Heinemann African Writers Series

Heinemann African Writers Series
African Writers Series colophon, which was intended to look like an Africanised version of Heinemann's windmill logo, as well as incorporating the letters A.W.
Parent companyHeinemann
Founded1962; 62 years ago (1962)
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Key peopleAlan Hill
Chinua Achebe
Van Milne
Keith Sambrook
Aigboje Higo
Henry Chakava
James Currey

The African Writers Series (AWS) is a collection of books written by African novelists, poets and politicians. Published by Heinemann, 359 books appeared in the series between 1962 and 2003.[1]

The series has provided an international audience for many African writers, including Chinua Achebe, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, Steve Biko, Ama Ata Aidoo, Nadine Gordimer, Buchi Emecheta, and Okot p'Bitek.

History

1958 – William Heinemann publishes Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart. 2,000 hardcover copies were printed and sold at a price of 15 shillings. The book receives widespread acclaim.[2][3][4]

1959 – Alan Hill, head of Heinemann's educational department, visits West Africa. He finds that Achebe remains largely unknown in his home country of Nigeria due to the small print run and high price of his first novel.[4]

1960 – Heinemann Educational Books (HEB) is set up as a separate company run by Alan Hill with Tony Beal as his deputy, and begins to publicise Achebe in Africa. They start to receive manuscripts from other African authors. Alan Hill recruits Evan McKay Milne, known as Van Milne, a West Africa specialist. He becomes HEB's Overseas Director.[5][4][6][1]

1961 – Van Milne originates the idea of the African Writers Series. Hill explains that the plan was "to start a paperback series, confined to black African authors; the books were to be attractively designed with high quality production, and sold at a very cheap price—as low as 25p at the outset".[6][7]

1962 – Alan Hill, Tony Beal and Van Milne launch the African Writers Series with a paperback edition of Things Fall Apart, followed by Cyprian Ekwensi's Burning Grass, and then Kenneth Kaunda's autobiography Zambia Shall Be Free. Chinua Achebe is appointed Editorial Advisor with a salary of £150 a year. This is increased to £250 in 1967.[5][4][1]

1963 – Van Milne leaves Heinemann and is replaced by Keith Sambrook.[5][8]

1964 – Sambrook is concerned that the early selections for the series will not reach the educational market, particularly after the inclusion of Zambia Shall Be Free. He begins collaborating with African and non-African academics to produce publications that would more clearly meet this aim. The first result is A Book of African Verse edited by Clive Wake and John Reed, teachers at the University College of Rhodesia.[8]

1965 – Aigboje Higo is appointed as manager of HEB Nigeria.[5]

1967 – James Currey is appointed to work with Keith Sambrook to develop the series.[5]

1970 – Henry Chakava is appointed as editor of HEB East Africa and becomes managing director in 1975.[5]

1972 – Chinua Achebe leaves his position following the publication of his short story collection Girls At War as the hundredth book in the series. Sambrook, Currey, Higo and Chakava take over editorial duties collectively with the support of Akin Thomas, editorial director of HEB Nigeria.[5][9]

1983 – Heinemann Group is taken over for the first time and goes through a series of takeovers in the coming years.[5]

1984 – James Currey steps down after new management reduces new publications to only one or two a year. Of the 270 titles in the series, 15 are put out of print.[5]

1986 – the series is relaunched by Vicky Unwin, who targets the western academic market due to the drop in spending in the African educational market.[10]

1988 – Keith Sambrook steps down.[5]

1992 – Caroline Avens begins to oversee the series, reducing the backlist and starting to publish more new authors.[11]

1993 – Adewale Maja-Pearce appointed general editor.[12]

1994 – Abdulrazak Gurnah appointed as editorial advisor.[12]

2002 – Only 70 of the more than 300 titles in the series remain in print.[5]

2003 – Heinemann announces no new titles will be added to the series. By 2008, only 64 titles remain in print.[5]

Content

The African Writers Series reissued paperback editions of works previously only available as more expensive hardbacks, translated books that had been published in other languages, and published the first works of unknown writers.

The decision to reissue paperback editions of English-language hardbacks followed the early success of Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart and continued for many years. However, it became clear very quickly that there were not enough works in English, so translations began to be made from French of works by Ferdinand Oyono, Mongo Beti and others. This was followed by translations from Portuguese, Zulu, Swahili, Acholi, Sesotho, Afrikaans, Luganda, and Arabic.[13][14]

At the same time, they published new authors. This started with Ngũgĩ, who helped to expand the reach of the series into East Africa.[15]

This approach provided opportunities for authors from across most of Africa. More than 80 titles published in the series were by Nigerian writers, who were followed by South Africans, Kenyans, Ghanaians, and Zimbabweans. In the first two decades, nearly all were men and it was only in the 1990s that books by women began to appear regularly. Some exceptions to this are early books by Flora Nwapa and Buchi Emecheta.[1]

Novels would make up the bulk of the series, but it extended to poetry, anthologies, short stories, autobiographies, drama, non fiction, and oral traditions.[1]

Design

Six AWS covers, showing the shift in design from 1962 to 1993

Between 1962 and 1986, all the books in the African Writers Series were colour-coded: orange for fiction, blue for non-fiction, and green for poetry and drama. While this highlighted the different genres, all books in the series during this period were numbered to give a clear indication that they belonged to a collection of works by African writers.[16]

Some evolution in cover design did take place during these years. Between 1962 and 1965 a heavy black band was featured at the top of the covers, with a black-and-white illustration below. The black was then replaced by a solid orange block. Later a colophon was added that was intended to look like an Africanised version of Heinemann's windmill logo. In 1971, George Hallett was employed to produce cover photography, which began to replace the use of illustrations.[17]

In 1986, the design was changed to appeal more in western markets. Orange was replaced by a white background with a boxed abstract image. In 1993, it was changed again to incorporate full-colour images.[16]

Reception

The African Writers Series includes five winners of the Nobel Prize for Literature: Wole Soyinka (1986), Naguib Mahfouz (1988), Nadine Gordimer (1991), Doris Lessing (2007), and Abdulrazak Gurnah (2021). Books in the series have also won the Commonwealth Prize, the NOMA Award for African Writing, the Caine Prize for African Writing, and Guardian Fiction Prize. In 2002, at a celebration of Africa's 100 Best Books of the Twentieth Century, Heinemann was given a prize, as 12 of the titles chosen were from the series.[18]

Bibliography

A definitive bibliography of the series was prepared by Nourdin Bejjit as part of his PhD research at the Open University and included in James Currey's book-length treatment of the series, with some additional information from Heinemann.[19]

