | Money Galore. |
162 | Kayira, Legson | 1974 | The Detainee. London: Heinemann. |
163 | Sellassie, B. M. Sahle | 1974 | Warrior King. |
164 | Royston, Robert | 1974 | Black Poets in South Africa. |
165 | Etherton, Michael, ed. | 1975 | African Plays for Playing. Plays by Nuwa Sentongo, Jacob Hevi & Segun Ajibade. Selected and edited by Michael Etherton. London: Heinemann. |
166 | De Graft, Joe | 1975 | Beneath the Jazz and Brass. |
167 | Rabearivelo, Jean-Joseph | 1975 | Translations from the Night: selected poems of Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo. Edited with English translations by Clive Wake and John Reed. |
168 | Echewa, T. Obinkaram | 1976 | The Land's Lord. |
169 | Samkange, Stanlake | 1975 | The Mourned One. |
170 | Mungoshi, Charles | 1975 | Waiting for the Rain. |
171 | Soyinka, Wole, ed. | 1975 | Poems of Black Africa. Edited and introduced by Wole Soyinka. London: Heinemann. |
172 | Ekwensi, Cyprian | 1975 | Restless City and Christmas Gold. London: Heinemann. |
173 | Nwankwo, Nkem | 1975 | My Mercedes is Bigger Than Yours. |
174 | Diop, David Mandessi | 1975 | Hammer Blows. Translated from the French and edited by Simon Mpondo and Frank Jones. London: Heinemann. |
175 | Ousmane, Sembène | 1976 | Xala. Translated from the French by Clive Wake. As Xala: roman, Paris: Présence Africaine, 1973. |
176 | Mwangi, Meja | 1976 | Going Down River Road. |
177 | Gordimer, Nadine | 1976 | Some Monday for Sure. |
178 | Peteni, R. L. | 1976 | Hill of Fools. |
179 | Etherton, Michael (ed.) | 1976 | African Plays for Playing 2. Includes Monkey on the tree by Uwa Udensi, Black mamba two by Godfrey Kabwe Kasoma and The tradedy of Mr. No-balance by Victor Eleame Musinga. |
180 | Senghor, Léopold Sédar | 1976 | Prose and Poetry. Selected and translated from French by John Reed and Clive Wake. |
181 | Beti, Mongo | 1978 | Perpetua and the Habit of Unhappiness. Translated by Clive Wake and John Reed from the French Perpétue et l'habitude du malheur (originally published Paris: Editions Buchet-Chastel, 1974). |
182 | Head, Bessie | 1977 | The Collector of Treasures. |
183 | Okara, Gabriel | 1978 | The Fisherman's Invocation. |
184 | Farah, Nuruddin | 1976 | A Naked Needle. |
185 | Ekwensi, Cyprian | 1976 | Survive the Peace. |
186 | Boateng, Yaw M. | 1977 | The Return. |
187 | Rugyendo, Mukotani | 1977 | Barbed Wire and Other Plays. |
188 | Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o | 1977 | Petals of Blood. |
189 | Iroh, Eddie | 1976 | Forty-eight Guns for the General |
190 | Samkange, Stanlake | 1978 | Year of the Uprising |
191 | Thiong'o, Ngũgĩ wa & Mugo, Micere Githae | 1976 | The trial of Dedan Kimathi |
192 | Jahadmy, Ali A. (ed.) | 1977 | Anthology of Swahili poetry. Parallel Swahili text and English translation. Selected and translated by Ali A. Jahadmy. |
193 | p'Bitek, Okot | 1978 | Hare and Hornbill. Compiled and translated from the Acholi by Okot p'Bitek. London: Heinemann. |
194 | Armah, Ayi Kwei | 1979 | The Healers: an historical novel. |
195 | Munonye, John | 1978 | Bridge to a Wedding. London: Heinemann. |
196 | Johnson-Davies, Denys (ed.) | 1978 | Egyptian short stories. Includes "House of flesh" by Yusuf Idris, "Grandad Hasan" by Yahya Taher Abdullah, "Within the walls" by Edward El-Kharrat, "The performer" by Ibrahim Aslan, "The whistle" by Abdul Hakim Kassem, "Suddenly it rained" by Baha Taher, "The man who saw the sole of his left foot in a cracked mirror" by Lutfi Al-Khouli, "A conversation from the third floor" by Mohamed El-Bisatie, "Yusuf Murad Morcos" by Nabil Gorgy, "The conjurer made off with the dish" by Naguib Mahfouz, "The accusation" by Suleiman Fayyad, "A place under the dome" by Abdul Rahman Fahmy, "The country boy" by Yusuf Sibai, "The snake" by Sonallah Ibrahim, "The crush of life" by Yusuf Sharouni, "A story from prison" by Yahya Hakki & "The child and the king" by Gamil Atia Ibrahim. |
197 | Mahfouz, Naguib | 1978 | Miramar. Edited and revised by Maged el Kommos and John Rodenbeck; introduced by John Fowles. |
