UNAJUA? – There are over 350 books in African Writers Series. How many do you think are in print today?
There are less than 100 books from the African Writers Series that are in print today.
This article is about the African Writers Series.
You will read about the people that wrote and read the books and about the time and the places relating to the African Writers Series.
This article is part of the African Writers Series series
THE AFRICAN WRITERS SERIES
MUHTASARI
The African Writers Series is a collection of books written by African writers. Between 1962 and 2003 359 books appeared in the series. People in Africa, and around the world, read and learned from all kinds of writings from the African Writers Series.
Click here to Learn About West African Art basically…
WHAT IS THE AFRICAN WRITERS SERIES?
The African Writers Series is a collection of 359 books by African authors. The publisher of the African Writers Series is Heinemann.
The African Writers Series published mainly novels, including classics like Things Fall Apart and Weep Not, Child but also non-fiction, poems, short stories, plays, etc.
The cover of books from the African Writers Series changed over time, however, they are often paperback and colourful with either the AWS logo or name.
THE AFRICAN TRILOGY BY CHINUA ACHEBE
The African Trilogy is made up of three novels by Chinua Achebe: Things Fall Apart, No Longer at Ease and Arrow of God.
Things Fall Apart was the first book in the African Writers Series and a major influence for writers worldwide. It is also the most widely read book in modern African literature.
All three novels are set in Nigeria and show Igbo life, before, during and after colonisation.
Chinua Achebe was a writer from Nigeria and is well known as a father of African literature. He was the series editor of the African Writers series for 10 years.
via Wikimedia Commons
WHY WAS THE AFRICAN WRITERS SERIES CREATED?
Africa had many talented, and mostly unknown, writers like Chinua Achebe whose books shaped modern African literature.
The African Writers Series published books about Africa by African authors, at a time when many books had misleading and racist views about Africa and Africans.
Literature – like all art – affects and shows the way its readers see themselves.
“the story we had to tell could not be told for us by anybody else no matter how gifted or well intentioned” – Named for Victoria, Queen of England, Chinua Achebe
WEST AFRICAN ART
West African art is made up of artifacts, like sculptures and textiles, made throughout history across West Africa.
Most West African art used to be objects used in the daily lives of people, however, during colonialism much of them got taken away and are now seen as art.
Many books from the African Writers Series have West African art on their covers.
Carlo Bavagnoli, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
What Is West African Art? These 5 Pictures Will Show You…
WHO ARE THE AUTHORS OF THE AFRICAN WRITERS SERIES?
Books of major African authors appear in the African Writers Series. They were often novelists, poets and politicians like Ngugi wa Thiong’o and Leopold Senghor.
At the start most African Writers Series authors were men except for Buchi Emecheta and Flora Nwapa – the first African woman novelist published internationally.
Many authors in the African Writers Series risked their lives writing, like Jack Mapanje who was imprisoned without charge in Malawi for over 3 years after releasing Of Chameleons and Gods.
AFRICAN NATIONALISTS
During the 1960s African nationalists worked to unite Africans within their countries, since colonialists (and not Africans) created Africa’s borders.
African nationalists used literature to unite Africans by promoting African culture and ideas, similar to the Negritude literary movement.
Major African nationalists including politicians, Presidents Kwame Nkrumah and Kenneth Kaunda contributed to the African Writers Series.
via Goodreads
10 African Nationalists And Their Contributions
WHEN WERE THE AFRICAN WRITERS SERIES BOOKS PUBLISHED?
Between 1962 and 2003, 359 books appeared in the African Writers Series.
Starting in 1957 with Ghana’s independence, countries¹ in Africa became free from colonial rule because of African independence movements. During this “Wind of Change” people read more books by African authors.
Many books in the African Writers Series show the change that colonialism brought to African lives.
The Joys of Motherhood is set in colonial Nigeria during WWII and The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born is set in post-colonial Ghana.
AFRICAN INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENTS
Thanks to African independence movements countries¹ in Africa are free from colonial rule.
Jomo Kenyatta, who later became the first president of Kenya, used his book Facing Mount Kenya to fight against colonialism.
Facing Mount Kenya was published by the African Writers Series in 1979.
The National Archives UK, OGL v1.0OGL v1.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Learn about African Independence Movements HERE
WHERE WERE THE AFRICAN WRITERS SERIES BOOKS READ?
The African Writers Series was read by people around the world. It changed the way much of the world, including Africans, saw Africa and Africans.
African Writers Series books have been translated from languages like French, Swahili and Arabic into English and other languages.
Students in schools like the Universities of Ibadan in Nigeria, Legon in Ghana and Makerere in Uganda – where Ngugi wa Thiong’o studied – read African Writers Series books.
5 African Writers Series authors have received the Nobel Prize for Literature. Books from AWS have also won awards like the Commonwealth Prize, the NOMA Award for African Writing, the Caine Prize for African Writing, and Guardian Fiction Prize.
KENYA
Many African Writers Series authors came from Kenya. Weep Not, Child by Ngugi wa Thiong’o was the first English language novel published in East Africa.
Kenyan authors of the African Writers Series include novelist Mugo Gatheru, politicians Tom Mboya and Oginda Odinga as well as poets and playwrights Jared Angira, Micere Githae Mugo.
Kenya is a country in the region East Africa. It became independent from Britain in 1963 with Jomo Kenyatta as the first president.
Rtevels, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Today
Books from the African Writers Series are still very popular, especially among students.
In 2021 Abibiman Publishing and the James Currey Society in Oxford said they would relaunch the series. Other publishing houses have published books from the African Writers Series like the Penguin Classics African Writers Series.
What shaped the literature from the place you are from?
Read and learn about the place (and world) you live in because it will help you in the future.
If you don’t know where you come from, you can’t know where you are going.
~ African Proverb ~
Word bank📚🧑🏿🏫
Illustration
Novel
Novelist
Play
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Read more !
How to Write About Africa, Binyavanga Wainaina
Named for Victoria, Queen of England, Chuinua Achebe
Footnotes
¹ except for Ethiopia and Liberia
references
“Heinemann African Writers Series.” 2023. Wikipedia. June 14, 2023. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinemann_African_Writers_Series.
“Heinemann African Writers Series | African Studies Centre Leiden.” n.d. Www.ascleiden.nl. https://www.ascleiden.nl/content/library-highlights/heinemann-african-writers-series.
“African Writers Series.” n.d. Accessed August 9, 2024. https://www.pearson.com/content/dam/one-dot-com/one-dot-com/international-schools/pdfs/rights-and-licensing/African-Writers-Series-2024.pdf.
Clarke, Becky. 2003. “The African Writers Series–Celebrating Forty Years of Publishing Distinction.” Research in African Literatures 34 (2): 163–74. https://doi.org/10.1353/ral.2003.0027.
Hill, Alan. 1971. “The African Writers Series.” Research in African Literatures 2 (1): pp. 18-20. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3818417.
Adewale Maja-Pearce, Adewale. 1992. “In Pursuit of Excellence: Thirty Years of the Heinemann African Writers’ Series.” Research in African Literatures, 23 (4): pp. 125-132. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3820348.
Wikipedia Contributors. 2019a. “Jomo Kenyatta.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. April 30, 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jomo_Kenyatta.
———. 2022. “Efuru.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. August 25, 2022. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Efuru.
Turpin, Adrian. 1995. “‘I Had Never Come to a Western Country Before. It Is Good for My Writing.’” Independent, November. https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/i-had-never-come-to-a-western-country-before-it-is-good-for-my-writing-1580734.html.
For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen. Romans 11:36
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