Number Author Year Title
1 Achebe, Chinua 1962 Things Fall Apart
2 Ekwensi, Cyprian 1962 Burning Grass: a story of the Fulani of Northern Nigeria. Illustrated by A. Folarin; cover drawing by Dennis Duerden.
3 Achebe, Chinua 1963 No Longer at Ease. Illustrated by Bruce Onobrakpeya.
4 Kaunda, Kenneth D. 1962 Zambia Shall Be Free: an autobiography
5 Ekwensi, Cyprian 1963 People of the City. Revised edition. (Originally published London: Dakers, 1954.)
6 Abrahams, Peter 1963 Mine Boy. Illustrated by Ruth Yudelowitz. (London: Crisp, 1946; London: Faber, 1954; New York: Knopf, 1955.)
7 Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o (as Ngugi, James) 1964 Weep Not, Child
8 Reed, John, Wake, Clive, eds 1964 A Book of African Verse. Later edition published (1984) as New Book of African Verse.
9 Rive, Richard, ed. 1964 Modern African Prose. An anthology compiled and edited by Richard Rive. Illustrated by Albert Adams. Contributions by Peter Abrahams, Chinua Achebe, Es'kia Mphahlele, Abioseh Nicol, Richard Rive, Alfred Hutchinson, Efua Sutherland, Jonathan Kariara, Peter Clarke, Luis Bernardo Honwana, Jack Cope, Cyprian Ekwensi, Amos Tutuola, Camara Laye, James Matthews, Alf Wannenburgh, William Conton, Onuora Nzekwu, and Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o.
10 Equiano, Olaudah 1967 Equiano's Travels: His Autobiography; The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa the African. Abridged and edited by Paul Edwards
11 Aluko, T. M. 1965 One Man, One Matchet
12 Conton, William 1964 The African. (Previously published London: Heinemann, 1960. Boston: Little Brown, 1960.)
13 Beti, Mongo 1964 Mission to Kala: a novel. Translated by Peter Green from the French novel Mission terminée (1957). US edition (New York, Macmillan) published as Mission Accomplished.
14 Rive, Richard, ed. 1963 Quartet: New Voices from South Africa. Short stories by Alex La Guma, James Matthews, Richard Rive and Alf Wannenburgh.
15 Cook, David 1965 Origin East Africa: a Makerere anthology devised and edited by David Cook. Prose and verse.
16 Achebe, Chinua 1965 Arrow of God
17 Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o (as Ngugi, James) 1965 The River Between
18 Obotunde Ijimere 1966 The Imprisonment of Obatala, and other plays.
19 Ekwensi, Cyprian 1966 Lokotown and Other Stories.
20 Gatheru, Mugo 1966 Child of Two Worlds.
21 Munonye, John 1966 The Only Son.
22 Peters, Lenrie 1966 The Second Round.
23 Beier, Ulli, ed. 1966 The Origin of Life and Death: African creation myths.
24 Kachingwe, Aubrey 1966 No Easy Task.
25 Amadi, Elechi 1966 The Concubine. Heinemann: London.
26 Nwapa, Flora 1966 Efuru.
27 Selormey, Francis 1967 The Narrow Path.
28 Cook, David, Lee, Miles, eds 1968 Short East African Plays in English: Ten plays in English.
29 Oyono, Ferdinand 1966 Houseboy. Translated by John Reed from the French Une vie de boy
30 Aluko, T. M. 1967 One Man, One Wife.
31 Achebe, Chinua 1966 A Man of the People. (Originally published: Nigerian Printing and Publishing, 1959.)
32 Aluko, T. M. 1967 Kinsman and Foreman
33 Samkange, Stanlake 1967 On Trial for my Country
34 Pieterse, Cosmo, ed. 1968 Ten One-Act Plays. Includes "Encounter" by Kuldip Sondhi; "Yon Kon" by Pat Maddy; "The Game" by Femi Euba; "Blind Cyclos" by Ime Ikeddeh; "With Strings' by Kuldip Sondhi; "The Deviant" by Ganesh Bagchi; "Fusane's Trial" by Alfred Hutchinson; "The Opportunity" by Arthur Maimane; "Maama" by Kwesi Kay; and "The Occupation" by Athol Fugard
35 La Guma, Alex 1967 A Walk in the Night and other stories.
36 Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o (as Ngugi, James) 1967 A Grain of Wheat.
37 Peters, Lenrie 1967 Satellites
38 Oginga Odinga 1967 Not Yet Uhuru: the autobiography of Oginga Odinga. With a foreword by Kwame Nkrumah.
39 Oyono, Ferdinand 1969 The Old Man and the Medal. Translated by John Reed from the French Le vieux nègre et la médaille.
40 Konadu, Asare 1967 A Woman in Her Prime
41 Djoleto, Amu 1968 The Strange Man.
42 Awoonor, Kofi and Adali-Mortty, G. 1970 Messages: Poems from Ghana.
43 Armah, Ayi Kwei 1969 The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born. (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1968.)
44 Amadi, Elechi 1969 The Great Ponds.
45 Munonye, John 1969 Obi.
46 Brutus, Dennis 1968 Letters to Martha: and other poems from a South African prison.
47 Salih, Tayeb 1969 The Wedding of Zein, and other stories. London; printed in Malta: HEB, 1969. Translated by Denys Johnson-Davies from the Arabic, and illustrated by Ibrahim Salahi.
48 Gbadamosi, Bakare; Beier, Ulli 1968 Not Even God Is Ripe Enough. Translated from the Yoruba
49 Nkrumah, Kwame 1968 Neo-colonialism: the last stage of imperialism. (Originally published London: Nelson, 1965)
50 Clark, J. P. 1968 America: Their America. London: HEB in association with Andre Deutsch. (Originally published London: Deutsch, 1964.)
51 Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o (as Ngugi, James) 1968 The Black Hermit.
52 Sellassie, B. M. Sahle 1969 The Afersata: an Ethiopian novel. London: HEB.
53 Palangyo, Peter K. 1968 Dying in the Sun. 136pp
54 Serumaga, Robert 1970 Return to the Shadows.
55 Konadu, Asare 1969 Ordained by the Oracle. 160 pp. Originally published as Come Back Dora, Accra: Anowuo Educational Publ.
56 Nwapa, Flora 1970 Idu.
57 Dipoko, Mbella Sonne 1969 Because of Women.
58 Beier, Ulli, ed. 1969 Political Spider: an anthology of stories from "Black Orpheus".
59 Asare, Bediako 1971 Rebel.
60 Honwana, Luís Bernardo 1969 We Killed Mangy Dog and Other Stories. Translated from the Portuguese by Dorothy Guedes.
61 Umeasiegbu, Rems Nna 1969 The Way We Lived: Ibo customs and stories.
62 Okigbo, Christopher 1971 Labyrinths. With Path of Thunder.
63 Ousmane, Sembene 1970 God's Bits of Wood. Translated by Francis Price.
64 Pieterse, Cosmo, ed. 1971 7 South African Poets: poems of exile. Collected and selected by Cosmo Pieterse.
66 Salih, Tayeb 1969 Season of Migration to the North. Translated by Denys Johnson-Davies from the Arabic Mawsim al-hijrah ilā al-shamāl.
67 Nwankwo, Nkem 1970 Danda. (Originally published London: Deutsch, 1964)
68 Okara, Gabriel 1970 The Voice. Introduction by Arthur Ravenscroft. (Originally published London: Deutsch, 1964)
69 Liyong, Taban lo 1969 Fixions, and other stories.
70 Aluko, T. M. 1970 Chief, The Honourable Minister.
71 Senghor, Léopold Sédar 1969 Nocturnes. Translated by John Reed and Clive Wake from the French.
72 U'tamsi, Felix 1970 Selected Poems. Translated by Gerald Moore from the French.
