Read African Books

Henry Chakava: A Pioneer of Indigenous Publishing in Kenya and Africa

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Henry Chakava (1946-2024), often hailed as the “father of Kenyan publishing,” played a pivotal role in shaping the landscape of African literature.This tribute highlights Chakava’s multifaceted legacy, examining his key initiatives and their impact on the publishing industry in Kenya and Africa.

Imprint Africa: Conversations with African Women Publishers

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Imprint Africa: Conversations with African Women Publishers maps an early twenty-first century history of the remarkable women who have pioneered the publishing industry in Africa in the last few decades.

A Malawi Church History

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Is Small Beautiful? Africa’s Independent Book Publishers

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Stephanie Kitchen, David Mills and Anshita Ail

Spring Catalogue 2025

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Take a look at the African books Collective Spring Catalogue 2025

A Bow to Shiraz Durrani: Publishing the Struggle

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Oduor Ong-wen shares his thoughts on the recent retirement of Shiraz Durrani from Vita Books.

African Journals Initiative

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Announcing the launch of the African Journals Initiative Internationalising African social science and humanities journals

The Transformative Potential of Ebooks in African Publishing

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African Books Collective Ebook platform

Congo: A Story in 26 Words by John Stedman

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Review

Basil du Toit

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David Mann, author of Once Removed, interviews award-winning Scottish-South African poet, Basil du Toit about his latest collection of poetry Studies in Khoisan Verbs.

Fall Catalogue 2024

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Take a look at the African Books Collective Fall Catalogue 2024

Anton Krueger

#Interviews

Salimah Valiani interviews Anton Krueger about his poetry collection, Everybody is a Bridge: Poems, Prose-Poems, Notes & Fragments (Botsotso Publishing).

African Arguments Interviews Mkuki Bgoya

#Interviews

Karen Chalamilla, African Arguments, interviews Mkuki Bgoya, publisher at Mkuki na Nyota. 

Samuel Ajibiye

#Interviews

Interview with debut novelist Samuel Ajibiye on his book The Master of Fate (Malthouse Press).

We Can Re-invent Ourselves and Our Future

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Guerrilla Incursions into the Capitalist Mindset

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John Graversgaard reviews Guerrilla Incursions into the Capitalist Mindset by Shiraz Durrani for Countercurrents. 

Tanure Ojaide

#Interviews

Interview with multi-award-winning poet and academic Tanure Ojaide on his new collection History and its True Colors (Spears Media Press).

Windows Into Zimbabwe

#Reviews

Franziska Kramer and Jürgen Kramer share part of their Introduction to the Weaver Press short story collection, Windows into Zimbabwe. 

Cameroonian Book Publishing as ‘Defiant Scholarship’

#Opinion

Stephanie Kitchen presented on ‘Book Publishing and Publishing Collectives in Africa’ at a British Academy Writing Workshop on ‘Defiant Scholarship in Africa’.

Centring Africana Voices in Contemporary Publishing

#Opinion

An opinion piece by Jude Fokwang, presented at the Workshop on Defiant Scholarship in Africa, Yaoundé, Cameroon, 18 – 20 June 2024.

Salimah Valiani

#Interviews

Sarah Lubala interviews Salimah Valiani on her new book, IGoli EGoli (Botsotso Publishing).

Report on the Publishing and Book Sector in Morocco, 2022-2023

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New report on the publishing and book sector in Morocco, which focuses on literature, the humanities, and social sciences (2022–2023).

David Mann

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Interview with award-winning editor and arts writer, David Mann, on his new short story collection, Once Removed (Botsotso Publishing).

Books in African Languages Catalogue

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Take a look at the African Books Collective Books in African Languages Catalogue

Wilfred Kanu Jr., Badson Publishing

#Publisher Profiles

Wilfred Kanu Jr., CEO of Badson Publishing, talks about the roots of his publishing venture and how he is working with African Books Collective. 

Zaheera Jina Asvat

#Interviews

Read African Books interviews short story writer, Zaheera Jina Asvat, about her new collection, The Tears of the Weaver (Modjaji Books).

Ashti Juggath

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Read African Books interviews South African author Ashti Juggath about her new book, the award winning Peaches and Smeets (Modjaji Books).

Publishing & Book Culture in Africa: A Repository of Selected Resources

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In February 2024, Hans Zell published a new third updated and expanded edition of Publishing & Book Culture in Africa: A Repository of Selected Resources. The repository aims to provide quick access to key literature about the many aspects of book culture, and publishing and book development in sub-Saharan Africa. Zell presents the repository here along with some of the needs of African publishing in the future.

Outstanding African Studies Award

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ABC was delighted to learn that the Publisher of Mkuki na Nyota Publishers  and founding Chair of the Council of Management of ABC, Walter Bgoya, and Mary Jay, earlier consultant, CEO and director of ABC, have been awarded the Outstanding African Studies Award by the African Studies Association of the UK. We congratulate both on this achievement and note their groundbreaking and longstanding contributions to ABC's collective efforts to publish and disseminate African books, literature and research globally.

ABC's Statement on Gaza

#Opinion

African Books Collective's Statement on Gaza

Henry Chakava 1946-2024: The Publisher Who Pricked the People into Consciousness

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Hawthornden Foundation and ABC

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Press release: Grant fund from the Hawthornden Foundation

Henry Chakava: In memoriam

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ABC Spring Catalogue 2024

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Take a look at the African Books Collective Spring 2024 Catalogue!

Stephanie Kitchen

#Interviews

Stephanie Kitchen, African Books Collective Director, speaks to the Independent Publishers Guild podcast about all things ABC.

David Mills

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Interview with David Mills, University of Oxford academic and now African Books Collective Director!

ABC Children and Teens Books 2023-24

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Take a look at the African Books Collective Children and Teens 2023-24 Catalogue!

ABC Fall Catalogue 2023

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Take a look at the African Books Collective's Fall 2023 Catalogue!

ABC Literature Catalogue 2023

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Take a look at the African Books Collective's 2023 Literature Catalogue!

ABC Catalogue 2022–2023

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Welcome to the African Books Collective Catalogue 2022-2023! Explore books from 30 independent publishers from across 12 African countries.