The Neighbourhood Watch is a narrative of five disenfranchised people on their quest for survival on the margins of society. We use the music of Hugh Masekela, Salif Keita, Yemi Alade, Lady Smith Black Mambazo – as selected by Rémy to unpack the intricacies of the story. We address poor representations of female characters in fiction…
Narrative Closure with Erica Sugo Anyadike
AKO Caine Prize for African Writing shortlisted writer, Erica Sugo Anyadike, the Tanzanian multi-hyphenated creative powerhouse discuss her subversive story, How To Marry an African President. We use selected music curated by Erica to unpack among other things, depictions of female partners of powerful men, Black women with care, and writing against the singular African…
Confronting Erasure (Part Two): Lives of Great Men with Chike Frankie Edozien
In the concluding conversation on his memoir, Lives of Great Men, Chike Frankie Edozien offers greater depth into his career as a journalist in the United States of America (USA). We use a specially curated soundtrack as a musical backdrop to discuss Edozien’s experience as one of few African Journalists who covered the highly publicised case…
Confronting Erasure (Part One): Lives of Great Men with Chike Frankie Edozien
Journalist and Lambda award winning author, Chike Frankie Edozien, offers an intimate portrait of his life in his memoir, Lives of Great Men: Living and Loving as an African Gay Man. We begin the discussion with Edozien’s reaction to the attention the memoir has garnered (including winning the 2018 Lambda literary award), after which we reflect…
Postcolonial Trauma: A Small Silence with Jumoke Verissimo
Celebrated writer and poet, Jumoke Verrisimo, discuss the complexities of fictionalising personal pain in fiction, idealisation of mothers in Yoruba culture, the infliction of emotional traumas on loved ones as coping strategy for much deeper unarticulated psychological distress, and her debut novel, A Small Silence – a quietly disturbing coded novel that humanises historically underserved communities…
In Search of History: House of Stone with Novuyo Rosa Tshuma
Novuyo Rosa Tshuma provides deeper context to her critically acclaimed novel, House of Stone – a sophisticated, philosophical and darkly humorous (re)telling of Zimbabwe’s history. We explore writing for a specific audience, censorship in Zimbabwean publishing landscape, weaponisation of history, the importance of documenting Gukurahundi massacre in fiction, understanding the ‘Born Free’ generation and so…
When Writing Begin to Sing: In dependence with Sarah Ladipo Manyika
In celebration of its 10th anniversary launch, Sarah Ladipo Manyika takes us through the musical landscape of her novel, In Dependence, a sweeping love story spanning four decades, steeped in pan-African post colonial politics. We use the playlist curated by Sarah Ladipo Manyika to unpack the reasoning, research and writing process behind the novel, In…
Do What You Gotta Do: Caine Prize for African Writing
A special Live episode recording with the Caine Prize for African Writing 2019 shortlisted Writers: Lesley Nneka Arimah (Nigeria) for ‘Skinned’, Meron Hadero (Ethiopia) for ‘The Wall’, Cherrie Kandie (Kenya) for ‘Sew My Mouth’ Ngwah-Mbo Nana Nkweti (Cameroon) for ‘It Takes A Village Some Say’, and Tochukwu Emmanuel Okafor (Nigeria) for ‘All Our Lives’ in…
Dark Angel: My Sister The Serial Killer with Oyinkan Braithwaite
Our guest is the absolutely warm and effervescent Oyinkan Braithwaite, author of the critically acclaimed debut novel, My Sister The Serial Killer – which was recently shortlisted for the 2019 Women’s Prize for Fiction. In the first half, of this episode, Oyinkan talks about the inspiration for the novel, her reaction to brutally negative reviews,…
Seeing Yourself in Literature: A Society Within with Saraiya Bah
Saraiya Bah is a British poet and cultural producer of Sierra Leonian descent, whose work draws on the West African tradition of storytelling. In our discussion, Saraiya draws connections between Malcom X & Nas, Erykah Badu’s music & teenagers inner city London, and Saraiya situates Lauryn Hill’s work in Mariama Ba’s iconic book, So Long…