73 Ortzen, Len, ed. 1970 North African Writing. Selected, translated, and with an introduction by Len Ortzen.
74 Liyong, Taban lo, ed. 1970 Eating Chiefs: Lwo culture from Lolwe to Malkal. Selected, interpreted and transmuted by Taban lo Liyong.
75 Knappert, Jan 1970 Myths and Legends of the Swahili.
76 Soyinka, Wole 1970 The Interpreters. With introduction and notes by Eldred Jones. London: Heinemann. (Originally published London: Deutsch, 1965.)
77 Beti, Mongo 1970 King Lazarus: a novel. Translated from the French Le roi miraculé (French version originally published Editions Buchet, 1958.)
78 Pieterse, Cosmo 1972 Short African plays. Including: "Ancestral Power" by Kofi Awoonor; "Magic Pool" by Kuldip Sondhi; "God's Deputy" by Sanya Dosunmu; "Resurrection" by Richard Rive; "Life Everlasting" by Pat Amadu Maddy; "Lament" by Kofi Awoonor; "Ballad of the Cells" by Cosmo Pieterse; "Overseas" by Mbella Sonne Dipoko; "This Time Tomorrow" by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o; "Episodes of an Easter Rising" by David Lytton
79 Chraibi, Driss 1972 Heirs to the Past. Translated by Len Ortzen from the French.(Succession ouverte originally published Paris: Denoël, 1962.)
80 Farah, Nuruddin 1970 From a Crooked Rib.
81 Mboya, Tom 1970 The Challenge of Nationhood: a collection of speeches and writings. Foreword by H. E. Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, and postscript by Pamela Mboya.
82 Dipoko, Mbella Sonne 1970 A Few Nights and Days. (Originally published, Harlow: Longmans, 1966.)
83 Knappert, Jan 1971 Myths and Legends of the Congo. Nairobi: HEB.
84 Ekwensi, Cyprian 1971 Beautiful Feathers. (Originally published London: Hutchinson, 1963)
85 Onuora Nzekwu 1971 Wand of Noble Wood.
86 Bebey, Francis 1971 Agatha Moudio's Son. Translated by Joyce A. Hutchinson from the French Le fils d'Agatha Moudio.
87 Dadié, Bernard B. 1971 Climbié. Translated by Karen C. Chapman from the French.
88 Beti, Mongo 1971 The Poor Christ of Bomba. Translated by Gerald Moore from the French Le pauvre Christ de Bombay. (Original French edition published 1956.)
89 Maddy, Pat Amadu 1971 Obasai and other plays.
90 Liyong, Taban lo 1971 Frantz Fanon's Uneven Ribs: poems more and more.
91 Nzekwu, Onuora 1972 Blade Among the Boys. (Originally published London: Hutchinson, 1962.)
92 Ousmane, Sembène 1972 The Money-Order; with, White Genesis. Translated by Clive Wake. London: Heinemann. (Translation of Vehi ciosane; ou, Blanche-genèse; suivi du Mandat, Paris: Présence Africaine, 1965.)
93 Knappert, Jan, ed. 1972 A Choice of Flowers. Chaguo la Maua: an anthology of Swahili love poetry. Edited and translated from Swahili by Jan Knappert.
94 Munonye, John 1971 Oil Man of Obange.
95 Ibrahim, Sonallah 1971 The Smell Of It, and other stories. Translated from the Arabic by Denys Johnson-Davies.
96 Cook, David, Rubadiri, David, eds 1971 Poems from East Africa.
97 Mazrui, Ali A. 1971 The Trial of Christopher Okigbo.
98 Mulaisho, Dominic 1971 The Tongue of the Dumb.
99 Ouologuem, Yambo 1971 Bound to Violence. Translated by Ralph Manheim from the French Devoi de violence. (Originally published London: Secker & Warburg, 1971.)
100 Achebe, Chinua 1972 Girls At War and Other Stories.
101 Head, Bessie 1972 Maru.
102 Omotoso, Kole 1971 The Edifice.
103 Peters, Lenrie 1971 Katchikali. Poems.
104 Themba, Can 1972 The Will to Die. Selected by Donald Stuart and Roy Holland.
105 Lubega, Bonnie 1971 The Outcasts.
106 Reed, John, Wake, Clive, eds. 1972 French African verse. With English translations by John Reed & Clive Wake.
107 Dipoko, Mbella Sonne 1972 Black and White in Love: poems.
108 Awoonor, Kofi 1972 This Earth, My Brother. (Originally published Garden City: Doubleday, 1971.)
109 Obiechina, Emmanuel N. 1972 Onitsha Market Literature.
110 La Guma, Alex 1972 In the Fog of the Seasons' End.
111 Angira, Jared 1972 Silent Voices: poems.
112 Vambe, Lawrence 1972 An Ill-Fated People: Zimbabwe before and after Rhodes. (Originally published with a foreword by Doris Lessing, London: Heinemann, 1972.)
113 Mezu, S. Okechukwu 1971 Behind the Rising Sun.
114 Pieterse, Cosmo 1972 Five African Plays.
115 Brutus, Dennis 1973 A Simple Lust: selected poems including Sirens Knuckles Boots; Letters to Martha; Poems from Algiers; Thoughts Abroad.
116 Liyong, Taban lo 1972 Another Nigger Dead: poems.
117 Hakim, Tawfiq al- 1973 Fate of a Cockroach: four plays of freedom. Selected and translated from the Arabic by Denys Johnson-Davies.
118 Amadu, Malum 1972 Amadu's Bundle: Fulani tales of love and djinns. Collected by Malum Amadu; edited by Gulla Kell and translated into English by Ronald Moody.
119 Kane, Hamidou 1972 Ambiguous Adventure. Translated from the French by Katherine Woods. (This translation originally published New York: Walker, 1963. Translation of L'Aventure ambiguë. Paris: Julliard, 1962.)
120 Achebe, Chinua 1970 Beware, Soul Brother. Revised and enlarged edition. London: HEB.
121 Munonye, John 1973 A Wreath for Maidens. [S.I.]: Heinemann
122 Omotoso, Kole 1972 The Combat.
123 Mandela, Nelson 1973 No Easy Walk to Freedom.
124 Dikobe, Modikwe 1973 The Marabi Dance.
125 Worku, Daniachew 1973 The Thirteenth Sun.
126 Cheney-Coker, Syl 1973 Concerto for an Exile: poems.
127 Henderson, Gwyneth, Pieterse, Cosmo, eds 1973 Nine African Plays for Radio.
128 Zwelonke, D. M. 1973 Robben Island.
129 Egudu, Romanus, Nwoga, Donatus, eds 1973 Igbo Traditional Verse. Compiled and translated by Romanus Egudu and Donatus Nwoga. (Originally published 1971 as Poetic Heritage.)
130 Aluko, T. M. 1973 His Worshipful Majesty.
131 Lessing, Doris 1973 The Grass is Singing
132 Bown, Lalage 1973 Two Centuries of African English: a survey and anthology of non-fictional English prose by African writers since 1769.
133 Mukasa, Ham 1975 Sir Apolo Kagwa Discovers Britain. Edited by Taban lo Liyong. (First published in 1904 as Uganda's Katikiro in England.)
134 Henderson, Gwyneth, ed. 1973 African Theatre: eight prize-winning plays for radio. Includes "Make Like Slaves" by Richard Rive; "Station Street" by A. K. Mustapha; "Sweet Scum of Freedom" by J. Singh; "Double Attack" by C. C. Umeh; "Scholarship Woman" by D. Clems; "The Transistor Radio" by K. Tsaro-Wiwa; "Family Spear" by E. N. Zirimu; and "Sign of the Rainbow" by W. Ogunyemi.
135 Maran, René 1973 Batouala. Translated by Barbara Beck and Alexandre Mboukou; introduction by Donald E. Herdeck.
136 Sekyi, Kobina 1974 The Blinkards.
137 Maddy, Yulisa Amadu 1973 No Past, No Present, No Future.
