WEALTH OF IDEAS

  Happy Birthday Africa President   We get to Number 10 to find the president raising fists all over. On the big wall around the power station that caught fire last Sunday, on the tall gates of the blue Zioja church, on the fat pole where we sometimes play spin, on the shed where Clifford cuts hair, on the durawall that surrounds the tuck-shops where old ladies sit selling all sorts of stuff, on the sides of the shed where people wait for combis to town, on the trees along the main road—the posters are everywhere. We stand in a huddle by the power station wall and tilt our heads and look at the posters one by one even though they are exactly the same.   Godknows says, Who put him up there? Why did they put him up?   Well, whose face would you rather, your father’s? Bastard says. He elbows Godknows out of the way and steps to the wall to study the president. It’s early morning but the sun is already high above our heads, searing us like we owe it money....

Nkiacha Atemnkeng   "NoViolet’s debut novel parallels the media narrative of that lost decade era which peaked in 2008 perfectly. I remember following events in Zimbabwe from the news and this book is a wonderful evocation of all I heard, saw and so much more. (Well, except the juicy guavas). So it’s a blend of reality and imagination. There were media reports about hectares of farmland being seized from white farmers and handed over to black farmers, homes seized and others destroyed. I heard of galloping inflation, hunger, empty store shelves, rigged elections, violence as a result of that, incarceration and torture of MDC opposition leaders and political activists, some to the point of death, fed up Zimbabweans running away across the border into South Africa, a few knee deep across a bridgeless, crocodile-infested dangerous river, fed up Zimbabweans emigrating to America, emigrating to Europe, emigrating to Asia in droves and droves and droves,"  writes Cameroonean ...

The organizers of the conference give the following as the ten reasons to attend the conference: Launch your writing career– or take it to a more professional level–with direction from bestselling authors and publishing experts. Choose from a schedule  of workshops, panels and sessions that fit your specific writing needs and goals. Get your questions answered at the Ask-a-Pro session featuring New York and California editors…included in your registration fee. Go to  Speed Dating for Agents – Pitch your book ideas one-on-one in a room full of literary agents ($50 option for registered attendees) Receive free feedback on your work from freelance book editors. Kick back in  Cafe Ferlinghetti with writers from all over the country…and foreign countries, too. Talk with  exhibitors and find out what’s new for writers. Browse our onsite bookstore (produced by BookShop West Portal) and you can get the books you purchase autographed by the presenters. Ju...

The Caine Prize has announced the judges of the 2014 award as follows: Jackie Kay MBE (Chair)   photo credit: Denise Else Jackie Kay was born and brought up in Scotland. Her novel The Adoption Papers won the Forward Prize, a Saltire prize and a Scottish Arts Council Prize. Her most recent collection of poems, Fiere , was shortlisted for the Costa award. Jackie won the Guardian Fiction Award for her novel Trumpet, which was also shortlisted for the IMPAC award. She won the Scottish Book of the Year Award and the London Book Award for Red Dust Road , and the Decibel British Book Award for her book of stories entitled Wish I Was Here . Jackie’s book for children, Red Cherry Red , won the Clype award and her most recent plays, Manchester Lines (produced by Manchester Library Theatre) and The New Maw Broon Monologues (produced by Glasgay) were a great success. Her most recent book, Reality Reality , is a collection of stories and she is current...

The heightened literary activities in Zimbabwe are quite refreshing and inspiring. Of course, throughout Africa, and especially in English-speaking Africa, which I have immediate access to, due to a shared language, there seems to be a huge literary awakening. I like most the sudden availability of African books online and in  American bookstores. Zimbabwean writers  have many reasons to work harder, with a measure of optimism, because our literature has returned on the map. (It's hard to think it ever left, yet more readers seem to have (re-) discovered it). We have recently had considerable successes, both locally and internationally, in terms of output and discovery of new talent. And on the international scale, our sitting on the shortlist of the 2013 Booker Prize, for instance, was one of the many signs that the literature is alive,  and all the other signs of a strengthening literature--a recent winning of the Caine, the Guardian, and gett...

Presents   Nancy Aidé Gonzalez and Rhony Bhopla Monday, January 13 at 7:30 PM 1719 25th Street Host: Emmanuel Sigauke Nancy Aidé González is a Chicana poet, educator, and activist. She graduated from California State University, Sacramento with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature. She attended Las Dos Brujas Writer’s Workshop in 2012. Her work has appeared in Huizache The magazine of Latino literature, Mujeres De Maiz Zine, DoveTales, Tule Review , Seeds of Resistance Flor y Canto: Tortilla Warrior, La Bloga, and several other literary journals . Her work is featured in the Sacramento Voices: Foam at the Mouth Anthology (2013). She is a participating member of Escritores del Nuevo Sol. Tapestry of Dawn Sun, summoning dawn truth will come with portraits of consciousness narratives of shelter interlocked woven fabrics find equilibrium strings of transcendence in cosmos beyond ancient knowledge alive planets orbit echoing memory of universe saffron...

The Zimbabwe International Book Fair (ZIBF) Board has announced plans for 2014, and their theme looks great. It's kind of book fair I would love to attend. The focus of the theme is on literature and art in indigenous African languages. Below is the full text of a letter to stakeholders by Executive Board chairperson Musaemura Zimunya. Dear Stakeholders The Executive Board of The Zimbabwe International Book Fair Association with the approval of General Council has identified the following as our Theme for ZIBF 2014: Indigenous Languages, Literature, Art and Knowledge Systems of Africa .  In arriving at this Theme, we were guided by a few factors, among which are: ü     The overwhelming submissions on the subject of African languages, literatures, heritages and knowledge systems whose majority were unfortunate to be turned down for lack of space in the just ended ZIBF 2013 Indaba Conference Programme; ü     The enlightening presentations...