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I knew of Butterfly Fish, but my first real introduction to it was at Africa Writes last July, where Irenosen Okojie was on a panel on new Nigerian fiction along with A Igoni Barrett, Elnathan John and E C Osondu. 

In the synopsis of the panel, the book is described as including 'the dual narrative of contemporary London and 18th century Benin'. Published in 2015 by Jacaranda, the book sounded intriguing - especially the historical aspect of it. While my first instinct is always to gravitate towards female writers, in this instance, I have to say my bias for all things Lagos took over - I ended up getting a copy of Blackass and This House is Not For Sale. 

Fast forward to September and I was asked by the Ake Festival Team if I would host a bookchat with Taiye Selasi and Irenosen Okojie (um, yes!!!). I will admit, though, that if it wasn't for the bookchat, I probably would not have read Butterfly Fish until much later than I did - which would have been a travesty, because this is a truly captivating novel and an amazing debut.  

Thinking back to my book chat with Irenosen Okojie - which I really should have recorded - I remember that Butterfly Fish started life as a short story, took almost six years to write and involved a lot of research on the Benin empire. Butterfly Fish is told in three parts – Part 1: Modern London, London 1970s and 19th Century Benin; Part 2: Modern London, Lagos 1950s and 19th Century Benin; Part 3: Modern London and Lagos 1950s.

It begins in modern day London. The main character, Joy, has recently (and unexpectedly) lost her mother, Queenie. It has just been Joy and Queenie from day one – Joy never knew her father. It’s clear Joy is struggling with her mother's sudden death. Joy is also going through depression and Okojie captures her struggles with depression, along with the loss of her mother, in a way that allows you to feel for Joy, without feeling sorry for her. Joy is a broken character - there is no doubt about that - but she is able in some way to deal with the loss in her life through her neighbour – Mrs Harris - a fascinating character, who has her own secrets.

Butterfly Fish has quite a few characters – Joy, Queenie, Mrs. Harris, Mervyn, Adesua, Oba Odion and his other seven wives (Adesua was number 8), Peter Lowon, who we meet through his journal entries, to name a few. As seen above, it is also set in a number of different periods and locations. Yet, it is not a confusing read and it is written in a way that is very easy to follow. 

As such, while Joy is trying to deal with the loss of her mother, Okojie briefly introduces Adesua – the young woman who will soon become the eighth wife of the Oba in 19th century Benin. Not before we are whisked back to Joy, who heads to Mervyn – a lawyer and her mum’s Jamaican friend  - who has been in Joy’s life since before she was even conceived. Here he presents Joy with her mother’s will, in which Joy has been left with everything her mother had – £80,000, her house and all the contents within it, a brass head artefact and her grandfather, Peter Lowon’s, diary. With that we find the pieces – the brass head – which in a way connects modern day London with 19th century Britain; and Peter Lowon’s diary – which connects 1950s Lagos with London.

That was another thing about Butterfly Fish - 19th century Benin was captivating, and so was modern-day London and 1950s Lagos through Peter Lowon's diary. I was interested in all the characters and in all the places and all the periods, but in very different ways - and one was not better than the other.

With the sections on the Benin kingdom, Okojie created a stunning world with characters I was invested in: Adesua – who was ‘not fit for marriage and will embarrass the palace’, but who Oba Odion (the current king) was hell-bent on taking as wife number 8; king Oba Anuje – Odion's father and previous king; Odion's many different wives – including his third and favourite, Omotola; Sully - the stranger who waltzes into the kingdom, and whose presence leads to a dangerous liaison with Adesua. Then there was Ere, the craftsman, who was forced to carve a brass head in the likeness of the Oba’s rival – Ogiso. A brass head that was too close to Ogiso's image that for the Oba it seemed to wield an ‘unsettling power’. So he gave it to Adesua – lying that it was in honour of their marriage. A gift that caused a stir in the palace – the Oba showing favour to his new wife. A gift that stirred something elsewhere further afield, in the form of a spirit looking for its new home. A gift that a woman in modern day London, Joy, will one day inherit from her mother. 
View of Benin City in 1891. Image via Afritorial

Back in London, and since inheriting the things from her mum, Joy seems to be followed by a woman – who she first chased on the streets of Harlesden and then appears in some photos she has taken (Joy is a photographer). This woman then begins to be spotted by Joy a lot more frequently in many different spaces and places – including ‘on top of the TV set cross-legged playing with static'. Joy eventually refers to her as Anon - but who she is and why is she in Joy's life?