138 Owusu, Martin 1973 The Sudden Return, and other plays.
139 Ruheni, Mwangi 1973 The Future Leaders.
140 Amadi, Elechi 1973 Sunset in Biafra: a civil war diary.
141 Nortje, Arthur 1973 Dead Roots. Poems.
142 Sembène, Ousmane 1974 Tribal Scars and other stories. Translated from the French by Len Ortzen.
143 Mwangi, Meja 1973 Kill Me Quick.
144 Fall, Malick 1973 The Wound. Translated by Clive Wake from the French La plaie.
145 Mwangi, Meja 1974 Carcase for Hounds.
146 Ekwensi, Cyprian 1975 Jagua Nana. (Originally published, London: Hutchinson, 1961.)
147 p'Bitek, Okot 1974 The Horn of My Love.
148 Aniebo, I. N. C. 1974 The Anonymity of Sacrifice.
149 Head, Bessie 1974 A Question of Power. (Originally published London: Davis-Poynter, 1974.)
150 Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o 1975 Secret Lives, and other stories.
151 Mahfouz, Naguib 1975 Midaq Alley. Translated from the Arabic by Trevor Le Gassick.
152 La Guma, Alex 1974 The Stone-Country. (Originally published 1967.)
153 Munonye, John 1975 A Dancer of Fortune. (London: William Heinemann, 1974.)
154 Armah, Ayi Kwei 1974 Fragments.
155 Armah, Ayi Kwei 1974 Why Are We So Blest?: a novel. London: Heinemann.
156 Ruheni, Mwangi 1975 The Minister's Daughter.
157 Kayper-Mensah, A. W. 1975 The Drummer in Our Time.
158 Kahiga, Samuel 1974 The Girl From Abroad.
159 Mvungi, Martha 1975 Three Solid Stones.
160 Mwase, George Simeon 1975 Strike a Blow and Die: the classic story of the Chilembwe Rising. Edited and introduced by Robert I. Rotberg.
161 Djoleto, Amu 1975 Money Galore.
162 Kayira, Legson 1974 The Detainee. London: Heinemann.
163 Sellassie, B. M. Sahle 1974 Warrior King.
164 Royston, Robert 1974 Black Poets in South Africa.
165 Etherton, Michael, ed. 1975 African Plays for Playing. Plays by Nuwa Sentongo, Jacob Hevi & Segun Ajibade. Selected and edited by Michael Etherton. London: Heinemann.
166 De Graft, Joe 1975 Beneath the Jazz and Brass.
167 Rabearivelo, Jean-Joseph 1975 Translations from the Night: selected poems of Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo. Edited with English translations by Clive Wake and John Reed.
168 Echewa, T. Obinkaram 1976 The Land's Lord.
169 Samkange, Stanlake 1975 The Mourned One.
170 Mungoshi, Charles 1975 Waiting for the Rain.
171 Soyinka, Wole, ed. 1975 Poems of Black Africa. Edited and introduced by Wole Soyinka. London: Heinemann.
172 Ekwensi, Cyprian 1975 Restless City and Christmas Gold. London: Heinemann.
173 Nwankwo, Nkem 1975 My Mercedes is Bigger Than Yours.
174 Diop, David Mandessi 1975 Hammer Blows. Translated from the French and edited by Simon Mpondo and Frank Jones. London: Heinemann.
175 Ousmane, Sembène 1976 Xala. Translated from the French by Clive Wake. As Xala: roman, Paris: Présence Africaine, 1973.
176 Mwangi, Meja 1976 Going Down River Road.
177 Gordimer, Nadine 1976 Some Monday for Sure.
178 Peteni, R. L. 1976 Hill of Fools.
179 Etherton, Michael (ed.) 1976 African Plays for Playing 2. Includes Monkey on the tree by Uwa Udensi, Black mamba two by Godfrey Kabwe Kasoma and The tradedy of Mr. No-balance by Victor Eleame Musinga.
180 Senghor, Léopold Sédar 1976 Prose and Poetry. Selected and translated from French by John Reed and Clive Wake.
181 Beti, Mongo 1978 Perpetua and the Habit of Unhappiness. Translated by Clive Wake and John Reed from the French Perpétue et l'habitude du malheur (originally published Paris: Editions Buchet-Chastel, 1974).
182 Head, Bessie 1977 The Collector of Treasures.
183 Okara, Gabriel 1978 The Fisherman's Invocation.
184 Farah, Nuruddin 1976 A Naked Needle.
185 Ekwensi, Cyprian 1976 Survive the Peace.
186 Boateng, Yaw M. 1977 The Return.
187 Rugyendo, Mukotani 1977 Barbed Wire and Other Plays.
188 Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o 1977 Petals of Blood.
189 Iroh, Eddie 1976 Forty-eight Guns for the General
190 Samkange, Stanlake 1978 Year of the Uprising
191 Thiong'o, Ngũgĩ wa & Mugo, Micere Githae 1976 The Trial of Dedan Kimathi
192 Jahadmy, Ali A. (ed.) 1977 Anthology of Swahili Poetry. Parallel Swahili text and English translation. Selected and translated by Ali A. Jahadmy.
193 p'Bitek, Okot 1978 Hare and Hornbill. Compiled and translated from the Acholi by Okot p'Bitek. London: Heinemann.
194 Armah, Ayi Kwei 1979 The Healers: an historical novel.
195 Munonye, John 1978 Bridge to a Wedding. London: Heinemann.
196 Johnson-Davies, Denys (ed.) 1978 Egyptian short stories. Includes "House of flesh" by Yusuf Idris, "Grandad Hasan" by Yahya Taher Abdullah, "Within the walls" by Edward El-Kharrat, "The performer" by Ibrahim Aslan, "The whistle" by Abdul Hakim Kassem, "Suddenly it rained" by Baha Taher, "The man who saw the sole of his left foot in a cracked mirror" by Lutfi Al-Khouli, "A conversation from the third floor" by Mohamed El-Bisatie, "Yusuf Murad Morcos" by Nabil Gorgy, "The conjurer made off with the dish" by Naguib Mahfouz, "The accusation" by Suleiman Fayyad, "A place under the dome" by Abdul Rahman Fahmy, "The country boy" by Yusuf Sibai, "The snake" by Sonallah Ibrahim, "The crush of life" by Yusuf Sharouni, "A story from prison" by Yahya Hakki & "The child and the king" by Gamil Atia Ibrahim.
197 Mahfouz, Naguib 1978 Miramar. Edited and revised by Maged el Kommos and John Rodenbeck; introduced by John Fowles.
198 Cabral, Amilcar 1979 Unity and Struggle: speeches and writings. Texts selected by the PAIGC; translated from Portuguese by Michael Wolfers.
199 Sassine, Williams 1980 Wirriyamu. Translated from the French by John Reed and Clive Wake.
200 Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o 1982 Devil on the Cross.
201 Plaatje, Sol T. 1978 Mhudi: an epic of South African native life a hundred years ago. (New York: Negro Univ. Press, 1970; Johannesburg: Quagga Press, Ad. Donker, 1975; London: Rex Collings, 1976; Washington, DC: Three Continents Press, 1978).
202 Vieira, José Luandino 1978 The Real Life of Domingos Xavier. Translated from the Portuguese by Michael Wolfers.
203 Njau, Rebeka 1978 Ripples in the Pool. (Nairobi: Transafrica, 1975.)
204 Mulaisho, Dominic 1979 The Smoke that Thunders
205 Bebey, Francis 1978 The Ashanti Doll. Translated from the French by Joyce A. Hutchinson.
206 Aniebo, I. N. C. 1978 The Journey Within.
207 Marechera, Dambudzo 1978 The House of Hunger.
208 Brutus, Dennis 1978 Stubborn Hope: new poems and selections. London: Heinemann.
209 Idris, Yusuf 1978 The Cheapest Nights, and other stories. Translated from the Arabic by Wadida Wassef.
210 Amadi, Elechi 1978 The Slave.
