Double Journal Issue: New Approaches to Literary Activism in 21st Century Africa
This double issue brings together practitioners, academics and critics to engage with contemporary forms of literary activism on the African continent. From new writing prizes to literary festivals and spoken word nights; translation initiatives to mobile libraries and book distribution outlets; podcasting and social media to small magazines and print books, the African continent today is host to myriad modes of literary activism and engagement. Yet, while significant scholarly and critical attention has been paid to the continent’s so-called ‘literary renaissance’ over the early decades of the 21st century, less visible in these discussions have been the structures, networks and institutions which have underpinned the emergence of this new work.
In this double issue, we fill this gap by featuring contributions which explore the ways in which individuals and collectives have attempted to curate and cultivate outlets for the production, promotion and dissemination of literature, conceived here in its broadest form. Through this, our intention is to question and challenge the geo-political cartographies, hierarchies and structures of power which often over-determine perceptions of cultural institutions and literary production from the continent.
And to ask:
What histories and trajectories of literary activism can we map across the continent?
What valences emerge when we consider the idea of literary activism in its largest and most robust sense, linked implicitly or explicitly to a long, multilingual history of literary activism?
How do self-defined literary activists conceive of their role in contemporary Africa?
What forms of claims-making emerge around citizenship, society and public life through their work?
What kinds of social, political and cultural lacuna do literary institutions attempt to fill?
What ambiguities and ambivalences might arise at the nexus of financial, infrastructural and cultural concerns?
What forms of literary activism in evidence in Africa post-2000 offer sustainable and portable models for long-term impact?
The journal double issue can be accessed from Eastern African Literary and Cultural Studies.
Parrésia and the Business of Publishing Contemporary Nigerian Literature
Okadabooks, E-Book Publishing and the Distribution of Homegrown Nigerian Literature
Critical Literary Arts in Action: The Decolonial Project of Ba re e ne re within and beyond Lesotho
Speak for Yourself: Africa in Dialogue and the Activism of Interviewing
BAKWA 09: Taxi Drivers Who Drive Us Nowhere and other Travel Stories
Literary activism in the Swahili Coast
Creative Writing as Literary Activism: Decolonial Perspectives on the Writing Workshop
Reflecting and Reflexing on Book Awards: A Case Study of the Burt Award
Reading Dar es Salaam’s (Female-led) Book Clubs as Paravirtual Networks
AMLA Network 