I mentioned earlier that Joy was a broken character, but looking at the Lowon family, they seem to be troubled. It can be seen with Joy in modern day London, with Queenie in 1980s London and with Peter Lowon - Joy's grandfather - through his journal in 1950s Lagos. Journal entries which were also incredibly written. The family did seem to be cursed, or at least those three members of the family. I did wonder if it had anything to do with the brass head which Peter Lowon was gifted – under not-so-ideal circumstances from his Oga - General Akhatar, while he was in the army. Honestly people just be gifting that brass head any how. There are also secrets that haunt this family - Queenie had hers, which Joy only learns after her mother’s death. Peter Lowon had his, which are revealed through his diary.

Ultimately, this is not a happy story – there is death, sadness and a lot of haunting things that cast over each character. It is also a beautifully written and captivating novel, spanning centuries and locations with multiple, often-connected characters. Butterfly Fish also weaves in myths and the surreal – brass heads which may be possessed by spirits, Anon which may be haunting Joy. 

Okojie is a beautiful writer and storyteller. Every word captivated me, every scene drew me in further, and I also felt like I was there - 19th century Benin, 1950s Lagos and 1980s London - with every character. Okojie’s female characters are also beautiful and flawed and human – Joy, Adesua and Queenie – even mysterious Mrs. Harris. Every character also has a place and serves a purpose – including the diary, the craftsman, Sully, Joy’s lover - who really does more harm than good for her - Mervyn. This honestly is an amazing debut, and I am definitely looking forward to what Okojie has up next. Thankfully I don't have to wait too long - as Okojie has a collection of short stories, Speak Gigantular, which will be published in June by Jacaranda.
23:43 No Comments
Where to begin with African Monsters - the edited collection of stories, illustrations and graphic novels by Margrét Helgadóttir and Jo Thomas? 

I'll begin with the aesthetics - this is an absolutely gorgeous volume that needs to be in plain sight for everyone to see when they walk into your home - smack bang on a coffee table in a living room. Do not hide it.

The cover illustration by Italian artist Daniele Serra is hauntingly stunning and really does evoke vividly on the outside what you are about to experience once you open the book. It's dark and eerie and you know if you walk into that building on the left, you are not coming back - and if you do you're not coming back as you. 

Open the pages and you are transported to a world of well, monsters. Not the ones you would expect. These stories are meant to introduce you to creatures you may have never heard of in your life, which have one aim - to scare the heck out of you; and trust me you will be scared. There's absolutely nothing wrong with sleeping with the light on - even if it's the light from your phone.  

The thing is growing up in Nigeria, European and American monsters never really terrified me because they were far away. Even when I watched a horror movie or read a horror story, I knew I was safe. They were all the way 'inna foreign' (as my mum would say) so they couldn't catch me. Nigerian horror stories, now those seemed possible - they could be at the back of my house for all I knew. I'm sure there was a spirit or two lurking in the corridor in my home when there was no light (electricity/power for my fellow non-Nigerians). So African Monsters terrified me in a way that a horror story hasn't in a long while because I could really relate to the monsters - even the ones that were set in other African countries. 

In the introduction, Helgadóttir and Thomas explain that they 'are on a mission: to rescue monsters'. They want monsters to be able to do what they 'were originally designed ' to do - to put 'terror into people's hearts'. For that I say thank you for trying to terrify me. I really continue to be excited (and in this case freaked out) about the work that is being produced for fan girls like myself. That is number two on my list of why I loved this anthology (the first, being the cover illustration). 

African Monsters is the second of Helgadóttir and Thomas' 'world' series - European Monsters came out in 2014. I haven't read European Monsters, but I also want to say a genuine thank you to the editors for producing an anthology about African monsters, in which most of the authors are either from an African country, are of African origin or are currently living in or have lived in one or more African countries. That to me is a beautiful thing - and the third thing I loved about this volume.

Now here comes the fourth. This collection has 14 short stories and 2 short graphic novels from some kick-ass Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror writers. It's an almost who's who of African SFF in 198 glorious pages. I also love that it has male and female writers and artists, but also stories with LGBT characters and some strong ass female protagonists.  And yes I know there are mainly Nigerian and South African writers in this volume, but there are a couple other non-Nigerians and South African's in the mix. Each story was also accompanied by an illustration - which I absolutely loved. They gave a physical representation of the monsters - made it even more freakier as the images stuck in my head even more. Also, I think the illustrations are a great idea, especially if these creatures might be foreign to readers -  I know I hadn't heard of all of them.