211 Kunene, Mazisi 1979 Emperor Shaka the great: a Zulu epic. Translated from the Zulu by the author.
212 La Guma, Alex 1979 Time of the Butcherbird. (Heinemann, 1979)
213 Iroh, Eddie 1979 Toads of War.
214 Beti, Mongo 1980 Remember Ruben. Translated from the French by Gerald Moore. (Originally published Ibadan: New Horn, 1980.)
215 Wolfers, Michael (ed.) 1979 Poems from Angola. Selected, translated and introduced by Michael Wolfers.
216 Yirenkyi, Asiedu 1980 Kivuli and other plays.
217 Biko, Steve 1979 I Write What I Like: a selection of his writings. Edited by Aelred Stubbs.
218 Armah, Ayi Kwei 1979 Two Thousand Seasons. London: Heinemann.
219 Kenyatta, Jomo 1979 Facing Mount Kenya: the traditional life of the Gikuyu. With an introduction by B. Malinowski. (Originally published London: Secker and Warburg, 1938.)
220 Head, Bessie 1981 Serowe: Village of the Rain Wind.
221 Cheney-Coker, Syl 1980 The Graveyard Also Has Teeth, with Concerto for an Exile: poems. London: Heinemann.
222 Vieira, José Luandino 1980 Luuanda. Translated from the Portuguese by Tamara L. Bender. London: Heinemann.
223 Ghanem, Fathy 1980 The Man who Lost his Shadow: a novel in four books. Translated from the Arabic by Desmond Stewart.
224 Kente, Gibson (ed.) 1981 South African People's Plays. Includes uNosilimela by Credo V. Mutwa, Shanti by Mthuli Shezi, Too Late by Gibson Kente & Survival by the Workshop '71 Theatre Company.
225 Mahfouz, Naguib 1981 Children of Gebelawi.
226 Farah, Nuruddin 1980 Sweet and Sour Milk. (Originally published London: Allison & Busby, 1979.)
227 Emecheta, Buchi 1979 The Joys of Motherhood. (Originally published London: Allison and Busby, 1979.)
228 Hussein, Taha 1981 An Egyptian Childhood: the autobiography of Taha Hussein. Translated by E. H. Paxton.
229 Mofolo, Thomas 1981 Chaka: an historical romance. New translation by Daniel P. Kunene. Originally translated from the Sesuto by F. H. Dutton, London & New York: OUP, 1967.
230 Feinberg, Barry (ed.) 1980 Poets to the People: South African Freedom Poems.
231 Jumbam, Kenjo 1980 White Man of God.
232 Johnson-Davies, Denys (ed.) 1981 Egyptian One-act Plays. Selected and translated from the Arabic by Denys Johnson-Davies. Includes The interrogation by Farid Kamil, The Trap by Alfred Farag, Marital bliss by Abdel-Moneim Selim, The Wheat Well by Ali Salem, and The Donkey Market by Tewfik al-Hakim.
233 Nyamfukudza, S. 1980 The Non-Believer's Journey; 128 pp.
234 Kunene, Mazisi 1981 Anthem of the Decades: a Zulu epic. Translated from Zulu by the author.
235 Kunene, Mazisi 1982 The Ancestors and the Sacred Mountain: poems. Translated from Zulu.
236 Mapanje, Jack 1981 Of Chameleons and Gods; 80 pp.
237 Marechera, Dambudzo 1980 Black Sunlight.
238 Peters, Lenrie 1981 Selected Poetry; 160 pp.
239 Kourouma, Ahmadou 1981 The Suns of Independence. Translated from the French Les soleils des independances by Adrian Adams.
240 Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o 1981 Detained: A Writers Prison Diary
241 Akare, Thomas 1981 The Slums.
242 Aluko, T. M. 1982 Wrong Ones in the Dock. London: Heinemann.
243 Mutloatse, Mothobi (ed.) 1981 Africa South: contemporary writings.
244 Ya-Otto, John with Ole Gjerstad and Michael Mercer 1982 Battlefront Namibia: an autobiography
245 NEVER ASSIGNED.[20]
246 Thiong'o, Ngũgĩ wa 1982 I Will Marry When I Want.
247 Head, Bessie 1987 When Rain Clouds Gather
248 Bâ, Mariama 1981 So long a letter. Translated from the French Si longue lettre by Modupé Bodé-Thomas.
249 Obasanjo, Olusegun 1981 My Command: An Account of the Nigerian Civil War, 1967-1970.
250 Ousmane, Sembène 1981 The Last of the Empire.
251 Lewin, Hugh 1981 Bandiet: seven years in a South African prison.
252 Farah, Nuruddin 1982 Sardines. (Originally published London: Allison & Busby, 1981.)
253 Aniebo, I. N. C. 1983 Of Wives, Talismans, and the Dead: short stories. Arranged by Willfred F. Feuser. London; Exeter, N.H.: Heinemann.
254 Scanlon, Paul A. (ed.) 1983 Stories from central and southern Africa. Includes "Beggar my neighbour" by Dan Jacobson, "Kwashiorkor" by Can Themba, "About a girl who met a dimo" by Susheela Curtis, "Hajji Musa and the Hindu fire-walker" by Ahmed Essop, "The sisters" by Pauline Smith, "Tselane and the giant" by B. L. Leshoai, "Johannesburg, Johannesburg" by Nathaniel Nakasa, "Coming of the dry season" by Charles Mungoshi, "A soldier's embrace" by Nadine Gordimer, "Witchcraft" by Bessie Head, "The old woman" by Luis B. Honwana, "Dopper and Papist" by Herman C. Bosman, "The dishonest chief" by Ellis Singano and A. A. Roscoe, "The Soweto bride" by Mbulelo Mzamane, "A sunrise on the veld" by Doris Lessing, "The soldier without an ear" by Paul Zeleza, "Riva" by Richard Rive, "Sunlight in Trebizond Street" by Alan Paton, "The Christmas reunion" by Dambudzo Marechera, "The king of the waters" by A. C. Jordan, "Power" by Jack Cope, and "In corner B" by Es'kia (Zeke) Mphahlele.
255 Iroh, Eddie 1982 The Siren in the Night.
256 Bruner, Charlotte H. (ed.) 1983 Unwinding Threads: writing by women in Africa.
257 Calder, Angus, Jack Mapanje & Cosmo Peterse 1983 Summer Fires: new poetry of Africa.
258 Pheto, Molefe 1985 And Night Fell: Memoirs of a Political Prisoner in South Africa. (Originally published London: Allison & Busby, 1983.)
259 NEVER PUBLISHED "A volume called This is the Time was advertised as No. 259, but no such volume exists in any of the library catalogues we consulted. Research in the AWS archive at Reading University reveals that this was a projected anthology of Central and Southern African poetry, which was instead published as When My Brothers Come Home: Poems from Central and Southern Africa, edited by Frank M. Chipasula (Middleton, Conn.: Wesleyan University Press, 1985)."[20]
260 NEVER PUBLISHED "Kofi Awoonor's Until the Morning After: Collected Poems 1963-1985 was to have been AWS number 260, but was apparently withdrawn by the author and instead published by Greenfield Review Press, New York, in 1987."[20]
261 Anyidoho, Kofi 1984 A Harvest of our Dreams, with Elegy for the Revolution: poems.
262 Nagenda, John 1986 The Seasons of Thomas Tebo.
263 Serote, Mongane 1983 To Every Birth its Blood.
264 De Graft, Joe 1977 Muntu.
265 NEVER ASSIGNED.[20]
266 p'Bitek, Okot 1984 Song of Lawino: &, Song of Ocol. Translated from the Acholi by Okot p'Bitek. Introduction by G. A. Heron; illustrations by Frank Horle. London: Heinemann.
267 Idrīs, Yūsuf 1984 Rings of Burnished Brass.
268 Sepamia, Sepho 1981 A Ride on the Whirlwind: a novel.
269 Pepetela 1984 Mayombe.
