Sarah Odedina and Deborah Ahenkorah have launched a literary agency specialized in mentoring and promoting African middle-grade and teen fiction.
Reflecting a Diverse Reality in Children’s Books: New African Literature Partnership
Wanting to see more African characters in children’s books—both in Africa and internationally—publishers Sarah Odedina and Deborah Ahenkorah have formed a new partnership.
Originally Kenyan, Storymoja Book Festival Opens Its New Life in Ghana
After almost 10 years in its original Kenyan setting, Muthoni Garland’s Storymoja Festival opens as an event in Accra, Ghana, newly relocated and pan-African in outlook.
Worldreader: Mobile Publishing and Reading South of the Sahara
Despite numerous challenges, people in emerging African markets are engaged in mobile reading, and reading more, writes Alexander Polzin of Worldreader.
Exploring the African Continent in Children’s Books
Ghanian children’s book writer Meshack Asare discusses his mission to cover the rich regional diversities of Ghana and the continent as a whole.
Is Worldreader.org’s Gift of E-readers to Africans the Right Precedent?
Is the dependence on expensive devices a Western solution to an African problem? By Edward Nawotka Today’s feature story considers the challenges of digital publishing in sub-Saharan Africa. Amongst the key obstacles preventing further proliferation of digital reading across the continent is a lack of cash, political will…and electricity. Innovative programs such as Worldreader.org, which has distributed some 500 Kindles …
How Can E-Books Revolutionize Literacy and Publishing in Africa?
E-books can reach people in Africa who might otherwise never get books. Some even say the Internet represents “Africa’s Gutenberg Moment.” By Edward Nawotka Today’s editorial by Tolu Ogunlesi looks at a recent literacy campaign in Nigeria to inspire more people to read. The government led campaign is the latest in a long line of similar campaigns, many of which …
Weekly Recap: Salinger’s Law, China’s Internet Boycott, Ghana’s New Sleuth, Training CEOs
By Edward Nawotka This week at Publishing Perspectives we were hot on the trail of a number of developing stories; including J.D. Salinger’s lawsuit against his nemesis Fredrik Colting and artist Ai Weiwei’s call to boycott the internet in protest of China’s Green Dam computer filtering software (It worked! – see Bonus Material below). We also offered Ghanaian-American novelist Kwei …
Accra Provides Mysterious Milieu for Ghanaian-American Novelist
By Kwei Quartey ACCRA, GHANA: About 10 years ago, I wrote a novel set in Africa. An agent to whom I sent the first pages turned it down and told me, “There are two places on earth that no one has the slightest interest in reading about: Afghanistan and Africa.” What a difference a decade makes: Khaled Hosseini’s smash hits …