' ... is obviously a play on the vuvuzela, which is traditionally associated with football fans; and 'Lit' in the sense of literature, but also in the second sense of the woke'ster generation's term for something exciting or interesting. The four of us promote and celebrate African writing in our different contexts and work; so in a sense we variously blow our metaphoric vuvuzelas in celebration and affirmation of African Literature, which we know to be exciting and, as the woke generation would describe it, 'Lit' :).'

'I was intrigued by the article's title, as a lover of books, but I was disappointed to find that African masterpieces never made the list. I realise it didn't set out to be representative, and in fact the author - a writer and literary scholar - indicates that the list consists of her favourites, among masterpieces of world literature [the] list is nonetheless emblematic of a long tradition of selective embracing and snubbing of African writing not only by the media, but all manner of institutions and readerships across the world.' 

'We thought it would fun to fill in the gaps in that list, so to speak, and remind ourselves that there is an exciting range of literary portrayals of love in Africa; writing that was as interesting and insightful as the list featured in that article. 

#LoveinLiteraryAfrica quickly transformed into a delightful celebration of literary imaginings of lover by and about Africans. It became a way of sharing our personal favourites from the vast library of African literature, and giving each other pointers on what is available, by and about Africans. And that was the pleasure of it: sharing recommended tittles and seeing a virtual community of lovers of African writing speaking to each other'.

'Africa, like all other regions of the earth, has been and is full of love stories.' 

70 of #LoveinLiteraryAfrica Reads

'I was the student whose answer to exam questions about themes in any book started with love. My reading hasn't changed. Where the New York Times sees war, my eyes see the love before the war. Where the various commentators and reviewers of African literature see what they call poverty porn first and foremost, I see love. So @G_AMusila's #LoveinLiteraryAfrica  spoke to this predispostion. Just like many other things we share in common in our twitter quarter.'

'The notion that African literature is not, or should not be, about private lives or private emotions is not new. As far back as 1991, Ama Ata Aidoo said wryly (in the preface to her brilliant novel about lover in Ghana, "Changes") that she was about to go back on her earlier vow never to write about lovers in Accra. Supposedly, African literature had other, larger issues - to do with the political struggles of a continent - to worry about. But Aidoo is a thoughtful and subtle writer who knew that there is no firm dividing the line between the private and the political.  

Women and men who long for freedom also long for intimacy, happiness and self-expression. African literature, like any other literature represents the complexities of many kinds of struggles and desires.' 

'#LoveinLiteraryAfrica joins Aidoo in resisting reductionist views of African lives and African writings. Many readers must also feel tired of such views and this may be why the Twitter response was so enthusiastic. '

'The four of us ... often have wonderful conversations about African writing on Twitter; sometimes light talk; sometimes pretty intense discussions; and so we imagined it would just be the four of us self-appointed vuvuzela blowers for African writing ... having fun with our shared delight - African literature - as usual. The love an excitement from other Twitterati came as a wonderful surprise and a happy affirmation of African writing [which] remains a marginal category in the world; so it is such a pleasure to see a hashtag about African writing trending, and bringing together readers, writers, booksellers, publishers, researchers and many other stakeholders, in celebration of African writing. It is even more inspiring to see just how many readers, writers and publishers, share our passion and commitment to African experiences about African writing. So the love the hashtag enjoyed is a lovely gift in itself, not so much to us, but to African writing, and to all fellow AfLit Vuvuzelites, who never pass up the chance to be self-appointed ambassadors of African writing.' 

' ... the novelistic diptych "Pio na Vera" (Pio and Vera) by the great Mpashi. He wrote these two short novels in Bemba. in his native Zambia, in 1960s. I read them in translation. Pio is a sharp and ambitious young man living in a fast-changing town on Zambia's Copperbelt. He wants to get ahead in life; he also wants to marry his gorgeous, sexy girlfriend Vera. But there is a problem. Vera's brother has been falseley accused of murder and Pio must help the police to solve it before he and Vera can ever think of exchanging vows.'