270 Achebe, Chinua, & C. L. Innes (eds) 1985 African Short Stories. Includes "The false prophet" by Sembene Ousmane, "Certain winds from the south" by Ama Ata Aidoo, "The apprentice" by Odun Balogun, "The will of Allah" by David Owoyele, "Civil peace" by Chinua Achebe, "The gentlemen of the jungle" by Jomo Kenyatta, "The green leaves" by Grace Ogot, "Bossy" by Abdulrazak Gurnah, "The spider's web" by Leonard Kibera, "Minutes of glory" by Ngugi wa Thiong'o, "An incident in the Ghobashi household" by Alifa Rifaat, "A handful of dates" by Tayeb Salih, "A conversation from the third floor" by Mohamed El-Bisatie, "Papa, snake & I" by B. L. Honwana, "The bridegroom" by Nadine Gordimer, "The betrayal" by Ahmed Essop, "Protista" by Dambudzo Marechera, "The coffee-cart girl" by Ezekiel Mphahlele, "Snapshots of a wedding" by Bessie Head, and "Reflections in a cell" by Mafika Gwala.
unnumbered Rifaat, Alifa 1985 Distant View of a Minaret.
unnumbered Amadi, Elechi 1986 Estrangement.
unnumbered Echewa, T Obinkaram 1986 The Crippled Dancer
unnumbered Sembene, Ousmane 1987 Black Docker
unnumbered Rive, Richard 1987 Buckingham Palace, District 6
unnumbered Lopes, Henri 1987 Tribaliks
unnumbered Tambo, Oliver 1987 Oliver Tambo Speaks: Preparing for Power
unnumbered Achebe, Chinua 1988 Anthills of the Savanna
unnumbered Karodia, Farida 1988 Coming Home and Other Stories, includes "Coming Home", "Something in the Air", "The Necklace", "Cardboard Mansions", "Ntombi", "iGoldi", "The Worlds According to Mrs Angela Ramsbotham", "Seeds of Discontent", "The Woman in Green"
unnumbered Wangusa, Timothy 1989 Upon This Mountain
unnumbered Mungoshi, Charles 1989 The Setting Sun and the Rolling World
unnumbered Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o 1989 Matigari
unnumbered Vassanji, M. G. 1989 The Gunny Sack
unnumbered Laing, Kojo 1989 Godhorse
unnumbered Zimuya, Musaemura, Porter, Peter, Anyidoho, Kofi (eds) 1989 The Fate of Vultures, contributions by Afam Akeh, Gichora Mwangi, Ama Asantewa Ababio, Alex Agyei-Agyiri, Funso Aiyejina, Richard Afari Baafour, Biyi Bandele-Thomas, Philip Bateman, Charles Agboola Bodunde, John Murray Coates, James Putsch Commey, Jonathan Cumming, Achmat Dangor, Kofi Dondo, Patrick Ebewo, Godwin Ede, Ezenwa-Ohaeto, Bode-Law Faleyimu, Francis Faller, Femi Fatoba, Henry Garuba, Arthur K. de Graft-Rosenior, Martin Gwete, Chenjerai Hove, Esiaba Irobi, Frederick Bobor James, Beverley Jansen, Wumi Kaji, Ken N. Kamoche, Lawrence Karanja, Kolosa Kargbo, Boyo Lawal, Masango Lisongwe, Don Mattera, Zondi Mbano, Bennet Leboni, Buti Moleko, Lupenga Mphande, Edison Mpina, Fekessa Mwada, Crispin Namane, Valerie Nkomeshya, Pheroze Nowrojee, Silas Obadiah, Walter Odame, Tanure Ojaide, Felicity Atuki Okoth, Isi Omoifo, Thembile ka Pepeteka, Sobhna Keshval Poona, Kofi Sam, Gloria Sandak-Lewin, Erasmus Elikplim Forster Senaye, Sam Ukal, Michael Andrew Wakabi, Timothy Wangusa, Willie T. Zingani
unnumbered Mahjoub, Jamal 1989 Navigation of a Rainmaker
unnumbered Hove, Chenjerai 1990 Bones
unnumbered Cheney-Coker, Syl 1990 The Last Harmattan of Alusine Dunbar
unnumbered Chinodya, Shimmer 1990 Harvest of Thorns
unnumbered Couto, Mia 1990 Voices Made Night
unnumbered Gool, Reshard 1990 Cape Town Coolie
unnumbered Head, Bessie 1990 A Woman Alone
unnumbered Head, Bessie 1990 Tales of Tenderness and Power
unnumbered Maja-Pearce, Adewale (ed) 1990 The Heinemann Book of African Poetry in English, contributions by Dennis Brutus, Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye, Christopher Okigbo, Lenrie Peters, Wole Soyinka, Kofi Awoonor, JP Clark Bekederemo, Syl Cheney-Coker, Arthur Nortje, Steve Chimombo, Jack Mapanje, Kojo Laing, Niyi Osundare, Tanure Ojaide, Musaemura Zimunya, Lupenga Mphande, Frank Chipasula, Molara Ogundipe-Leslie, Odia Ofeimun, Catherine  Obianuju Acholonu, Chenjerai Hove, Gabriel Gbadamosi
unnumbered Cheney-Coker, Syl 1990 The Blood in the Desert's Eye
unnumbered Chipasula, Frank M. 1991 Whispers in the Wings
unnumbered Amechi Akwanya 1991 Orimili
unnumbered Gordimer, Nadine 1991 Crimes of Conscience: Selected Short Stories
unnumbered Vassanji, M. G. 1993 Uhuru Street & other Stories, includes  "In the Quiet of a Sunday Afternoon",  "Ali", "Alzira", "The Beggar", "For a Shilling", "The Relief from Drill", "The Driver", "English Lessons", "The Sounds of the Night", "Leaving", "Breaking Loose", "What Good Times We Had", "Ebrahim and the Businessman", "The London-returned", "Refugee", "All Worlds are Possible Now".
unnumbered Ojaide, Tanure 1991 The Blood of Peace and other poems
unnumbered Achebe, C., and C. L. Innes 1992 Book of Contemporary African Short Stories
unnumbered Osundare, Niyi 1992 Selected Poems
unnumbered Mwangi, Ursula 1992 Striving for the Wind
unnumbered Laing, Kojo 1992 Major Gentl and Achimota Wars
unnumbered Bandele-Thomas, Biyi 1992 The Man Who Came In From The Back Of Beyond
unnumbered Ousmane, Sembene 1992 Niiwam and Taaw
unnumbered Hove, Chenjerai 1992 Shadows
unnumbered Zeleza, Tiyambe 1992 Smouldering Charcoal
unnumbered Tuma, Hama 1993 The Case of the Socialist Witchdoctor and other stories  includes  "By Way of a Prologue", "The Case of the Illiterate Saboteur", "The Case of the Valliant Torturer",  "The Case of the Criminal Thought", "The Case of the Queue Breaker", "The Case of the Treacherous Alphabet", "The Case of the Professor of Insanity", "The Case of the Closet Racist", "The Case of the Presumptuous Novelist", "The Case of the Prison-Mongerer", "The Case of the Incurable Hedonist", "Vendetta", "Betrayal", "It happened in Russia", "Death of a Renegade", "Tales of the Highway Fire", "The Professional", "The Zar Who Liked Human Liver", "In 'The Bar of No Surprises'", "Ten on the Terror Scale", "The Waldiba Story", "Madman, Killer, Saint, You".
unnumbered Bandele-Thomas, Biyi 1993 The Sympathetic Undertaker and Other Dreams
unnumbered Jacobs, Steve 1993 Under the Lion
unnumbered Botha, W. P. B. 1993 The Reluctant Playwright
unnumbered Karodia, Farida 1993 A Shattering of Silence
unnumbered Bruner, Charlotte (ed) 1993 African Women's Writing, including contributions from Catherine Obianuju Acholonu, Ifeoma Okoye, Zaynab Alkali, Orlanda Amarilis, Aminata Maiga Ka, Awuor Ayoda, Violet Dias Lannoy, Daisy Kabagarama, Lina Magaia, Ananda Devi, Tsitsi Dangarembga, Bessie Head, Jean Marquard, Zoe Wicomb, Sheila Fugard, Farida Karodia, Nawal el Sadaawi, Assia Djebar, Gisele Halimi, Leila Sebbar, Andrée Chedid
unnumbered Mapanje, Jack 1993 The Chattering Wagtails of Mikuyu Prison
