The State of African Publishing: Mkuki na Nyota
Mkuki na Nyota Publishers (MNP) is a Tanzanian publishing company founded in 1991 that 'researches, creates, publishes, markets and sells trade books, children's books and scholarly books'. It was established in response to the general absence of independent scholarly publishing in Tanzania. It initially concentrated on scholarly books, but since then it has developed a diverse list of titles including children's, fiction and art books. They are also known for publishing their books in English and Swahili. They've also translated some novels like Mariam Ba's So Long A Letter (Une si longue lettre) and Naguib Mahfouz's Al-Tariq into Swahili.
Mkuki na Nyota are 'committed to supporting a reading culture in Tanzania as well as develop and nurture indigenous literature as a way to preserve and share our stories'. Even better they just want to 'publish relevant, beautiful and affordable books and place them in the hands of passionate readers in Tanzania and around the world'. What's there not to love. Below are some of the beautiful books they publish. Can I just say they also have some beautiful looking art books I wouldn't mind getting my hands on.
To find out more about Mkuki na Nyota, check out their website and facebook page.
0 Comments