198 | Cabral, Amilcar | 1979 | Unity and Struggle: speeches and writings. Texts selected by the PAIGC; translated from Portuguese by Michael Wolfers. |
199 | Sassine, Williams | 1980 | Wirriyamu. Translated from the French by John Reed and Clive Wake. |
200 | Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o | 1982 | Devil on the Cross. |
201 | Plaatje, Sol T. | 1978 | Mhudi: an epic of South African native life a hundred years ago. (New York: Negro Univ. Press, 1970; Johannesburg: Quagga Press, Ad. Donker, 1975; London: Rex Collings, 1976; Washington, DC: Three Continents Press, 1978). |
202 | Vieira, José Luandino | 1978 | The Real Life of Domingos Xavier. Translated from the Portuguese by Michael Wolfers. |
203 | Njau, Rebeka | 1978 | Ripples in the Pool. (Nairobi: Transafrica, 1975.) |
204 | Mulaisho, Dominic | 1979 | The Smoke that Thunders |
205 | Bebey, Francis | 1978 | The Ashanti Doll. Translated from the French by Joyce A. Hutchinson. |
206 | Aniebo, I. N. C. | 1978 | The Journey Within. |
207 | Marechera, Dambudzo | 1978 | The House of Hunger. |
208 | Brutus, Dennis | 1978 | Stubborn Hope: new poems and selections. London: Heinemann. |
209 | Idris, Yusuf | 1978 | The Cheapest Nights, and other stories. Translated from the Arabic by Wadida Wassef. |
210 | Amadi, Elechi | 1978 | The Slave. |
211 | Kunene, Mazisi | 1979 | Emperor Shaka the great: a Zulu epic. Translated from the Zulu by the author. |
212 | La Guma, Alex | 1979 | Time of the Butcherbird. (Heinemann, 1979) |
213 | Iroh, Eddie | 1979 | Toads of War. |
214 | Beti, Mongo | 1980 | Remember Ruben. Translated from the French by Gerald Moore. (Originally published Ibadan: New Horn, 1980.) |
215 | Wolfers, Michael (ed.) | 1979 | Poems from Angola. Selected, translated and introduced by Michael Wolfers. |
216 | Yirenkyi, Asiedu | 1980 | Kivuli and other plays. |
217 | Biko, Steve | 1979 | I Write What I Like: a selection of his writings. Edited by Aelred Stubbs. |
218 | Armah, Ayi Kwei | 1979 | Two Thousand Seasons. London: Heinemann. |
219 | Kenyatta, Jomo | 1979 | Facing Mount Kenya: the traditional life of the Gikuyu. With an introduction by B. Malinowski. (Originally published London: Secker and Warburg, 1938.) |
220 | Head, Bessie | 1981 | Serowe: Village of the Rain Wind. |
221 | Cheney-Coker, Syl | 1980 | The Graveyard Also Has Teeth, with Concerto for an Exile: poems. London: Heinemann. |
222 | Vieira, José Luandino | 1980 | Luuanda. Translated from the Portuguese by Tamara L. Bender. London: Heinemann. |
223 | Ghanem, Fathy | 1980 | The Man who Lost his Shadow: a novel in four books. Translated from the Arabic by Desmond Stewart. |
224 | Kente, Gibson (ed.) | 1981 | South African people's plays. Includes uNosilimela by Credo V. Mutwa, Shanti by Mthuli Shezi, Too Late by Gibson Kente & Survival by the Workshop '71 Theatre Company. |
225 | Mahfouz, Naguib | 1981 | Children of Gebelawi. |
226 | Farah, Nuruddin | 1980 | Sweet and Sour Milk. (Originally published London: Allison & Busby, 1979.) |
227 | Emecheta, Buchi | 1979 | The Joys of Motherhood. (Originally published London: Allison and Busby, 1979.) |
228 | Hussein, Taha | 1981 | An Egyptian Childhood: the autobiography of Taha Hussein. Translated by E. H. Paxton. |
229 | Mofolo, Thomas | 1981 | Chaka: an historical romance. New translation by Daniel P. Kunene. Originally translated from the Sesuto by F. H. Dutton, London & New York: OUP, 1967. |
230 | Feinberg, Barry (ed.) | 1980 | Poets to the People: South African Freedom Poems. |
231 | Jumbam, Kenjo | 1980 | White Man of God. |
232 | Johnson-Davies, Denys (ed.) | 1981 | Egyptian One-act Plays. Selected and translated from the Arabic by Denys Johnson-Davies. Includes The interrogation by Farid Kamil, The Trap by Alfred Farag, Marital bliss by Abdel-Moneim Selim, The wheat well by Ali Salem, and The donkey market by Tewfik al-Hakim. |
233 | Nyamfukudza, S. | 1980 | The Non-Believer's Journey; 128 pp. |