All this and I haven't even gotten to the stories, which is number five on my list of why I loved this entire collection. African Monsters begins with a story from Nnedi Okorafor, On the Road. It's about a Nigerian-American cop who is back in Nigeria visiting her grandma and auntie. Now my first thought was just because you've been in America for a while now does not mean you open the door for a little boy with an evil grin that's at your door at night. Chioma shouldn't have opened that door - that's all I'm saying! That leads to a series of strange events and in this story we are introduced to the mmuo (masqueade ... spirit) - and there was something about the way Okorafor wrote the character's experience of coming face-to-face with a mmuo, which was pretty realistic; as well as the crazy, horrifying things that were happening to her in the forest. I feel like I would have had the exact same reaction - fear, mixed with disbelief, mixed with omg! this is really happening, mixed with so many other things. This story also sets the tone for the rest of the collection and let's you know that in African Monsters no one is safe and this collection also isn't here to make the reader feel comfortable  - you have been warned.

The next story Impundulu by Joan de La Haye, involves a bird - the impundulu - a shape-shifting elderly witch and her daughter who has just recently experienced a serious violation of her body and the consequences of that on the humans in the village - not good! First, however, a sacrifice must take place. 

Tade Thompson's One Hundred and Twenty Days of Sunlight is a lesson in restraint  - don't kiss anyone, you have no idea what those lips will turn you into. The story begins with our monster in a grave and you can't help but wonder why. Thankfully he doesn't keep us guessing for long. In it we learn about the main character's family history, the demons in the village that had to be destroyed and how our protagonist ended up getting 'infected'.  His life story is fascinating - from his family who supplied gold and slaves to the Portuguese (because let's be honest, we don't like to talk about it, but that did happen); to how he 'turned'; to the priest who taught him English (and how to write in Yoruba as well). 

In Severed  by Jayne Bauling we learn that it doesn't matter where you are in the world, young people on a road trip to an isolated and creepy location in the middle of nowhere will always ignore the signs and still walk straight into danger. This time, however, the danger is an evil spirit - the Ichitapa  - in the lake. Don't get too close to the edge. 


Isn't it terrifying? Illustration by Eugene Smith for 'Severed'. Image via hireanillustrator.com
After the first four stories there is a short graphic novel, The Death of One, from Sue Opperman - very little words, amazingly haunting images about a fight to the death of two creepy creatures.The next ten stories are as haunting as the first four. 

There's the Chikwambo  by T.L Huchu, in which the monster seems to have a penchant for leaving two large holes in the chest where its victims breasts should be - a short but terrifying story with a not-so-happy ending. There's Monwor by Dilman Dila,  which features another female cop-lead, who is also bad-ass, and an experiment that goes horribly wrong. I have to say while reading the story Nelly Furtado's 'Man-Eater' was in my head the whole time. In That Woman by S Lotz, we are introduced to widows in Ghana that are accused of witchcraft by mostly men in their communities. Still, all is not what it seems in this village - and here we are made to wonder who really is the monster? 

I found Sacrament of Tears by Tony Bennett to be absolutely beautiful - the way it was written from start to finish. It's a story about an English man in 1897 writing a letter from Lagos to his brother in England about the demise of his nephew (who was a priest and doctor in a community in Nigeria). There was something about the way it was written - I felt like I was reading the diary of an Englishman and the way Africans were viewed. The way abiku (spirit children) was written about from an Englishman's perspective ... the story was beautiful. 

It also seemed that each story was placed where it needed to be placed in the collection - where it was meant to be. From 1897 Nigeria, we are transported to modern day Nigeria with Bush Baby by Chikodili Emelumadu - another amazing story. I'm just going to say I love my older brother, but if he comes to my house in the middle of the night with a stolen mat from a bush baby, he is on his own. I'm sorry, he is! Bringing me into his own battle with demons - how cruel is that? This story perfectly captured the 'joys' of family and how they can drag you into something you have nothing to do with. I really enjoyed this story, and this one was especially haunting for me as I know the bush baby story - I grew up in a bungalow, there was -(and still is) - overgrown bushes and trees at the back of my house up to their own devices. I don't think I would have been able to read that story if I was in my home in Lagos today. Imagine if the power went out while reading it?

After the Rain by Joe Vaz was haunting. A young man had returned to Johannesburg after many many years away and decides to search for his old home where he grew up. He finds it, he leaves, it rains, he takes cover in a shebeen - but this area isn't safe and the miners have been experiencing attacks from were-dogs.  In Taraab and Terror in Zanzibar by Dave-Brendon de Burgh an old problem that should have been forgotten never went away. I like how the uprisings in the 1960s in Zanzibar were linked to the Sultan releasing monsters (the popobawa's), but who really was, and is, the threat in this story? 