unnumbered Mahjoub, Jamal 1994 Wings of Dust
unnumbered Hirson, Denis (ed), with Trump, Martin 1994 South African Short Stories, including contributions from  Njabulo Ndebele, Dugmore Boetie, Ernst Havemann, Jack Cope, Elise Muller, Herman Charles Bosman, Breyten Breytenbach, Ivan Vladislavic, Hennie Aucamp, Etienne van Heerden, Bartho Smit, Can Themba, Bheki Maseko, Mango Tshabangu, Dan Jacobson, Nadine Gordimer, Ahmed Essop, Bessie Head, Christopher Hope, Alan Paton, Zoe Wicomb
unnumbered Emecheta, Buchi 1994 In the Ditch
unnumbered Emecheta, Buchi 1994 Second Class Citizen
unnumbered Emecheta, Buchi 1994 Head above Water
unnumbered Emecheta, Buchi 1994 Gwendolen
unnumbered Emecheta, Buchi 1994 Kehinde
unnumbered Emecheta, Buchi 1994 Destination Biafra
unnumbered Chimombo, Steve 1994 Napolo and the Python
unnumbered Sam, Agnes 1994 Jesus is Indian and other stories, including  "High Heel", "Jesus is Indian", "Poppy", "A Bag of Sweets", "A Well-Loved Woman", "Nana and Devi", "Sunflowers", "Two Women", "Innocents", "The Seed", "Jellymouse", "Maths", "The Story Teller", "And They Christened It Indenture"
unnumbered Couto, Mia 1994 Every Man is a Race
unnumbered Tansi, Sony Lab'ou 1995 The Seven Solitudes of Lorsa Lopes
unnumbered Beyala, Calixthe 1995 Loukoum, or the "Little Prince" of Belville
unnumbered Darko, Amma 1995 Beyond the Horizon
unnumbered Head, Bessie 1995 The Cardinals with Meditations and other stories, including "Earth and Everything", "Africa", "My Home", "A Personal View of the Survival of the Unfittest", "Where is the Hour of the Beautiful Dancing of the Birds in the Sun-Wind?", "Poor man", "Earth Love".
unnumbered Chipasula, Stella, and Frank Chipasula (eds) 1995 African Women's Poetry, includes contributions by Daniele Amrane, Leila Djibali, Ana Greki, Malika O'Lahsen, Queen Hatshepsut,  Andrée Chedid, Malak'Abd al-Aziz, Joyce Mansour, Rachida Madani, Amina Said, Irène Assiba d'Almeida, Ama Ata Aidoo, Abena P. A. Busia, Rashidah Ismaili, Molara Ogunidpe Leslie, Maria Manuela Margrido, Alda do Espirito Santo, Annette Mbaye d'Erneville, Marina Gashe, Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye, Mwana Kupona binti Msham, Micere Githae Mugo, Stella M. Chipasula, Shakuntala Hawoldar, Assumpta Acam-Oturu, Alda Lara, Maria Eugenia Lima, Amélia Veiga, Gwendolen C. Konie, Noemia de Sousa, Jeni Couzyn, Ingrid de Kok, Amelia Blossom Pegram, Ingrid Jonker, Lindiwe Mabuza, Zindzi Mandela, Gcina Mhlophe, Phumzile Zulu, Kristina Rungano
unnumbered Collen, Lindsey 1995 The Rape of Sita
unnumbered Emecheta, Buchi 1995 The Slave Girl
unnumbered Emecheta, Buchi 1995 The Bride Price
unnumbered Jacobs, Steve 1995 The Enemy Within
unnumbered Botha, W. P. B. 1995 Wantok
unnumbered Sobott-Mogwe, Gaele 1995 Colour Me Blue, includes "Telling Stories", "Rendering up the Glebe", "Hello, Goodbye", "Jomo", "Five to One", "Motho Fela", "The Road Ahead", "Bahmumagading", "In Confinement", "Hide Them Under The Bed", "The Battle of Jericho", "Colour Me Blue", "Mare", "Smile of Fortune", "Another Little Peace of our Hearts", "Dread", "The Birds in her Garden", "Revenge is Sweet".
unnumbered Beyala, Calixthe 1996 Your Name Shall Be Tanga
unnumbered Beyala, Calixthe 1996 The Sun Hath Looked Upon Me
unnumbered Accad, Evelyn 1996 Wounding Words: A Woman's Journal
unnumbered Pepetela 1996 Yaka
unnumbered Mahjoub, Jamal 1996 In the Hour of Signs
unnumbered Jacobs, Rayda 1996 The Eyes of the Sky
unnumbered Botha, W. P. B 1997 A Duty of Memory
unnumbered Darko, Amma 1998 The Housemaid
unnumbered Kanengoni, Alexander 1998 Echoing Siliences
unnumbered King-Aribisala, Karen 1998 Kicking Tongues
unnumbered Kwakye, Benjamin 1998 The Clothes of Nakedness
unnumbered Vera, Yvonne 1999 Opening Spaces: Contemporary African Women's Writing, including contributions by Ama Ata Aidoo, Melissa Tandiwe Myambo, Lindsey Collen, Farida Karodia, Norma Kitson, Veronique Tadjo, Leila Aboulela, Ifeoma Okoye, Lilia Momple, Sindiwe Magona, Chiedza Musengezi, Monde Sifusniso, Gugu Ndlovu, Anna Dao, Milly Jafta
unnumbered Oguine, Ike 2000 A Squatter's Tale
unnumbered Ndibe, Okey 2000 Arrows of Rain
unnumbered Emecheta, Buchi 2000 The New Tribe
unnumbered Sinyangwe, Binwell 2000 A Cowrie of Hope
unnumbered Chinodya, Shimmer 2001 Dew in the Morning
unnumbered Aboulela, Leila 2001 The Translator
unnumbered Andreas, Neshani 2001 The Purple Violet of Oshaantu
unnumbered Momplé, Lilia 2001 Neighbours: the story of a murder
unnumbered Chinodya, Shimmer 2001 Can We Talk and Other Stories,  including "Hoffman Street", "The Man Who Hanged Himself", "Going to See Mr B.V.", "Among the Dead", "Brothers and Sisters", "Snow", "The Waterfall", "Play Your Cards", "Strays", "Bramson", "Can We Talk".
unnumbered Tadjo, Veronique 2001 As the Crow Flies
unnumbered Tadjo, Veronique 2002 The Shadow of Imana: Travels in the Heart of Rwanda
unnumbered Aidoo, Ama Ata 2002 The Girl Who Can and Other Stories, including "Her Hair Politics – a very short story", "Choosing – a moral of the world of work", "The Girls WHO Can", "Comparisons or Who Said a Bird Cannot Aather a Crab?", "Nutty", "She-Who-Would-Be-King (with apology to Rudyard Kipling", "Heavy Moments", "Some Global News - A short-four-voice report", "About the Wedding Feast", "Lice", "Payments", "Male-ing Names in the Sun", "Newly-Opened Doors", "Nowhere Cool".
unnumbered Mapanje, Jack (ed) 2002 Gathering Seaweed: African Prison Writing, including contributions from Kenneth D. Kaunda, Agostinho Neto, Oginga Odinga, Kwame Nkrumah, Jomo Kenyatta, Eddison J. Zvibogo, Felix Mnthali, Steve Biko, Jeremy Cronin, Moncef Marzouki, Ken Saro-Wiwa, Joseph Mwangi Kariuki, Sam Mpasu, Yves Emmanuel Dogbe, Kwame Safo-Adu, Albie Sachs, Dennis Brutus, Jose Craveirinha, Ahmed Fouad Negm, Wole Soyinka, Kofi Awoonor, Ingopapele Madingoane, Fatima Meer, Edison Mpina, Ogaga Ifowodo, Leila Djabali, Obafemi Owolowo, Molefe Pheto, Tshenuwani Simon Farisani, Abdellatif Laabi, Syl Cheney-Coker, Koigi wa Wamwere, Maina wa Kinyatti, Jack Mapanje, Muhammad Afifi Matar, Tahar Djaout, Nelson Mandela, António Jacinto, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, Breyten Breytenbach, Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Caesarina Kona Makhoere, Kunle Ajibade, Tandundu E. A. Bisikisi, Pitika Ntuli, Jaki Seroke, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, Christine Anyanwu, Mzwakhe Mbuli
unnumbered Pepetela 2002 Return of the Water Spirit
Aidoo, Ama Ata 2003 Changes: A Love Story
unnumbered Mengara, Daniel 2003 Mema