234 | Kunene, Mazisi | 1981 | Anthem of the Decades: a Zulu epic. Translated from Zulu by the author. |
235 | Kunene, Mazisi | 1982 | The Ancestors and the Sacred Mountain: poems. Translated from Zulu. |
236 | Mapanje, Jack | 1981 | Of Chameleons and Gods; 80 pp. |
237 | Marechera, Dambudzo | 1980 | Black Sunlight. |
238 | Peters, Lenrie | 1981 | Selected Poetry; 160 pp. |
239 | Kourouma, Ahmadou | 1981 | The Suns of Independence. Translated from the French Les soleils des independances by Adrian Adams. |
240 | Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o | 1981 | Detained: A Writers Prison Diary |
241 | Akare, Thomas | 1981 | The Slums. |
242 | Aluko, T. M. | 1982 | Wrong Ones in the Dock. London: Heinemann. |
243 | Mutloatse, Mothobi (ed.) | 1981 | Africa South: contemporary writings. |
244 | Ya-Otto, John with Ole Gjerstad and Michael Mercer | 1982 | Battlefront Namibia: an autobiography |
245 | NEVER ASSIGNED.[20] | ||
246 | Thiong'o, Ngũgĩ wa | 1982 | I Will Marry When I Want. |
247 | Head, Bessie | 1987 | When Rain Clouds Gather |
248 | Bâ, Mariama | 1981 | So long a letter. Translated from the French Si longue lettre by Modupé Bodé-Thomas. |
249 | Obasanjo, Olusegun | 1981 | My Command: An Account of the Nigerian Civil War, 1967-1970. |
250 | Ousmane, Sembène | 1981 | The Last of the Empire. |
251 | Lewin, Hugh | 1981 | Bandiet: seven years in a South African prison. |
252 | Farah, Nuruddin | 1982 | Sardines. (Originally published London: Allison & Busby, 1981.) |
253 | Aniebo, I. N. C. | 1983 | Of Wives, Talismans, and the Dead: short stories. Arranged by Willfred F. Feuser. London; Exeter, N.H.: Heinemann. |
254 | Scanlon, Paul A. (ed.) | 1983 | Stories from central and southern Africa. Includes "Beggar my neighbour" by Dan Jacobson, "Kwashiorkor" by Can Themba, "About a girl who met a dimo" by Susheela Curtis, "Hajji Musa and the Hindu fire-walker" by Ahmed Essop, "The sisters" by Pauline Smith, "Tselane and the giant" by B. L. Leshoai, "Johannesburg, Johannesburg" by Nathaniel Nakasa, "Coming of the dry season" by Charles Mungoshi, "A soldier's embrace" by Nadine Gordimer, "Witchcraft" by Bessie Head, "The old woman" by Luis B. Honwana, "Dopper and Papist" by Herman C. Bosman, "The dishonest chief" by Ellis Singano and A. A. Roscoe, "The Soweto bride" by Mbulelo Mzamane, "A sunrise on the veld" by Doris Lessing, "The soldier without an ear" by Paul Zeleza, "Riva" by Richard Rive, "Sunlight in Trebizond Street" by Alan Paton, "The Christmas reunion" by Dambudzo Marechera, "The king of the waters" by A. C. Jordan, "Power" by Jack Cope, and "In corner B" by Es'kia (Zeke) Mphahlele. |
255 | Iroh, Eddie | 1982 | The Siren in the Night. |
256 | Bruner, Charlotte H. (ed.) | 1983 | Unwinding Threads: writing by women in Africa. |
257 | Calder, Angus, Jack Mapanje & Cosmo Peterse | 1983 | Summer Fires: new poetry of Africa. |
258 | Pheto, Molefe | 1985 | And Night Fell: Memoirs of a Political Prisoner in South Africa. (Originally published London: Allison & Busby, 1983.) |
259 | NEVER PUBLISHED | "A volume called This is the Time was advertised as No. 259, but no such volume exists in any of the library catalogues we consulted. Research in the AWS archive at Reading University reveals that this was a projected anthology of Central and Southern African poetry, which was instead published as When My Brothers Come Home: Poems from Central and Southern Africa, edited by Frank M. Chipasula (Middleton, Conn.: Wesleyan University Press, 1985)."[20] | |
260 | NEVER PUBLISHED | "Kofi Awoonor's Until the Morning After: Collected Poems 1963-1985 was to have been AWS number 260, but was apparently withdrawn by the author and instead published by Greenfield Review Press, New York, in 1987."[20] | |
261 | Anyidoho, Kofi | 1984 | A Harvest of our Dreams, with Elegy for the Revolution: poems. |
262 | Nagenda, John | 1986 | The Seasons of Thomas Tebo. |
263 | Serote, Mongane | 1983 | To Every Birth its Blood. |
264 | De Graft, Joe | 1977 | Muntu. |