A Whisper in the Reeds by Nerine Dorman was genius - mer-ladies trying to tempt a young man to join them. Guess what's it's kinda hard when you're not his type. If at first you don't succeed, send one of the young mer-men to try their luck. Beautiful story. In Acid Test by Vianne Venter - a city is in ruins from environmental damage but might soon be safe to return to. There's also a story of unrequited love with a lizard like creature lusting over a born-leader with a rather, can't find the word, maybe it's intimately sinister ending.
Su Opperman's illustration for 'A Whisper in the Reeds'. Image via Foxspirit


One thing I liked about this collection is that you should not expect happy endings. Thandiwe's Tokoloshen by Nick Wood  - the final short story in the collection - is not your average kids story, even though there is a rainbow and pot of gold. It wasn't easy getting to her rainbow - a long journey and a scratchy ride, and once she gets there, we learn that we don't always get what we want and sometimes you can go on a long journey and return empty handed. I laughed at the foul-mouthed little girl angry at the result of her quest, but we do sometimes live in a cruel world. She just learned it at a young age.

The collection ends with a graphic novel, A Divided Sun,  by James Bennet and Dave Johnson (artist) about a young boy who relocates with his father (who got a job) to Johannesburg from Sussex; and the different kinds of monsters he encounters in South Africa during apartheid.

This was a truly beautiful collection and it felt like a lot of thought was put into it from the front cover to the last line of the biographies (which were really fun to read). African Monsters showcases amazing writing and art, and if you want to learn about mmuo's and impundulu's and ichitapa's and monwors' and bush baby's and popobawa's to name some of the monsters in this collection, grab a copy of this coffee table book series. Do be warned, you might want to sleep with the lights on!
01:07 No Comments
Deep down I'm just a big kid, and I've been wanting to do this for a while now - I just wasn't sure the best way to do it. Then I thought I would give myself a challenge and try and look for books based on each letter of the alphabet. Although that then left me with a dilemma - which one book to choose, especially as there is definitely more than one book that starts with the letter A or the letter C, for example. So I may have cheated  - but just a little - and shared more than one book in a few letters, but I couldn't help myself. I did struggle with two letters - Q and X. As hard as I tried, I couldn't find anything -  so if there are any recommendations for those letters out there please let me know.

In the end, I found a good number of books (not all I found are included in the list) and it was really fun learning about the different ones out there.I think I was also able to get quite a few different countries - Ethiopia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Mali, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa and Zimbabwe to name some.

 It's also in no way an exhaustive list, and I have also focused more on books in English (and a few that have been translated into English). If there are recommendations for books in other languages please also share. Finally, I've only read a few of these books, so this is also my own little list of books I am looking forward to read (think I'm making up for not reading that much African kid lit as a little one).

'Nuff rambling! Here we go - an (almost) A to Z of African Children's Literature. 

A is for Akissi which follows the adventures of a West African girl. The neighbourhood cats are pursuing her to steal her fish, her little monkey Boubou almost ends up in a frying pan and she's nothing but a pest to her older brother Fofana, but Akissi is a true adventurer, full of silliness and fun, and nothing will scare her for long!



A is also Ayanda: The little girl who didn't want to grow up (retold by Veronique Tadjo). Little Ayanda loves her father with all her heart. One day he goes away, and doesn't return. She is so sad that she decides she doesn't want to grow up. So she stays small for a long time, even when her friends tease her. One day her mom gets sick and she changes her mind. She grows bigger so that she can help her family. But when trouble strikes her village, is she big and brave enough to save everyone?



B is Bintou's Braids. Bintou wants braids. Long, pretty braids, woven with gold coins and seashells, just like her older sister and the other women in her family. But she is too young for braids. Instead, all she has are four little tufts of hair all she ever gets are cornrows. However when Bintou saves the lives of her two young cousins and is offered a reward of her choosing. Bintou discovers that true beauty comes in many different forms ... and she is perfect just the way she is.




B is also for The Butter Man. As young Nora waits impatiently for her mother to come home from work and for her father to serve the long-simmering couscous that smells so delicious, her father tells her about his childhood in Morocco. During a famine, when Nora's grandfather had to travel far to find work and bring food for the family, her father learned the valuable life lessons of patience, perseverance, and hope.

C is for Chicken in the Kitchen. What would you do if you woke up one night to find the shadow of a giant chicken passing your bedroom door? Go and investigate of course! When Anyaugo follows a giant chicken into her kitchen one warm night in Nigeria, she embarks on a hilarious adventure where nothing is quite as it seems. Is the nature spirit that lives in the wooden walls of her house a help or a hindrance? Is the mischievous giant chicken a friend or a foe? Most importantly, will Anyaugo be able to save the food her aunties have cooked for the New Yam Festival the next day? 


D is for Dancing Star. Thando doesn't like sports because he can't run very fast. The other children at school laugh at him and this makes him cry. Then one day one of the teachers suggests that he comes to her dance classes. Thando learns to dance and discovers that he is very good at dancing. He practises hard for the school dance and is the star of the show.

