African Writers in US Publishing

 Back in 2007, when I started this blog, I was lamenting the scarcity of fiction by African writers in US bookstores.  I knew this very well, for I had spent five of my ten years in the US working for a bookstore, crawling my way to Inventory Manager, where my efforts to expand the African literature collection were frustrated by lack of inventory that was within the US distribution system.

But by 2007, signs were showing of books by African writers making their way into the country, some of them becoming instant bestsellers (and bestseller to me may not mean that a lot of Americans were buying them, but that Africans based in the US were buying them). Now you could find works by Chimamanda Adichie, Petina Gappah, Maaza Mengiste, and others. But still, I felt back then that a lot more promotion of the writing was needed. So whenever there was a new publication by an African writer, I celebrated it on this blog, and I got to interview some of the writers on my other blogging platforms. 

Now, African writing has gained the attention of American publishers, who seem to see an opportunity that needs to be mined. We have big names on a sturdy publishing schedule (book deals) in the US-UK markets, and there are indications that readers in these markets are also growing a palate for these books. The great thing about this is that the generation of writers making it into these markets have powerful agents based in the US or UK, and the success of these writers is opening up opportunities for other writers. 

More and more African writers are also getting into prestigious MFA programs, which are exposing them to craft and community.  

I will be starting a series of blogs where a profile the writers who have broken into the US markets, and talking about opportunities available for African writers.