• Avenues by Train (Hardcover)

    When seven-year-old Jedza witnesses a tragic incident involving a train and the death of his close boyhood friend in his hometown Miner’s Drift, he is convinced that his life is haunted. Now in his mid-20s, Jedza is a down-and-out electrician, moving to Harare in the hopes that he will escape the darkness and superstitions of the small town. But living in the shadowy restless atmosphere of the Avenues with its mysterious pools of water rising under musasa trees, he is tormented by the disappearance of his sister and their early encounters with ancestral spirits, the shapeshifting power of the njuzu and a vengeful ngozi. To move forward, he must stop running away and confront the trauma of his past.

    An eclectic, experimental novel, Avenues by Train is a brash and confident debut by an exciting new voice.

  • Bookset: African Writers Series (25 titles)

    Relive all the literary joys of yesteryears by purchasing this jumbo set of all your favourite African Writers Series titles such as Things Fall Apart, The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born, Weep Not Child, So Long A Letter, No Sweetness Here and many more!

    Exact titles will vary depending on availability.

    1,075.001,125.00
  • Voices that Sing Behind the Veil: Anthology of Short Stories from Africa and the Diaspora (Hardcover)

    This 684-page collection is published in collaboration with the Pan African Writers Association which is based in Accra and affiliated to the continental body, the African Union.

    The fifty-six stories come from fifteen African countries and elsewhere; Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Burkina Faso and East of the continent, Uganda, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo in the Great Lakes region, Ethiopia and Tanzania (in setting). They bring in other voices in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Botswana, Malawi, St. Maarten, United States and Britain. The themes are amok and definitely so in a vein of free expression. There are stories of love (of even a man who finds one whilst visiting a dying cancer-patient wife at the hospital in Lagos) or of a husband wrongfully imprisoned in Malawi who upon escape from jail confronts a wife about to wed again, a story very reminiscent of the main character in Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s, Weep Not, Child.

    There is hate and there is poverty – one from Kenya which reads like the Zimbabwean novelist, Dambudzo Marechera’s 1978 classic, The House of Hunger. Issues of mental health, corpse donation for scientific research and Coronavirus-19 are addressed alongside Pentecostal redemption, fake prophets and the havoc they exert on societies as do their counterparts in Islam.

    Contributing writers include distinguished and award-winning writers, academics and emerging talents such Zaynab Alkali (Nigeria), Ben Okri (UK/Nigeria), Molefi Kete Asante (US), Wesley Macheso (Malawi), Ogochukwu Promise (Nigeria), Grace Maguri (Zimbabwe), Athol Williams (South Africa), Martin Egblewogbe (Ghana), Esther K Mbithi (Kenya), Mary Ashun (Ghana), Wale Okediran (Nigeria) among others.

    “These extraordinary stories, mesmerising and beautifully written, are surely connected to a past that remains with us, the experiences of day-to-day living and the limitless imaginings of our futures. The discerning editor combines stories that communicate appreciation with apprehension, presence with essence… a good read.” – Toyin Falola, Historian and the Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Chair, University of Texas, Austin

  • Junior African Writers Series Bookset Levels 1 – 2 (10 titles)

    Develop literacy skills in your 8-15 year olds with exciting and engaging books for all reading levels.

    The sentence structure and vocabulary has been carefully constructed to suit your students experience and age so that as they grow, so do their literacy abilities.

    Titles in this set include titles such as (likely to change due to availability of titles):

    Taxi to Johannesburg — Matlakala Bopape and Peta Constable (Level 1)

    The Big Fight — Michael Cullup (Level 1)

    The Frightened Thief — Amu Djoleto (Level 1)

    The Midnight Caller — Anthony Umelo (Level 2)

    The Hyena Valley — The Hyena Valley (Level 2)

    The Secret of Nkwe Hill — Marcus Khama ter Haar (Level 2)

    The Smile Thief — Fatou Keita (Level 2)

    The Magic Pool — Gaele Mogwe (Level 2)

    Happy the Street Child — F.M. Mlekwa (Level 2)

    Kodua’s Ark — Yaw Ababio Boateng (Level 3)

    The Ashanti Golden Stool — Ayebia Ribeiro-Ayeh (Level 3)

    The Haunted Taxi Driver — Kofi Sekyi (Level 3)

    The Secret Valley — Mike Sadler (Level 4)

    …and many more!

  • Bookset: Junior African Writers Series (JAWS) Starters (10 books)

    Age Range: 3 – 6 years

    JAWS Starters are simple books for young readers in Africa. The series provides interesting stories to encourage children to read for pleasure.

    The books are at three levels. Level 1 is for children who have just begun to read by themselves. Level 2 and 3 use progressively wider vocabulary and more complex sentence structures. The language has been carefully controlled at each level to make reading easy. Also, there are pictures on every page to help the pupils follow the story. At Level 1, pupils can follow the story from the pictures alone.