E is for Eno's Story. Eno lives happily with her father, until one day he disappears in an accident. Her uncle says that she is a “witch” who has caused her father’s death. She goes through many struggles before moving in with other children who have also been called “witches” and have been sent away from home.This moving story, with moments of humour and sadness, shows how Eno uses courage and her imagination to make the best of a difficult situation. 


F is for Finding Aunt Joan. Children will easily relate to the stories which reflect true to life events such as going on a journey, moving house and a visit to the beach. The rhythmic text of the Lucy books will help build children’s reading skills and confidence while they are absorbed in the humorous illustrations and the lives of Lucy’s family.


G is for Grandma Nana. Grandma Nana loves all children and all children love her. She tells them wonderful stories and poses riddles which makes them laugh together and she knows the names of all the ancestors, and which plants can make us well. She also has a very special doll, unlike any the children have ever seen.


G is also for Grandma's Humongous Suitcase. A tale of Ethiopian history and culture in a child voice.




H is for The Hyena and the Seven Little Kids. Gogo Goat warns her seven little kids not to let Hyena into the house while she is gone. The crafty hyena does his best to trick the kids into letting him in! Will the seven kids be safe from Hyena? Who tricks who in the end?



I is for I Lost My Tooth In Africa.  A charming, original adventure story about losing a first tooth while visiting family in Mali. More than anything, Amina wants to lose her loose tooth while visiting her family in Mali, West Africa. Only then can she put it under a gourd for the African tooth fairy, who will exchange it for two chickens! Happily this happens, and even better, the chickens lay eggs. But will the eggs hatch before it's time to return home to America?.



J is for Jemima Jones and the Great Bear Adventure. Jemima Jones is a little girl who dreams of growing taller and having splendid adventures. Her mother thinks she’s creative, but her grandmother thinks she’s a story-teller. Her teenage brother calls her a brat, but her father calls her Sweetpea!  Jemima likes to explore and investigate and imagine. Most of all, she loves to press buttons – the bigger and shinier, the better. It’s a good thing Jemima has a fine imagination because she has never actually met a real pirate, or a kidnapper, or even a man-eating tiger. So when Mrs Jones announces that there’s special treat in store, one that involves a bear, Jemima can’t wait. She goes to sleep dreaming of fierce polar bears and wild grizzlies! A fantastic adventure awaits Jemima and her new friend Ravi Naidoo - a day stuffed full of excitement and peril (and even some bright, shiny buttons).



J is also for Jamari's Drum. When Jamari was a young boy he played in the village square to the beat of the great village drum. He loved the sound of the drum and would often sit at drummer Baba's feet. Why do you play every day? he would ask.The drum is the keeper of peace in the village, Baba would tell him. Time passed but Baba still beat his drum. He tells Jamari that one day he will have to carry on the ways of the village — it will be his turn to beat the drum to keep peace.But little by little, Jamari forgets about beating the drum until, one day, disaster threatens everyone in the village. The great mountain, Chafua, has erupted, and it seems that the end of the world has come. Fortunately, Jamari remembers Baba's wise words and finds a way to restore the peace.



K is for Kwajo and The Brassman's Secret. Kwajo's father makes traditional small figures. One day, he makes him a little brass drummer who comes alive and transforms Kwajo into a land of proverbs and riddles. It is a land where the figures represent money, and the people are citizens in a powerful kingdom. Kwajo is tempted by riches but must first decode a series of riddles and symbols. He falls at the last test, but nonetheless learns an important lesson.


L is for Lorato and her Wire Car. Maybe it was the windows she made from the clear plastic of an empty Coke bottle, or the fake leather seats she constructed using an old hand bag of her mother’s. Perhaps it was the seats with stuffing she pulled from an old pillow.Or maybe it was the doors that opened and closed and locked shut with a turn of the little wire handle or the wheels, made from empty drink tins, covered with real rubber from a split tyre. Whatever it was, everybody knew Lorato’s wire car was special, and every kid in her village had greedy green eyes whenever she took it out for a spin, but none more so than Motshereganye.


M is for Mamy Wata and the Monster. Mamy Wata is swimming peacefully in a big river when she hears that a horrible monster has been frightening people in the surrounding villages. She waits in the monster's cave to confront him, but when the monster begins to cry, Mamy Wata is touched and wonders how she can make him happy again.


M is also for Mayowa and the Masquerades. Mayowa is unhappy because he has been told he will be visiting his grandmother in Ilisan. When he gets there, grandma pairs him up with the ever-hungry, fun- loving Denuyi. Together, they explore the town and all its wonders. By the time he returns to Lαgos, Mαyowa learns that there is more to life than computer games 


N is for Nyama and the Eland. This is the coming-of-age story of Nyama, a young San girl. As she listens to her grandmother's traditional stories. She takes part in a traditional ceremony that leads her on her own journey to finding out more about herself and her people.