265 | NEVER ASSIGNED.[20] | ||
266 | p'Bitek, Okot | 1984 | Song of Lawino: &, Song of Ocol. Translated from the Acholi by Okot p'Bitek. Introduction by G. A. Heron; illustrations by Frank Horle. London: Heinemann. |
267 | Idrīs, Yūsuf | 1984 | Rings of Burnished Brass. |
268 | Sepamia, Sepho | 1981 | A Ride on the Whirlwind: a novel. |
269 | Pepetela | 1984 | Mayombe. |
270 | Achebe, Chinua, & C. L. Innes (eds) | 1985 | African short stories. Includes "The false prophet" by Sembene Ousmane, "Certain winds from the south" by Ama Ata Aidoo, "The apprentice" by Odun Balogun, "The will of Allah" by David Owoyele, "Civil peace" by Chinua Achebe, "The gentlemen of the jungle" by Jomo Kenyatta, "The green leaves" by Grace Ogot, "Bossy" by Abdulrazak Gurnah, "The spider's web" by Leonard Kibera, "Minutes of glory" by Ngugi wa Thiong'o, "An incident in the Ghobashi household" by Alifa Rifaat, "A handful of dates" by Tayeb Salih, "A conversation from the third floor" by Mohamed El-Bisatie, "Papa, snake & I" by B. L. Honwana, "The bridegroom" by Nadine Gordimer, "The betrayal" by Ahmed Essop, "Protista" by Dambudzo Marechera, "The coffee-cart girl" by Ezekiel Mphahlele, "Snapshots of a wedding" by Bessie Head, and "Reflections in a cell" by Mafika Gwala. |
unnumbered | Rifaat, Alifa | 1985 | Distant View of a Minaret. |
unnumbered | Amadi, Elechi | 1986 | Estrangement. |
unnumbered | Echewa, T Obinkaram | 1986 | The Crippled Dancer |
unnumbered | Sembene, Ousmane | 1987 | Black Docker |
unnumbered | Rive, Richard | 1987 | Buckingham Palace, District 6 |
unnumbered | Lopes, Henri | 1987 | Tribaliks |
unnumbered | Tambo, Oliver | 1987 | Oliver Tambo Speaks: Preparing for Power |
unnumbered | Achebe, Chinua | 1988 | Anthills of the Savanna |
unnumbered | Karodia, Farida | 1988 | Coming Home and Other Stories, includes "Coming Home", "Something in the Air", "The Necklace", "Cardboard Mansions", "Ntombi", "iGoldi", "The Worlds According to Mrs Angela Ramsbotham", "Seeds of Discontent", "The Woman in Green" |
unnumbered | Wangusa, Timothy | 1989 | Upon This Mountain |
unnumbered | Mungoshi, Charles | 1989 | The Setting Sun and the Rolling World |
unnumbered | Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o | 1989 | Matigari |
unnumbered | Vassanji, M. G. | 1989 | The Gunny Sack |
unnumbered | Laing, Kojo | 1989 | Godhorse |
unnumbered | Zimuya, Musaemura, Porter, Peter, Anyidoho, Kofi (eds) | 1989 | The Fate of Vultures, contributions by Tanure Ojaide, Afam Akeh, Gichora Mwangi, Ama Asantewa Ababio, Alex Agyei-Agyiri, Funso Aiyejina, Richard Afari Baafour, Biyi Bandele-Thomas, Philip Bateman, Charles Agboola Bodunde, John Murray Coates, James Putsch Commey, Jonathan Cumming, Achmat Dangor, Kofi Dondo, Patrick Ebewo, Godwin Ede, Ezenwa-Ohaeto, Bode-Law Faleyimu, Francis Faller, Femi Fatoba, Henry Garuba, Arthur K. de Graft-Rosenior, Martin Gwete, Chenjerai Hove, Esiaba Irobi, Frederick Bobor James, Beverley Jansen, Wumi Kaji, Ken N. Kamoche, Lawrence Karanja, Kolosa Kargbo, Boyo Lawal, Masango Lisongwe, Don Mattera, Zondi Mbano, Bennet Leboni, Buti Moleko, Lupenga Mphande, Edison Mpina, Fekessa Mwada, Crispin Namane, Valerie Nkomeshya, Pheroze Nowrojee, Silas Obadiah, Walter Odame, Tanure Ojaide, Felicity Atuki Okoth, Isi Omoifo, Thembile ka Pepeteka, Sobhna Keshval Poona, Kofi Sam, Gloria Sandak-Lewin, Erasmus Elikplim Forster Senaye, Sam Ukal, Michael Andrew Wakabi, Timothy Wangusa, Willie T. Zingani |
unnumbered | Mahjoub, Jamal | 1989 | Navigation of a Rainmaker |
unnumbered | Hove, Chenjerai | 1990 | Bones |
unnumbered | Cheney-Coker, Syl | 1990 | The Last Harmattan of Alusine Dunbar |
unnumbered | Chinodya, Shimmer | 1990 | Harvest of Thorns |
unnumbered | Couto, Mia | 1990 | Voices Made Night |
unnumbered | Gool, Reshard | 1990 | Cape Town Coolie |
unnumbered | Head, Bessie | 1990 | A Woman Alone |
unnumbered | Head, Bessie | 1990 | Tales of Tenderness and Power |
