African Archives - Page 7 of 8

Words from a Granary: An Anthology of Short Stories by Ugandan Women Writers edited by Violet Barungi

28 Jan, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, African, Fiction, Short Stories

Considered together, this collection of 15 stories is a welcome statement of women's literary empowerment. The second anthology published by FEMRITE, the Uganda Women Writers' Association founded by novelist/short story writer/playwright-turned Ugandan Cabinet member Mary Karoro Okurut and officially launched in 1996, is testimony that "Ugandan women...

A Thousand Sisters: My Journey into the Worst Place on Earth to Be a Woman by Lisa J. Shannon, foreword by Zainab Salbi

18 Jan, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, African, Memoir, Nonethnic-specific, Nonfiction

Can anyone really understand such a number: 5,400,000. The death of a single loved one can leave you staggering and lost ...

Beneath the Lion’s Gaze by Maaza Mengiste + Author Interview

09 Jan, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, African, Author Interview/Profile, Black/African American, Fiction

Maaza Mengiste's voice, delivered by telephone many thousands of miles away, sounds impossibly young and happy. She’s easy to talk to, easy to laugh with. She’s in Rome for another few months, enjoying the spring sun, sipping another cup of tea in a nearby café,...

Nervous Conditions by by Tsitsi Dangarembga

07 Jan, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, African, Fiction, Young Adult Readers

The first sentence of Tsitsi Dangarembga's semi-autobiographical novel sets a haunting tone: "I was not sorry when my brother died." With his death, 13-year-old Tambu is presented with a profound opportunity: even though she's a girl, as the now-eldest child in her poor village family...

Only the Mountains Do Not Move: A Maasai Story of Culture and Conservation by Jan Reynolds

04 Jan, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in African, Children/Picture Books, Nonfiction

Surely this is one of the most dramatic before-and-after reading experiences I've ever had: I read Mountains last fall when it first landed on my desk and then again just recently after I landed back from East Africa. What a difference a few thousands of miles...

On Black Sisters Street by Chika Unigwe

15 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, African, European, Fiction, Translation

Four women, living together in a house in Antwerp, Belgium, are "[t]hrown together by a conspiracy of fate and a loud man called Dele." They have escaped their lives in Africa, but only at the cost of their freedom; Dele, who orchestrated their immigration, now...

There Is No Me Without You: One Woman’s Odyssey to Rescue Her Country’s Children by Melissa Fay Greene

25 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Absolute Favorites, Adult Readers, African, Audio, Biography, Jewish, Nonfiction

Melissa Fay Greene first arrived last spring in my mailbox via her latest book, No Biking in the House Without a Helmet, and made me cry. But she also left me tickled with joyous laughter at the antics of her sprawling, multiplying, multi-ethnic family. While Biking made me...

Chanda’s Wars by Allan Stratton

02 Aug, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in African, Canadian, Fiction, Young Adult Readers

In the six months since Mama passed away, Chanda's life has changed completely. As the sole provider for her sister Lily and brother Soly, Chanda is unable to continue her own education and instead substitutes at the primary school. With Mama gone, Chanda's best friend...

Chanda’s Secrets by Allan Stratton

02 Aug, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in African, Canadian, Fiction, Young Adult Readers

If it hasn't happened already, soon enough Chanda's Secrets will be coming to a theater near you ...

The Bride Price by Buchi Emecheta

26 Jul, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, African, Fiction

With a long list that spans over four decades of critically lauded, award-winning novels, plays, and children's titles, Nigerian-born Buchi Emecheta is undoubtedly one of the pioneering women's voices in African literature. She writes with simple strength, without embellishments; her uncomplicated, accessible prose is quiet,...

The Icarus Girl by Helen Oyeyemi

22 Jul, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, African, British, Fiction

Here's the most remarkable detail about this debut novel: Nigerian-born, London-raised Helen Oyeyemi wrote this book in seven weeks (!) just before she turned 19, in the midst of studying for her A-level exams (Britain's upper level, pre-university standardized tests). Both endeavors proved highly successful:...

A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park

11 Jul, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in African, Korean American, Middle Grade Readers, Nonfiction, Young Adult Readers

Since 2002 Newbery winner Linda Sue Park’s latest title was published in November 2010, borders shifted (again) and the world recognized the birth of the newest nation, the Republic of South Sudan, on July 9 at midnight. The weekend announcement makes A Long Walk to Water almost...

The Storyteller’s Beads by Jane Kurtz

30 Jun, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in African, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers

My recent mini-Ethiopian self-study (from the heartwarming No Biking in the House Without a Helmet to the shattering Beneath the Lion's Gaze to the wondrous Cutting for Stone) continues with an older title written for younger readers about the saving power of friendship – as well as redemptive...

Cry of the Giraffe by Judie Oron

27 Jun, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in African, Canadian, Jewish, Middle Grade Readers, Nonfiction, Young Adult Readers

In her small native village, young Wuditu – and the rest of her family – are called falasha, a derogatory term reserved for Jewish people. Their own name for themselves is Beta Israel, meaning 'the house of Israel.' In spite of a centuries-long history grounded in Ethiopia,...

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

23 Jun, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, African, Audio, Fiction, Indian African, Indian American, South Asian American

Truth: if not for Sunil Malhotra, I would never have finished Abraham Verghese's bestselling first novel, Cutting for Stone. Immediately opened upon receipt more than two years ago, for some reason, my bookmark never moved beyond the first few chapters ...

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

18 Jun, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, African, Audio, Black/African American, Fiction

Without a doubt, this is Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s best work to date. While her debut, Purple Hibiscus, was engrossing, and her short story collection, The Thing Around Your Neck, included stand-out gems, both titles pale to the exceptional Yellow Sun. Gentle, innocent Ugwu enters the home of...

The Mangrove Tree: Planting Trees to Save Families by Susan L. Roth and Cindy Trumbore, collages by Susan L. Roth

16 Jun, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Absolute Favorites, African, Children/Picture Books, Japanese American, Nonfiction

The village of Hargigo in the tiny African country of Eritrea was once a landscape of dust and deprivation ...

No Biking in the House Without a Helmet by Melissa Fay Greene [in Christian Science Monitor]

04 May, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, African, European, Jewish, Memoir, Nonfiction, Repost

As her children grow, author Melissa Fay Greene decides to extend parenthood by adopting five more You just know that a book’s going to be good if you’ve already guffawed and the type has started to blur (even though you’re trying not to get overly emotional)...

The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

28 Apr, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, African, Audio, Black/African American, Fiction, Short Stories

Following up two unforgettable novels that earned her a MacArthur Fellows Program "Genius" Award (which comes with a no-strings-attached $500,000 "stipend" over five years!) in 2008 was surely going to be hard work. Last year, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie debuted her first short story collection ...

Beneath the Lion’s Gaze by Maaza Mengiste

14 Apr, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, African, Black/African American, Fiction

Decades ago, I went to college with one of Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie's grandsons. Beyond the seemingly ubiquitous images back then of Ethiopia's barren natural disasters and widespread starvation, that worldly, quiet, thoughtful young man was my first real encounter with Ethiopia ...

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