N is also for Nana's Cold Days. Nana is coming to visit from Africa, and grandsons Ken and Rama have been looking forward to her visit for months. But it's icy cold when she arrives, and all she can do is drape herself in covers -- three blue sheets, three red blankets, and three pink comforters. No one can dream up a way to entice Nana from her nest until she becomes ill. When Nana feels better she quickly takes the situation in hand and solves everyone's problems once and for all.


O is for Once Upon a Time. When Sarie's teacher says, "Children, take out your reading books," a sick feeling grips Sarie. The words trip up her tongue and she stutters and stammers, making the children in the back row giggle. But there are two people who sympathise: her schoolfriend Emile, and Ou Missus, the old lady living over the veld. One Sunday, Sarie comes across an old copy of Cinderella and begs Ou Missus to read it to her, Ou Missus says, "No - we will read it together." Sarie's confidence grows, until the day comes when the school principal says to Sarie, "You read beautifully!"


P is for Pretty Salma. This up-to-the-minute 'Red Riding Hood' story is set in a South African township with market traders, a crazy-eyed rooster, Anansi the storyteller and a no-good, slick, sly stranger calling himself Mr Dog. The comedy, thrills and shivers of the familiar story lead to a reassuring ending, and Niki Daly's tongue-in-cheek storytelling and hilarious pictures are flavoured with melon, ice-cream and fun.



P is also for The Pot of Wisdom. Drawing on the rich vein of traditional African stories featuring the spider Ananse, this is a marvelously witty and entertaining collection of ten tales about this legendary spider swindler. The tales deal with important issues that everyone faces justice, money, marriage, vanity, self-respect, and more but couch the heavy lessons in lively folktales. Ananse sometimes succeeds; other times he makes a fool of himself and is ashamed but never for long. Many elements of these stories can be found in other trickster tales, including those of African origin like the Uncle Remus stories and those of aboriginal American groups like the Native American coyote tales and the jaguar tales of Central and South America.

Still searching for Q .... but R is for Refilwe. Refilwe, Refilwe, let down your locks, So I can climb the scraggy rocks!" In a cave high up on a craggy cliff, beautiful Refilwe is allowed to see no one but the witch who locked her away. One day, Prince Tumi hears Refilwe singing as he is riding his horse near her cave and he searches for the owner of the magical voice. Will Refilwe ever be free from the evil witch? Will she ever find true love? An African retelling of the classic fairy tale Rapunzel by one of our best loved authors, Zukiswa Wanner, with magical illustrations by Tamsin Hinrichsen will keep all children entranced, and grow a love of reading. Read aloud, read together, read alone, read forever!


S is for Sofie and the City. A heartfelt story about a homesick young girl whose new friend helps her learn to like her new home. Sofie doesn't like living in big American city and would rather go back to Senegal. "It is really too ugly here," she tells her grandmother on the phone. "I think I should come home." "Before you come back," her grandmother sayds, "you'll just have to make it pretty." But how can Sofie ever make the city pretty? It all begins when she meets a girl with a box of chalk.




S is also for Sosu's Call.When a great storm threatens, Sosu, an African boy who is unable to walk, joins his dog Fusa in helping save their village. Beautifully illustrated on artpaper, the story tells of Sosu, a young disabled boy who cannot walk. Sosu misses going to school and all the activities of the other children. His village is on a lagoon, and one day when everyone is away fishing, working in the fields or at school, he raises the alarm with his drumming, and saves the village from total destruction by the sea. His heroism is rewarded when a wheelchair is donated and at last he can go to school.




T is for Talking Drums.This selection of poetry for young readers concerns happiness and sorrow, life and death, humour and anger, and hope and delusion. It tells the story of Africa and Africans through their poetry.



U is for The Ugly Duckling (retold by Sindiwe Magona). The poor ugly duckling looks very different from the other ducklings. His duck family tease him and make him feel unwanted even though he simply wants to be loved and belong. So he runs away and sets off on a long and lonely journey. Will he ever be loved and accepted for who he is?




V is for Voice in the Forest. This is a gem of a children's book, shaped around the founding myth of an African village community, embellished with images of nature and fantasy, imbued with the cultural values of community and respect. In this delightful Ghanaian children's story, a farmer finds and brings to his village a wood nymph, a creature of strange magical powers. 




W is for What's Cooking Jamela?   Mama plans a chicken dinner for Christmas Day, and she gives Jamela the job of fattening up their chicken. But seeing how happy Jamela is with her hen, she wonders just how she'll get it away from Jamela and into the pot.  Smelling trouble, Jamela sets off the day before Christmas with the chicken in her arms and a trail of chaos follows - in the street, in the taxi, and even in Miss Style's hairdressing salon. However, as everyone agrees, you can't eat friends, and Christmas Day brings Jamela a delicious meal and the best present of all! Following the success of Jamela's Dress, this new Jamela book features the same delightful characters set in a South African township.