[21]

Digitisation and relaunch

In 2005 Chadwyck-Healey Literature Collection began to digitise the series, which was completed in 2009.[citation needed]

It was then relaunched by Pearson Education in 2011, which began reissuing titles from the original list as 'Classics' and a number of new works.[22][23][24]

New titles included:

  • The Purple Violet of Oshaantu by Neshani Andreas (2011)
  • Woman of the Aeroplanes by B. Kojo Laing (2011)
  • Search Sweet Country by B. Kojo Laing (2011)
  • The Lovers by Bessie Head (2011)
  • How Shall We Kill the Bishop and other stories by Lily Mabura (2012)
  • The Grub Hunter by Amir Tag Elsir (2012)
  • Sterile Sky by E. E. Sule (2012)
  • Mindblast by Dambudzo Marechera (2015)

In 2018 Pearson signed a digital license agreement for the series with Digitalback Book.[25]

The relaunched African Writers Series logo, designed by Stephen Embleton Nov 2021

In December 2021, Abibiman Publishing and the James Currey Society in Oxford announced that the series would be relaunched again. The new series will be edited by the James Currey Fellow at Oxford University, Stephen Embleton. Embleton stated: "Our mandate is clear and threefold: build on the legacy of the original African Writers Series, actively seek works written in African languages, and have the writers of this Continent at the helm."[26]

African Writers Series, logo 2021

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Bejjit, Nourdin (2009). The Publishing of African literature: Chinua Achebe, Ngugi wa Thiong'o and the Heinemann African Writers Series 1962 - 1988 (phd thesis). The Open University. doi:10.21954/ou.ro.0000eb1c.
  2. ^ Hill, Alan (1988). In pursuit of publishing. London: J. Murray in association with Heinemann Educational Books. p. 120. ISBN 0-7195-4434-3. OCLC 23769680.
  3. ^ Currey, James (2008). Africa writes back : the African writers series & the launch of African literature. Oxford: James Currey. pp. xxx–xxxi. ISBN 978-0-8214-1843-7. OCLC 230198710.
  4. ^ a b c d Bejjit, Nourdin (2019). "Heinemann African Writers Series: History, editorship, and markets". Logos. 30 (1): 14. doi:10.1163/18784712-03001003. ISSN 0957-9656.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Currey, James (2008). Africa writes back : the African writers series & the launch of African literature. Oxford: James Currey. pp. xxx–xxxi. ISBN 978-0-8214-1843-7. OCLC 230198710.
  6. ^ a b Hill, Alan (1971). "The African Writers Series". Research in African Literatures. 2 (1): 18–19. ISSN 0034-5210.
  7. ^ Hill, Alan (1988). In pursuit of publishing. London: J. Murray in association with Heinemann Educational Books. p. 123. ISBN 0-7195-4434-3. OCLC 23769680.
  8. ^ a b Bejjit, Nourdin (6 September 2019). "Heinemann African Writers Series: History, editorship, and markets". Logos. 30 (1): 15. doi:10.1163/18784712-03001003. ISSN 0957-9656.
  9. ^ Bejjit, Nourdin (6 September 2019). "Heinemann African Writers Series: History, editorship, and markets". Logos. 30 (1): 21. doi:10.1163/18784712-03001003. ISSN 0957-9656.
  10. ^ Bejjit, Nourdin (6 September 2019). "Heinemann African Writers Series: History, editorship, and markets". Logos. 30 (1): 22. doi:10.1163/18784712-03001003. ISSN 0957-9656.
  11. ^ Bejjit, Nourdin (6 September 2019). "Heinemann African Writers Series: History, editorship, and markets". Logos. 30 (1): 23. doi:10.1163/18784712-03001003. ISSN 0957-9656.
  12. ^ a b Bejjit, Nourdin (6 September 2019). "Heinemann African Writers Series: History, editorship, and markets". Logos. 30 (1): 24. doi:10.1163/18784712-03001003. ISSN 0957-9656.
  13. ^ Bejjit, Nourdin (6 June 2019). "Heinemann African Writers Series: History, editorship, and markets". Logos. 30 (1): 17–18. doi:10.1163/18784712-03001003. ISSN 0957-9656.
  14. ^ "Heinemann African Writers Series" Archived April 29, 2015, at the Wayback Machine at African Studies Centre, Leiden.
  15. ^ Bejjit, Nourdin (6 June 2019). "Heinemann African Writers Series: History, editorship, and markets". Logos. 30 (1): 20. doi:10.1163/18784712-03001003. ISSN 0957-9656.
  16. ^ a b Bejjit, Nourdin (6 June 2019). "Heinemann African Writers Series: History, editorship, and markets". Logos. 30 (1): 15–24. doi:10.1163/18784712-03001003. ISSN 0957-9656.
  17. ^ "Judged by Its Covers | Josh MacPhee". Lapham's Quarterly. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
  18. ^ Clarke, Becky (2003). "The African Writers Series: Celebrating Forty Years of Publishing Distinction". Research in African Literatures. 34 (2): 164. ISSN 0034-5210.
  19. ^ Currey, James (2008). Africa writes back : the African writers series & the launch of African literature. Oxford: James Currey. pp. 301–310. ISBN 978-0-8214-1843-7. OCLC 230198710.
  20. ^ a b c d Matt Kibble, The Digitisation of the African Writers Series.
  21. ^ James., Currey (2008). Africa writes back : the African writers series & the launch of African literature. Oxford: James Currey. ISBN 9780821418437. OCLC 230198710.
  22. ^ "Pearson revives African Writers Series, calls for submissions". Archived 21 September 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Naija Stories, 4 August 2011.
  23. ^ Norbrook, Nicholas (29 February 2012). "Publishing Africa Writers Series celebrates 50 years". The Africa Report.
  24. ^ "A celebrated selection of literature from Africa" Archived 2014-10-27 at the Wayback Machine, Pearson.
  25. ^ "Digitalback Books acquires a license for the iconic Heinemann African Writers Series!". us15.campaign-archive.com. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  26. ^ "Abibiman Publishing and the James Currey Society are relaunching the African Writers Series. Read our press release and objectives". Twitter. 11 December 2021. Retrieved 27 January 2022.