    There are activities at the end of each book. If a word in an African language is used in the story, there will be a note of its meaning at the end of the book as well.

  • Bookset: African Writers Series (51 titles)

    Relive all the literary joys of yesteryears by purchasing this jumbo set of all your favourite African Writers Series titles such as Things Fall Apart, The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born, Weep Not Child, So Long A Letter, No Sweetness Here and many more!

    Exact titles will vary depending on availability.

    2,193.002,295.00
  • Safe House: Explorations in Creative Nonfiction

    In a collection of creative essays that ranges from travel writing and memoir to reportage, Ellah Wakatama Allfrey brings together some of the most talented writers of creative nonfiction from across Africa.

    A Ghanaian explores the increasing influence of China across the region; a Kenyan student activist writes of exile in Kampala; a Liberian scientist shares her diary of the Ebola crisis; a Nigerian writer travels to the north to meet a community at risk; a Kenyan travels to Senegal to interview a gay rights activist and a South African writer recounts a tale of family discord and murder in a remote seaside town.

    This anthology contains a range of unforgettable stories by authors from across Africa and presents personal views of contemporary issues in an accessible and thought-provoking manner.

  • These Bones Will Rise Again

    What are the right questions to ask when seeking out the true spirit of a nation?

     In November 2017 the people of Zimbabwe took to the streets in an unprecedented alliance with the military. Their goal, to restore the legacy of Chimurenga, the liberation struggle, and wrest their country back from over thirty years of Robert Mugabe’s rule.

    In an essay that combines bold reportage, memoir and critical analysis, Zimbabwean novelist and journalist Panashe Chigumadzi reflects on the ‘coup that was not a coup’, the telling of history and manipulation of time and the ancestral spirts of two women – her own grandmother and Mbuya Nehanda, the grandmother of the nation.

    Chigumadzi successfully nests the intimate charge of her poignant personal story in the sweeping historical account and mythology of Zimbabwe. – Brian Chikwava, author of Harare North

    Chigumadzi’s exploration of personal, family and national history reincarnates in stark, vivid images, many of those interred in the shadows of her country’s ‘Big Men’. – Tsitsi Dangarembga, author of Nervous Conditions

  • Junior African Writers Series Bookset Levels 1 – 2 (20 titles)

    Develop literacy skills in your 8-17 year olds with exciting and engaging books for all reading levels.
    The sentence structure and vocabulary has been carefully constructed to suit your students experience and age so that as they grow, so do their literacy abilities.
    Titles in this set include (likely to change due to availability of titles):
    Taxi to Johannesburg — Matlakala Bopape and Peta Constable (Level 1)
    The Big Fight — Michael Cullup (Level 1)
    The Frightened Thief — Amu Djoleto (Level 1)
    The Midnight Caller — Anthony Umelo (Level 2)
    The Hyena Valley — The Hyena Valley (Level 2)
    The Secret of Nkwe Hill — Marcus Khama ter Haar (Level 2)
    The Smile Thief — Fatou Keita (Level 2)
    The Magic Pool — Gaele Mogwe (Level 2)
    Happy the Street Child — F.M. Mlekwa (Level 2)
    Kodua’s Ark — Yaw Ababio Boateng (Level 3)
    The Ashanti Golden Stool — Ayebia Ribeiro-Ayeh (Level 3)
    The Haunted Taxi Driver — Kofi Sekyi (Level 3)
    Valley of Skulls — Anokye Wiredu (Level 3)
    The Secret Valley — Mike Sadler (Level 4)
    Paulo’s Strange Adventure — Barbara Kimenye (Level 4)
    The Ivory Poachers — Linda Pfotenhauer (Level 5)

  • Hardly Working: A Travel Memoir of Sorts

    “Zukiswa has mastered the art of writing a travel memoir. Through engaging prose she takes you on a journey — which she seamlessly intertwines with her innocent childhood memories — through Africa, Europe and then back to Africa. Even better she is doing part of the trip with her family which is unchartered territory: an African family exploring their own continent by public transport for adventure’s sake. What a way to bond.” — Sihle Khumalo, author of Almost Sleeping My Way to Timbuktu, Heart of Africa and the best-selling Dark Continent, My Black Arse

    Ten years after her first book was published, Zukiswa Wanner leaves her Nairobi home on an adventure-filled road trip with her partner and son. Travelling by road to the southern most country in Africa, she gets stranded in a border town in Malawi; finds herself in the midst of a protest against bond notes in Zimbabwe that shows her that Mugabe isn’t the force that he once was. And while dealing with immigration officials from Uganda to Ukraine, she learns what it means to carry an African passport. Wanner deals with the politics of the nations she considers home as well as the politics of literary festivals and writing with the same touch of humour that has been her signature since her first book — The Madams.