X is on its way, but Y is for The Yellow Mosquito Net. Grace and Kemi are late for football practice. But after Grace falls into a gutter on the way, they discover the pitch is filled with people collecting colourful mosquito nets. With the help of their coach, the girls find out how much they can learn about malaria prevention by kicking a football. This entertaining story highlights the Millennium Development Goal of fighting malaria and other diseases.


Z is for The Zebra and the Hyena. This is the story of how quick-thinking Zebra tricks the hungry Hyena into not eating him for dinner, with very prickly results. A delightful tale with striking paper collage illustrations.



That's my (almost) A to Z. And if after you're done with these glorious books and want more, here's a list of websites doing wonderful things around children's literature. 
20:10 2 Comments
When I first started this blog, I did a series of posts around the State of African publishing to showcase some of the publishers that were doing their thing - in spite of the challenges that come with publishing on the continent. These included Storymoja in Kenya, Cassava Republic, Farafina and Paressia in Nigeria, Kwela Books and Modjaji Books in South Africa, Mkuki na Nyota in Tanzania and 'amaBooks and Weaverpress in Zimbabwe to name some  of the publishers I featured. These publishers continue to produce some amazing works, and I continue to appreciate the awesome work they all do.

In the last few years some brilliant works of African literature have been published in the UK and US thanks to small presses; and I wanted to name and pay tribute to them. Presses that are taking risks and publishing a variety of interesting works - SFF, translated fiction, women writers, children's books - and producing work that really excites me. I can't name them all, and I have probably missed out a lot, but here are some who have published books that either fill my library (both physical and virtual), or are about to grace my bookshelf (I might have gone on a book shopping spree in the last week or two).

These include And Other Stories who have published works from Ivan Vladislavic and Juan Tomas Avila Laurel. Darf Publishers and their amazing catalogue of North African fiction including translated fiction from Ahmed Fagih, Amir Tag Elsir and Mansour Bushnaf. There's Deep Vellum who also specialise in translated fiction including Fiston Mwanza Mujili and Fouad Laroui. 

Jacaranda has a special place in my heart as it's publishing some great works from female writers, including Irenosen Okojie; and there's Lantana Publishing who is championing cultural diversity in children's books, with Nnedi Okorafor as one of their authors. 

In the world of SFF, special shout out to Apex Publications (Tade Thompson's Rosewater), Fox Spirit Books (African Monsters, Joan De La Haye's Requiem in E Sharp), Rosarium (Tade Thompson's Making Wolf), NewCon Press (Nick Wood's Azanian Bridges), Tor.com (Nnedi Okorafor's Binti) and Unnamed Press (Deji Olukotun's Nigerians in Space). 

Thank you from a huge fan of literature. The work you do to bring new authors (and established ones) to a wider audience - as well as works from others I would not otherwise have access to - is truly appreciated. 
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I had to share this kickstarter for this gorgeous fantasy-adventure graphic novel, KARIBA, which is inspired by the mythology and history surrounding the construction of one of the largest dams ever built in southern Africa. As described on the kickstarter page: 
The world of Kariba is one in which history and fact are fused with mythology and legend. A world where the laws and rules are bent by magic and the river is as much a character as it is a force of nature. 
Our story follows Siku and Amadeo, one the daughter of the river spirit Nyami Nyami, the other the son of the engineer in charge of the dams construction. Unaware of who her father is, Siku must journey upriver to discover the answers to the mystery of her powers, and the strange events occurring in the river and its surrounding forests.
The graphic novel is drawn and coloured by South African, Daniel Clarke, and designed and written with help from Blue Forest Collective and should be finalised by September 2016. My words won't do it justice, so here are some of the gorgeous illustrations. Once you're done with these absolutely gorgeous illustrations, then head over to their kickstarter page to find out more. Also check out Daniel Clarke's behance page, as there are some absolutely stunning ink drawings there.  

Image via behance





Images via kickstarter

23:23 No Comments
This is my very belated thoughts on two books I read at some point towards the end of 2014 and the beginning 2015 (did I say it was very belated). Two books that I am reviewing not because I intend to draw parallels between them, although there could be some - they do cover themes of migration/being a migrant, bring us closer to the psyche of migrants and have multiple characters that are central to the story. 

I'm sharing my thoughts because I think they are two very beautiful books that cover the theme of (Im)migration (be it trying to get there or what happens once you are there) in their own unique ways. African Titanics is extremely poetic and says a lot in a really short book about migrants journeying across the Mediterranean; while The Maestro, The Magistrate and The Mathematician takes us into the psyche of three very different Zimbabwean immigrants once they have settled in Scotland.  