unnumbered | Maja-Pearce, Adewale (ed) | 1990 | The Heinemann Book of African Poetry in English, contributions by Dennis Brutus, Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye, Christopher Okigbo, Lenrie Peters, Wole Soyinka, Kofi Awoonor, JP Clark Bekederemo, Syl Cheney-Coker, Arthur Nortje, Steve Chimombo, Jack Mapanje, Kojo Laing, Niyi Osundare, Tanure Ojaide, Musaemura Zimunya, Lupenga Mphande, Frank Chipasula, Molara Ogundipe-Leslie, Odia Ofeimun, Catherine Obianuju Acholonu, Chenjerai Hove, Gabriel Gbadmosi |
unnumbered | Cheney-Coker, Syl | 1990 | The Blood in the Desert's Eye |
unnumbered | Chipasula, Frank M. | 1991 | Whispers in the Wings |
unnumbered | Amechi Akwanya | 1991 | Orimili |
unnumbered | Gordimer, Nadine | 1991 | Crimes of Conscience: Selected Short Stories |
unnumbered | Vassanji, M. G. | 1993 | Uhuru Street & other Stories, includes "In the Quiet of a Sunday Afternoon", "Ali", "Alzira", "The Beggar", "For a Shilling", "The Relief from Drill", "The Driver", "English Lessons", "The Sounds of the Night", "Leaving", "Breaking Loose", "What Good Times We Had", "Ebrahim and the Businessman", "The London-returned", "Refugee", "All Worlds are Possible Now". |
unnumbered | Ojaide, Tanure | 1991 | The Blood of Peace and other poems |
unnumbered | Achebe, C., and C. L. Innes | 1992 | Book of Contemporary African Short Stories |
unnumbered | Osundare, Niyi | 1992 | Selected Poems |
unnumbered | Mwangi, Ursula | 1992 | Striving for the Wind |
unnumbered | Laing, Kojo | 1992 | Major Gentl and Achimota Wars |
unnumbered | Bandele-Thomas, Biyi | 1992 | The Man Who Came In From The Back Of Beyond |
unnumbered | Ousmane, Sembene | 1992 | Niiwam and Taaw |
unnumbered | Hove, Chenjerai | 1992 | Shadows |
unnumbered | Zeleza, Tiyambe | 1992 | Smouldering Charcoal |
unnumbered | Tuma, Hama | 1993 | The Case of the Socialist Witchdoctor and other stories includes "By Way of a Prologue", "The Case of the Illiterate Saboteur", "The Case of the Valliant Torturer", "The Case of the Criminal Thought", "The Case of the Queue Breaker", "The Case of the Treacherous Alphabet", "The Case of the Professor of Insanity", "The Case of the Closet Racist", "The Case of the Presumptuous Novelist", "The Case of the Prison-Mongerer", "The Case of the Incurable Hedonist", "Vendetta", "Betrayal", "It happened in Russia", "Death of a Renegade", "Tales of the Highway Fire", "The Professional", "The Zar Who Liked Human Liver", "In 'The Bar of No Surprises'", "Ten on the Terror Scale", "The Waldiba Story", "Madman, Killer , Saint, You". |
unnumbered | Bandele-Thomas, Biyi | 1993 | The Sympathetic Undertaker and Other Dreams |
unnumbered | Jacobs, Steve | 1993 | Under the Lion |
unnumbered | Botha, W. P. B. | 1993 | The Reluctant Playwright |
unnumbered | Karodia, Farida | 1993 | A Shattering of Silence |
unnumbered | Bruner, Charlotte (ed) | 1993 | African Women's Writing, including contributions from Catherine Obianuju Acholonu, Ifeoma Okoye, Zaynab Alkali, Orlanda Amarilis, Aminata Maiga Ka, Awuor Ayoda, Violet Dias Lannoy, Daisy Kabagarama, Lina Magaia, Ananda Devi, Tstitsi Dangerembga, Bessie Head, Jean Marquard, Zoe Wicomb, Sheila Fugard, Farida Karodia, Nawal el Sadaawi, Assia Djebar, Gisele Halimi, Leila Sebbar, Andree Chedid |
unnumbered | Mapanje, Jack | 1993 | The Chattering Wagtails of Mikuyu Prison |
unnumbered | Mahjoub, Jamal | 1994 | Wings of Dust |
unnumbered | Hirson, Denis (ed), with Trump, Martin | 1994 | South African Short Stories, including contributions from Njabulo Ndebele, Dugmore Boetie, Ernst Havemann, Jack Cope, Elise Muller, Herman Charles Bosman, Breyten Breytenbach, Ivan Vladislavic, Hennie Aucamp, Etienne van Heerden, Bartho Smit, Can Themba, Bheki Maseko, Mango Tshabangu, Dan Jacobson, Nadine Gordimer, Ahmed Essop, Bessie Head, Christopher Hope, Alan Paton, Zoe Wicomb |
unnumbered | Emecheta, Buchi | 1994 | In the Ditch |
unnumbered | Emecheta, Buchi | 1994 | Second-class Citizen |
unnumbered | Emecheta, Buchi | 1994 | Head Above Water |
unnumbered | Emecheta, Buchi | 1994 | Gwendolen |
