New and Classic Books by African Authors

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My introduction to African literature came by way of my Nigerian father, who insisted I read Chinua Achebe’s classic, Things Fall Apart. He said it showed how Igboland was before the British colonized it. Through some of the cleanest, tightest prose I’ve ever read, I got a sense of what the area was like before colonialism. Since then, I’ve seen works by African authors like Akwaeke Emezi and Trevor Noah be read widely, but there is a whole of African authors who are being slept on, which is why the 23rd task for our Read Harder Challenge is to Read a book by an African author.

Below you’ll find the classic that got me started on my journey of reading work by authors from the Motherland, as well as authors from other parts of the continent that I think we should all get into. Many of them are bestselling, award-winning authors who you need to get into ASAP.

One Leg on Earth by ‘Pemi Aguda

After her award-winning collection, Ghostroots: Stories, Aguda

From the National Book Award finalist for Ghostroots comes a Lagos-set debut full of Nigerian folklore and history. Yosoye is a young woman who has just moved to Lagos with the promise of a new life when she realizes she’s pregnant. The pregnancy is good news, since it means she’ll have the chance to finally feel love from someone. But there is something haunting the city’s pregnant women. Something that may be stalking Yosoye and is somehow connected to the uncanny deaths in the waters of Lagos.

My Country, Africa: Autobiography of the Black Pasionaria by Andrée Blouin

Andrée Blouin is a name I know many of us Americans have not heard enough of. At one time, she was called the most dangerous woman in Africa for her role in decolonization. She advised the leaders of the Congo, Algeria, Mali, Guinea, and Ghana. She accomplished all this after being abandoned at three and escaping a forced marriage organized by the abusive colonial orphanage that raised her. Her two-year-old son dying from being denied malaria treatment on account of his being partially African sent her on a radicalized path of freedom fighting and activism. I can’t wait to read more about her.

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