African Titanics by Eritrean novelist, Abu Bakr Hamid Kahal, was originally published in Arabic in 2008.Thanks to Darf publishers, we got the English translation (translated by Charis Bredin) in 2014. This is a short, but poetic novel about a group of African migrants journey across the Mediterranean. The main character, Abdar - is a young Eritrean man who was 'plucked from Eritrea, swept across the Sudanese border and on into Libya, in the dark night'. In 122 pages we get a sense of not only Abdar, but other migrants' journey - through the desert and across sea - and what happens along the way. 

The journey isn't cheap - Abdar will require one thousand dollars for passage aboard the Titanic to Lampedusa in Italy. There is also no guarantee of safe arrival on the other side - even with the best captains of the Titanic. The journey to the Titanic is also arduous - in Land Rovers being driven across the desert; lost and thirsty in the desert and hovering between life and death.Then the wait in Tripoli for the few survivors from the desert journey who still want to carry on at the smuggler hide-out. 

There you learn just how many migrants have passed through this place over the years - their many messages of fear and doubt, in  Arabic, French, English, Amharic and Tigré  - on the wall as they wait for their own departure on the Titanic. Of Terhas - another Eritrean women whose body was wasted during the desert journey but survived; and young Malouk, the great Liberian storyteller with his faithful companion - his guitar that he has owned since he was fourteen - and his many stories and poems. There's also a treacherous late night border crossing in Tunisia; and the journey across the sea hasn't even begun. 

This is a perilous journey that these men and women take and without saying it we know that not everyone will make it to Europe. The beauty in African Titanics is that it does not only focus on the extremely dangerous journey that this group of migrants go through, but it also brings out the conversation, music, poetry and stories migrants share with each other as they attempt to get to Europe. Of their hopes and dreams in the midst of despair; and the bravery of men and women who enter these Titanics not knowing whether they will get to the other side or not. This is  a beautiful, haunting  novel, and while it was first published in 2008, before the height of the crisis gripping Europe - it brings us closer to the humanity of men and women who make the decision to go to Europe.


The Maestro, The Magistrate & The Mathematician by Tendai Huchu was first published by 'amaBooks in 2014. This is Huchu's second novel - following The Hairdresser of Harare, and there is humour present throughout the pages of this novel - even if sometimes the topic is quite bleak. One of my favourite parts of the book would have to be his descriptions of Edinburgh - I've been to the city twice and only for a few days. So never enough to really know it, but I got a sense of the terrain and the streets through The Magistrate who wandered the city with his walkman in tow, as he held on to pieces of home through music (guess that's another parallel - music and migration). 

So who are the Three M's and what's this story all about? Well, it's about three very different Zimbabwean migrants in Edinburgh trying to figure things out, in a certain period in both the UK and Zimbabwe's political and economic history - pre-2010. 

There's The Magistrate. Baba Chenai who was a big deal in Zimbabwe - a magistrate - but now lives with his wife and their fifteen-year-old daughter. His wife is the main breadwinner, his daughter is growing up (a little too quickly) and he is unemployed, until recently - he got a job as a caregiver in an old persons home - he's trying to come to terms with his new life and identity in Edinburgh with music as his companion as he walks. 

Then there's The Mathematician, Farai, doing his PhD on some complex topic I can't wrap my head around but it's about hyperinflation - and he has found the work of a deceased Angolan economist who wrote on fiscal policy in Angola whose work he finds quite influential for his own writings. Living with his friends and flatmates, Brian and Scott, Farai seems to be prefer 'slumming' it even though he is wealthy, or at least his family is. He also seems to be conflicted between a longing for Zimbabwe, as well a sense of alienation from it. 

Finally, there's The Maestro - isolated with his drugs, literature and endless stream of consciousness. A white Zimbabwean, stacking shelves in Tesco - he definitely reveals that you're not spared from the harshness of being an immigrant just because you might be the same race as the indigenes. The Maestro is the most broken, the most fragile, the most alone (internally) of all the immigrants in the story.  

Then there's a fourth migrant - the infuriating Alfonso - who strange enough grew on me as the story went on; who is connected - loosely or otherwise to these three men. For one, he gives The Magistrate a new purpose in life, through politics, even though initially he is reluctant to take part in any of it.

Through these three characters, Huchu captures how frustrating and tiring it can be to find a place to belong once you're far away from home, and the many ways to escape - drugs and books with The Maestro - or be closer to home - music with The Magistrate escapes in his music.

Together both African Titanics and The Maestro, The Magistrate & The Mathematician capture the many experiences of (Im)migration from the scorching Sahara to freezing Edinburgh, shaped by hope and despair.
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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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