unnumbered | Emecheta, Buchi | 1994 | Kehinde |
unnumbered | Emecheta, Buchi | 1994 | Destination Biafra |
unnumbered | Chimombo, Steve | 1994 | Napolo and the Python |
unnumbered | Sam, Agnes | 1994 | Jesus is Indian and other stories, including "High Heel", "Jesus is Indian", "Poppy", "A Bag of Sweets", "A Well-Loved Woman", "Nana and Devi", "Sunflowers", "Two Women", "Innocents", "The Seed", "Jellymouse", "Maths", "The Story Teller", "And They Christened It Indenture" |
unnumbered | Couto, Mia | 1994 | Every Man is a Race |
unnumbered | Tansi, Sony Lab'ou | 1995 | The Seven Solitudes of Lorsa Lopes |
unnumbered | Beyala, Calixthe | 1995 | Loukoum, or the "Little Prince" of Belville |
unnumbered | Darko, Amma | 1995 | Beyond the Horizon |
unnumbered | Head, Bessie | 1995 | The Cardinals with Meditations and other stories, including "Earth and Everything", "Africa", "My Home", "A Personal View of the Survival of the Unfittest", "Where is the Hour of the Beautiful Dancing of the Birds in the Sun-Wind?", "Poor man", "Earth Love". |
unnumbered | Chipasula, Stella and Frank (eds) | 1995 | African Women's Poetry, includes contributions by Daniele Amrane, Leila Djibali, Ana Greki, Malika O'Lahsen, Queen Hatshepsut, Andree Chedid, Malak'Abd al-Aziz, Joyce Mansour, Rachida Madani, Amina Said, Irene Assiba d'Almeida, Ama Ata Aidoo, Abena P.A. Busia, Rashidah Ismaili, Molara Ogunidpe Leslie, Maria Manuela Margrido, Alda do Espirito Santo, Annette M'Baye d'Erneville, Marina Gashe, Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye, Mwana Kupona binti Msham, Micere Githae Mugo, Stella M Chipasula, Shakuntala Hawoldar, Assumpta Acam-Oturu, Alda Lara, Maria Eugenia Lima, Amelia Veiga, Gwendolen C Konie, Noemia de Sousa, Jeni Couzeyn, Ingrid de Kok, Amelia Blossom Pegram, Ingrid Jonker, Lindiwe Mabuza, Zindzi Mandela, Geina Mhlophe, Phumzile Zulu, Kristina Rungano |
unnumbered | Collen, Lindsey | 1995 | The Rape of Sita |
unnumbered | Emecheta, Buchi | 1995 | The Slave Girl |
unnumbered | Emecheta, Buchi | 1995 | The Bride Price |
unnumbered | Jacobs, Steve | 1995 | The Enemy Within |
unnumbered | Botha, W. P. B. | 1995 | Wantok |
unnumbered | Sobott-Mogwe, Gaele | 1995 | Colour Me Blue, includes "Telling Stories", "Rendering up the Glebe", "Hello, Goodbye", "Jomo", "Five to One", "Motho Fela", "The Road Ahead", "Bahmumagading", "In Confinement", "Hide Them Under The Bed", "The Battle of Jericho", "Colour Me Blue", "Mare", "Smile of Fortune", "Another Little Peace of our Hearts", "Dread", "The Birds in her Garden", "Revenge is Sweet". |
unnumbered | Beyala, Calixthe | 1996 | Your Name Shall Be Tanga |
unnumbered | Beyala, Calixthe | 1996 | The Sun Hath Looked Upon Me |
unnumbered | Accad, Evelyn | 1996 | Wounding Words: A Woman's Journal |
unnumbered | Pepetela | 1996 | Yaka |
unnumbered | Mahjoub, Jamal | 1996 | In the Hour of Signs |
unnumbered | Jacobs, Rayda | 1996 | The Eyes of the Sky |
unnumbered | Botha, W. P. B | 1997 | A Duty of Memory |
unnumbered | Darko, Amma | 1998 | The Housemaid |
unnumbered | Kanengoni, Alexander | 1998 | Echoing Siliences |
unnumbered | King-Aribisala, Karen | 1998 | Kicking Tongues |
unnumbered | Kwakye, Benjamin | 1998 | The Clothes of Nakedness |
unnumbered | Vera, Yvonne | 1999 | Opening Spaces: Contemporary African Women's Writing, including contributions by Ama Ata Aidoo, Melissa Tandiwe Myambo, Lindsey Collen, Farida Karodia, Norma Kitson, Veronique Tadjo, Leila Abouela, Ifeoma Okoye, Lilia Momple, Sindiwe Magona, Chiedza Musengezi, Monde Sifusniso, Gugu Ndlovu, Anna Dao, Milly Jafta |
unnumbered | Oguine, Ike | 2000 | A Squatter's Tale |
unnumbered | Ndibe, Okey | 2000 | Arrows of Rain |
unnumbered | Emecheta, Buchi | 2000 | The New Tribe |
unnumbered | Sinyangwe, Binwell | 2000 | A Cowrie of Hope |
unnumbered | Chinodya, Shimmer | 2001 | Dew in the Morning |
unnumbered | Abouela, Leila | 2001 | The Translator |
unnumbered | Andreas, Neshani | 2001 | The Purple Violet of Oshaantu |
