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In less than a month, Afrikult. will be hosting the third and final part of their Words that Travel series - and I must say I am super excited that I finally get to attend one. Throughout 2016, each event in the series focused on particular mediums and traditions of African literature. The first event focused on poetry, the second on storytelling, and the third will feature African music. In Afrikult.'s own words: 

Words that Travel aims to showcase the wonderful and rich diversity within the African literary genre. Words that Travel: Rhythms of Literature is the final installment for the 2016 series, capturing the synergy between music and literature. The all day event will be held at SOAS, University of London in the Djam Lecture Theatre (DLT) and the Junior Common Room (JCR)

So what's in store?

Publishers’ Market | Location: JCR, Time: 12pm – 6pm 
Open Lit Space featured author, poet and musician: Irenosen Okojie, Siana Bangura and Prodigies of Nature | Location: JCR, Time: 5pm – 7pm 
African Food Court including MAMINA, Waakye Leaf, and Good Cake Day | Location: JCR, Time: 12pm – 7pm 
Performances including Baba Adesose, Dr. Martin Orwin, Chibundu Onuzo and Yomi Sode | Location: DLT, Doors open at 2pm 
LIVE Concert featuring Jally Kebba Susso and Seeds of Creation | Location: DLT, Doors open at 8pm

.... and the details of the all-day event:  

Date: Saturday 21 January 2017 
Doors open: 12 noon  
Venue: SOAS, University of London 
Admission: FREE for all day event, and £7 on the door for the LIVE concert! 

Register for Words that Travel: Rhythms of Literature HERE!


PS. Here's an exciting giveaway the Afrikult. team is hosting: 
Because we love reading and having access to digital books, we will have our Digital Reading Competition and Giveaway running from 9th January 2017 on Twitter! There are five exclusive prizes up for grabs so make sure you follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Tumblr to get first dibs on the giveaways!
The full programme will be released in January 2017, but save the date and if you're in or near London Saturday 21 January come for a fun day of African literature and music organised by Afrikult.

23:35 No Comments

2016 has been another awesome year for African literature, and I wanted to look back at some of the books that were published. From debut novels, such as Yaa Gyasi's Homegoing and Jowhor Ile's And After Many Days, to debut poetry collections, such as Katlego K Kol-Kes' ' ... on about the same old things' and nonfiction including Safe House and Teju Cole's Known and Strange Things. 

While thinking about this post, I wondered what it would be like to map out the books based on their publication months and really see what the African literary year looked like. I should add that I haven't only focused on UK publication months - and have instead looked at various books published in the UK, US, South Africa, and to a lesser extent Nigeria. Of course, these aren't all the African books that were published in 2016, but it's pretty amazing to see that over 70 books by African writers were published this year. To African literature - may you continue to be wonderful!!!



01:07 No Comments
From Paris with Amour (Love) by @nichollekobi

I am going to be honest, I got a little nostalgic this year - looking back at my first posts, and how much I (as well as my blog) have grown. As I went through my old posts, I also got even more excited at just how awesome African literature is. Then I got a little shocked and amazed at how much I covered my first few months blogging. So as I celebrate five years of blogging - and because I absolutely love lists - I decided to look back at the first 200 books I featured on the blog. This excludes the same book that may have been on multiple lists and (as hard as it was) the same book that may have had a different cover based on the edition.

I have to say, it was so much fun putting this post together, and looking back at the initial lists I thought of - ones on African Science Fiction and African Crime Fiction, on judging book covers, including the African Writers Series  (AWS) cover designs from 1960s - 2000s, as well as how the same book had different covers based on the region, ones celebrating African publishers including Storymoja in Kenya and 'amaBooks in Zimbabwe and ones on women African writers, as well as on Ghanaian women writers to name some.



One of my earlier posts - and still one of my favourites.
It's also pretty cool to see what the first 3 books I featured on the blog were - the first one being Biyi Bandele's Burma Boy - and love that two of my all time favourites (The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives and On Black Sister's Street) were among the earlier books I reviewed.

In the last 5 years this love for African literature and blogging hasn't waned - in fact, I think it has grown. While I have no idea what the next year has in store for me or my blog, I do know that for as long as I am able to do this I won't stop. So here's to 5 absolutely amazing years, and to everyone that reads the blog. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! And finally, here's to the me who, between December 2011 and March 2012, curated lists or wrote reviews that featured the following 200 books. Enjoy!





































































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About me

Founded in 2011, bookshy represents two things: the young me who was so shy I escaped through books, and the older me whose shelf is always one book shy of being full.

bookshy is a space where I celebrate, promote and recognise contemporary African literature - although sometimes I go back in time to commemorate the greats. It is about the books I love, the books I have read and the books that I am dying to read.

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