  • London Capetown Joburg

    1994. The world is about to change. The first truly democratic election in South Africa’s history is about to unite Nelson Mandela’s rainbow nation at the ballot box. And, across the world, those in exile, those who could not return home, those who would not return home, wait. Watch and wait . . .

    London. Martin O’Malley isn’t one of those watching and waiting. He is too busy trying to figure out if Germaine Spencer really is the girl for him and why his best friend is intent on ruining every relationship he gets involved in. And then . . . And then Germaine is pregnant and suddenly the world really has changed for Martin O’Malley.

    South Africa. A land of opportunity. A place where a young black man with an MSc from the London School of Economics could have it all, would have it all. But what does Martin O’Malley, London born and bred with an Irish surname, really know about his mother’s country? His motherland. A land he has never seen.

  • Men of the South

    In Johannesburg three men’s lives revolve around one woman. Mfundo is a struggling jazz musician. All hope of ever becoming famous end when he gets into a macho fight with an international R&B artist. No one is keen to employ him any longer, and Mfundo takes the role of house-husband. But his girlfriend Sli is not willing to be the ‘man’ of the house. Mzilikazi is a gay man in a heterosexual marriage. One of the few people in his life who do not question the decision he makes is his best friend, Sli. Tinaye is a Zimbabwean struggling to gain citizenship in South Africa hence his current situation – underpaid and overqualified. The only way to gain citizenship is to marry Grace. But then he meets Sli…

    Men of the South

    135.00
  • Africa Writes Back: The African Writers Series & the Launch of African Literature

    June 17, 2008, is the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart by Heinemann. This publication provided the impetus for the foundation of the African Writers Series in 1962 with Chinua Achebe as the editorial adviser. This narrative, drawing liberally on the correspondence with the authors, concentrates on the adventurous first twenty-five years.

    Africa Writes Back: The African Writer’s Series & the Launch of African Literature captures the energy of literary publishing in a new and undefined field. Portraits of the leading characters and the many consultants and readers providing reports and advice to new and established writers make Africa Writes Back a stand-out book. James Currey’s voice and insights are an added bonus.

  • Harvest of Thorns (African Writers Series)

    The revolution that ended white minority rule in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) is seen here chiefly through the eyes of Benjamin Tichafa, a young guerrilla. He is the son of a devoutly religious couple, his father a government messenger completely subservient to his white superiors. Enraged by the treatment of blacks, a teenage Benjamin turns from his parents’ apolitical religion. After being arrested in a demonstration, he joins the revolution.

    The novel is enriched by the viewpoints of black Rhodesians who, out of fear or for economic reasons, do not fully support the struggle. The slaying of a dictatorial white farm owner dismays his foreman, whose livelihood is now threatened. The fatal beating of a woman who reluctantly informed on the guerrillas raises misgivings in Benjamin’s outfit. Though ultimately portraying the victory as worthwhile, Chinodya also shows the price paid in lives, tattered families and lost traditions. The result is a humane and penetrating look at a brutal government and a bloody revolution.

    Harvest of Thorns is a novel of great significance which will give all those who read it a greater understanding of the road along which Zimbabwe has travelled, as well as indicate many of the directions ahead.

  • The Gonjon Pin and Other Stories: The Caine Prize for African Writing 2014

    The Caine Prize for African Writing 2014 brings together the five shortlisted authors’ stories along with 12 other stories from the best new writers. Insightful, arresting and entertaining – this collection reflects the richness and range of current African writing.

    Caine Prize 2014 Shortlisted Stories:
    Phosphorescence Diane Awerbuck (South Africa)
    Chicken Efemia Chela (Ghana/Zambia)
    The Intervention Tendai Huchu (Zimbabwe)
    The Gorilla’s Apprentice Billy Kahora (Kenya)
    My Father’s Head Okwiri Oduor (Nigeria)

    The Caine Prize African Writers’ Workshop Stories 2014:
    The Lifebloom Gift Abdul Adan (Somalia/Kenya)
    The Gonjon Pin Martin Egblewogbe (Ghana)
    As A Wolf Sweating Your Mother’s Body Clifton Gachagua (Kenya)
    Pam Pam Lawrence Hoba (Zimbabwe)
    Lily in the Moonlight Abubakar Adam Ibrahim (Nigeria)
    Running Elnathan John (Nigeria)
    The Murder of Ernestine Masilo Violet Masilo (Zimbabwe)
    All the Parts of Mi Isabella Matambanadzo (Zimbabwe)
    Blood Work Barbara Mhangami-Ruwende (Zimbabwe)
    The Sonneteer Philani A Nyoni (Zimbabwe)
    Eko Hotel Chinelo Okparanta (Nigeria)
    Music from a Farther Room Bryony Rheam (Zimbabwe)

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