unnumbered | Momplé, Lilia | 2001 | Neighbours: the story of a murder |
unnumbered | Chinodya, Shimmer | 2001 | Can We Talk and Other Stories, including "Hoffman Street", "The Man Who Hanged Himself", "Going to See Mr B.V.", "Among the Dead", "Brothers and Sisters", "Snow", "The Waterfall", "Play Your Cards", "Strays", "Bramson", "Can We Talk". |
unnumbered | Tadjo, Veronique | 2001 | As the Crow Flies |
unnumbered | Tadjo, Veronique | 2002 | The Shadow of Imana: Travels in the Heart of Rwanda |
unnumbered | Aidoo, Ama Ata | 2002 | The Girl Who Can and Other Stories, including "Her Hair Politics – a very short story", "Choosing – a moral of the world of work", "The Girls WHO Can", "Comparisons or Who Said a Bird Cannot Aather a Crab?", "Nutty", "She-Who-Would-Be-King (with apology to Rudyard Kipling", "Heavy Moments", "Some Global News - A short-four-voice report", "About the Wedding Feast", "Lice", "Payments", "Male-ing Names in the Sun", "Newly-Opened Doors", "Nowhere Cool". |
unnumbered | Mapanje, Jack (ed) | 2002 | Gathering Seaweed: African Prison Writing, including contributions from Kenneth D. Kaunda, Agostinho Neto, Oginga Odinga, Kwame Nkrumah, Jomo Kenyatta, Eddison J. Zvibogo, Felix Mnthali, Steve Biko, Jeremy Cronin, Moncef Marzouki, Ken Saro-Wiwa, Joseph Mwangi Kariuki, Sam Mpasu, Yves Emmanuel Dogbe, Kwame Safo-Adu, Albie Sachs, Dennis Brutus, Jose Craveirinha, Ahmed Fouad Negm, Wole Soyinka, Kofi Awoonor, Ingopapele Madingoane, Fatima Meer, Edison Mpina, Ogaga Ifowodo, Leila Djabali, Obafemi Owolowo, Molefe Pheto, Tshenuwani Simon Farisani, Abdellatif Laabi, Syl Cheney-Coker, Koigi wa Wamwere, Maina wa Kinyatti, Jack Mapanje, Muhammad Afifi Mattar, Tahar Djaout, Nelson Mandela, Antonio Jacinto, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, Breyten Breytenbach, Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Caesarina Kona Makhoere, Kunle Ajibade, Tandundu E. A. Bisikisi, Pitika Ntuli, Jaki Seroke, Fela Anikulapo-Kutu, Christine Anyanwu, Mzwakhe Mbuli |
unnumbered | Pepetela | 2002 | Return of the Water Spirit |
unnumbered | Aidoo, Ama Ata | 2003 | Changes: A Love Story |
unnumbered | Mengara, Daniel | 2003 | Mema |
[21]
Digitisation and relaunch
In 2005 Chadwyck-Healey Literature Collection began to digitise the series, which was completed in 2009.[citation needed]
It was then relaunched by Pearson Education in 2011, which began reissuing titles from the original list as 'Classics' and a number of new works.[22][23][24]
New titles included:
- The purple violet of Oshaantu by Neshani Andreas (2011)
- Woman of the Aeroplanes by B. Kojo Laing (2011)
- Search Sweet Country by B. Kojo Laing (2011)
- The Lovers by Bessie Head (2011)
- How Shall We Kill the Bishop and other stories by Lily Mabura (2012)
- The Grub Hunter by Amir Tag Elsir (2012)
- Sterile Sky by E. E. Sule (2012)
- Mindblast by Dambudzo Marechera (2015)
In 2018 Pearson signed a digital license agreement for the series with Digitalback Book.[25]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d2/AWS_logo_2021.pdf/page1-220px-AWS_logo_2021.pdf.jpg)
In December 2021, Abibiman Publishing and the James Currey Society in Oxford announced that the series would be relaunched again. The new series will be edited by the James Currey Fellow at Oxford University, Stephen Embleton. Embleton stated: "Our mandate is clear and threefold: build on the legacy of the original African Writers Series, actively seek works written in African languages, and have the writers of this Continent at the helm."[26]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/3a/African_Writers_Series_Logo_2021.png/65px-African_Writers_Series_Logo_2021.png)
See also
- List of African writers
- Three Crowns Books
- Writing in Asia Series
References
- ^ a b c d e Bejjit, Nourdin (2009). The Publishing of African literature: Chinua Achebe, Ngugi wa Thiong'o and the Heinemann African Writers Series 1962 - 1988 (phd thesis). The Open University. doi:10.21954/ou.ro.0000eb1c.
