The book list
My ideal when compiling this list was to find fiction books written by contemporary African women writers, who either lived in or had been born in Africa, and who’d written stories set in Africa. This ideal was challenged by things like availability, accessibility, and in a few cases, language. Some of the women writers I found have been published in French or Portuguese and english translations are not available. In these cases I either chose a male writer from that country, or poetry or non-fiction books written by women.
In alphabetical order, these are the books I have found:
Algeria All Men Want to Know by Nina Bouraoui (Audible edition.)
Angola That Hair by Djaimilia Pereira de Almeida
Benin Autobiography of the Lower East Side, a novel in stories by Rashidah Ismaili
Botswana Meetings with Death by Botho Lejowa
Burkina Faso So Distant from my Life by Monique Ilboudo (For release October 27, 2022)
Burundi Baho! by Roland Rugero (translated by Christopher Schaefer.)
Cap Verde The Madwoman of Serrano by Dina Salústio.
Cameroon Your Madness, Not Mine, a collection of short stories by Juliana Makuchi Nfah-Abbenyi. And How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue
Central African Republic Co-wives, Co-widows by Adrienne Yabouza (translated by Rachael McGill.)
Chad Told by Starlight in Chad by Joseph Brahim Seid (translated by Karen Haire Hoeing.)
Comoros A Girl Called Eel by Ali Zamir (translated by Aneesa Abbas Higgins.)
Rep. of the Congo As Long as Trees Take Root in the Earth, book of poetry by Alain Mabanckou (translated by Nancy Naomi Carlson.)
Cote d’Ivoire As The Crow Flies by Véronique Tadjo (translated by Wangui wa Goro.)
Djibouti In the United States of Africa by Abdourahman A. Waberi (Translated by David and Nicole Ball.)
Democratic Republic of Congo A History of Disappearance, book of poetry by Sarah Lubala
Egypt Women at Point Zero by Nawal El Saadawi
Equatorial Guinea The Gurungu Pledge by Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel.
Eritrea Silence is My Mother Tongue by Sulaiman Addonia
Eswatini Weeding the Flower Beds by Sarah Mkhonza.
Ethiopia The Shadow King by Maaza Mengiste.
Gabon The Fury and Cries of Women by Angèle Rawiri (translated from french by Sara Hanaburgh.)
Gambia The Sun Will Soon Shine by Sally Singhateh.
Ghana Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi.
Guinea The Little Peul by Mariama Barry (translated by Carrol F. Coates.)
Guinea-Bissau The Ultimate Tragedy by Abdulai Sila (translated by Jethro Soutar.)
Kenya House of Rust by Khadija Abdalla Bajaber (Recent winner of Graywolf Press Africa Prize.)
Lesotho Basali! A collection of short stories by women writers, edited by K. Limakatso Kendall.
Liberia The House on Sugar Beach by Helene Cooper (non-fiction.)
Libya Catalogue of a Private Life by Najwa Bin Shatwan (translated by Sawad Hussain.)
Madagascar Red Island House by Andrea Lee
Malawi Nectar (2017) and Soft Magic (2015) books of poems by Upile Chisala
Mali Monique and the Mango Rains: Two Years with a Midwife in Mali by Kris Holloway (Audible edition.)
Mauritania A Moonless, Starless Sky - Ordinary Women and Men fighting extremism in Africa, by Alexis Okeowo
Mauritius Eve Out of Her Ruins by Ananda Devi (translated from French by Jeffery Zuckerman.)
Morocco In the Country of Others by Leila Slimani.
Mozambique The First Wife: A Tale of Polygamy by Paulina Chiziane (translated by David Brookshaw.)
Namibia The Purple Violet of Oshaantu by Neshani Andreas.
Niger Le Déserteur by Hélène Kaziendé. I’ve only been able to find this short story in french, in a collection called Kilomètre 30. I’m hoping a friend can help me with a possible translation, but need to do a bit more research.
Nigeria Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo.
Rwanda Small Country by Gaël Faye (translated by Sarah Ardizzone.)
Sao Tome and Principe Poetry by Alda Neves da Graça do Espírito Santo.
Senegal So Long A Letter by Mariama Bâ (translated by Modupe Bode-Thomas.)
Seychelles 40 Years a book of poetry by Ritah
Sierra Leone The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna.
Somalia Black Mamba Boy by Nadifa Mohamed.
South Africa When the Village Sleeps by Sindiwe Magona.
South Sudan War Child: A Child Soldier’s Story by Emmanuel Jal.
Sudan Bird Summons by Leila Aboulela.
Tanzania Paradise by Abdulrazak Gurnah.
Togo Do They Hear You When You Cry? by Fauziya Kassindja.
Tunisia The Scents of Marie-Claire by Habib Selmi.
Uganda A Girl is a Body of Water by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi.
Zambia The Old Drift by Namwali Serpell.
Zimbabwe This Mournable Body by Tsitsi Dangarembga.