- ^ Hill, Alan (1988). In pursuit of publishing. London: J. Murray in association with Heinemann Educational Books. p. 120. ISBN 0-7195-4434-3. OCLC 23769680.
- ^ Currey, James (2008). Africa writes back : the African writers series & the launch of African literature. Oxford: James Currey. pp. xxx–xxxi. ISBN 978-0-8214-1843-7. OCLC 230198710.
- ^ a b c d Bejjit, Nourdin (2019). "Heinemann African Writers Series: History, editorship, and markets". Logos. 30 (1): 14. doi:10.1163/18784712-03001003. ISSN 0957-9656.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Currey, James (2008). Africa writes back : the African writers series & the launch of African literature. Oxford: James Currey. pp. xxx–xxxi. ISBN 978-0-8214-1843-7. OCLC 230198710.
- ^ a b Hill, Alan (1971). "The African Writers Series". Research in African Literatures. 2 (1): 18–19. ISSN 0034-5210.
- ^ Hill, Alan (1988). In pursuit of publishing. London: J. Murray in association with Heinemann Educational Books. p. 123. ISBN 0-7195-4434-3. OCLC 23769680.
- ^ a b Bejjit, Nourdin (6 September 2019). "Heinemann African Writers Series: History, editorship, and markets". Logos. 30 (1): 15. doi:10.1163/18784712-03001003. ISSN 0957-9656.
- ^ Bejjit, Nourdin (6 September 2019). "Heinemann African Writers Series: History, editorship, and markets". Logos. 30 (1): 21. doi:10.1163/18784712-03001003. ISSN 0957-9656.
- ^ Bejjit, Nourdin (6 September 2019). "Heinemann African Writers Series: History, editorship, and markets". Logos. 30 (1): 22. doi:10.1163/18784712-03001003. ISSN 0957-9656.
- ^ Bejjit, Nourdin (6 September 2019). "Heinemann African Writers Series: History, editorship, and markets". Logos. 30 (1): 23. doi:10.1163/18784712-03001003. ISSN 0957-9656.
- ^ a b Bejjit, Nourdin (6 September 2019). "Heinemann African Writers Series: History, editorship, and markets". Logos. 30 (1): 24. doi:10.1163/18784712-03001003. ISSN 0957-9656.
- ^ Bejjit, Nourdin (6 June 2019). "Heinemann African Writers Series: History, editorship, and markets". Logos. 30 (1): 17–18. doi:10.1163/18784712-03001003. ISSN 0957-9656.
- ^ "Heinemann African Writers Series" Archived April 29, 2015, at the Wayback Machine at African Studies Centre, Leiden.
- ^ Bejjit, Nourdin (6 June 2019). "Heinemann African Writers Series: History, editorship, and markets". Logos. 30 (1): 20. doi:10.1163/18784712-03001003. ISSN 0957-9656.
- ^ a b Bejjit, Nourdin (6 June 2019). "Heinemann African Writers Series: History, editorship, and markets". Logos. 30 (1): 15–24. doi:10.1163/18784712-03001003. ISSN 0957-9656.
- ^ "Judged by Its Covers | Josh MacPhee". Lapham's Quarterly. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
- ^ Clarke, Becky (2003). "The African Writers Series: Celebrating Forty Years of Publishing Distinction". Research in African Literatures. 34 (2): 164. ISSN 0034-5210.
- ^ Currey, James (2008). Africa writes back : the African writers series & the launch of African literature. Oxford: James Currey. pp. 301–310. ISBN 978-0-8214-1843-7. OCLC 230198710.
- ^ a b c d Matt Kibble, The Digitisation of the African Writers Series.
- ^ James., Currey (2008). Africa writes back : the African writers series & the launch of African literature. Oxford: James Currey. ISBN 9780821418437. OCLC 230198710.
- ^ "Pearson revives African Writers Series, calls for submissions". Archived 21 September 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Naija Stories, 4 August 2011.
- ^ Norbrook, Nicholas (29 February 2012). "Publishing Africa Writers Series celebrates 50 years". The Africa Report.
- ^ "A celebrated selection of literature from Africa" Archived 2014-10-27 at the Wayback Machine, Pearson.
- ^ "Digitalback Books acquires a license for the iconic Heinemann African Writers Series!". us15.campaign-archive.com. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
- ^ "Abibiman Publishing and the James Currey Society are relaunching the African Writers Series. Read our press release and objectives". Twitter. 11 December 2021. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
External links
- Heinemann - African Writers Series
- "Heinemann African Writers Series" at African Studies Centre, Leiden.
- Jenny Uglow, "BOOKS / A voice out of Africa: A story of sweet success and bitter controversy: the low-profile but high-grade African Writers Series has just celebrated its 30th year", The Independent, 3 January 1993.