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African Writers' Evening
The African Writers' Evening is the first regular evening held for African writers at the UK's Poetry Café. It was started in 2003 by Nii Ayikwei Parkes in consultation with the directors of the Poetry Society after he completed a residency there. The solid reputation of African Writers' Evening is based on its ability to consistently identify and feature talented emerging writers. Diana Evans and Hisham Matar, for example, were both featured prior to the official releases of their début publications, two of 2007's features Ken Kamoche and Sade Adeniran were shortlisted for the 2008 Commonwealth Prize for their first books, and Inua Ellams won an Edinburgh Festival Fringe First Award three years after his first featured appearance at African Writers' Evening in 2006. Recently, the event's founder Nii Ayikwei Parkes was himself shortlisted for the Commonwealth Prize and the November 2009 featured reader, Nadifa Mohamed won the 2010 Betty Trask Award. African Writers' Evening is h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nii Ayikwei Parkes
Nii Ayikwei Parkes (; born 1 April 1974), born in the United Kingdom to parents from Ghana, where he was raised, is a performance poet, writer, publisher and sociocultural commentator. He is one of 39 writers aged under 40 from sub-Saharan Africa who in April 2014 were named as part of the Hay Festival's prestigious Africa39 project. He writes for children under the name K.P. Kojo. Biography Born in the UK while his parents were studying there, Nii Parkes was raised from the age of three or four in Ghana, where he was educated at Achimota School. His first editorial role was in 1988 working on his school magazine, ''The Achimotan'', and he went on to co-found, at the age of 17, ''filla!'' magazine, Ghana's first student-run national magazine."Nii Ayikwei Parkes, YCE Finalist" , British Council Creativ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Helon Habila
Helon Habila Ngalabak (born November 1967) is a Nigerian novelist and poet, whose writing has won many prizes, including the Caine Prize in 2001. He worked as a lecturer and journalist in Nigeria before moving in 2002 to England, where he was a Chevening Scholar at the University of East Anglia, and now teaches creative writing at George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia. Background Helon Habila was born in Kaltungo, Gombe State, Nigeria. He studied English Language and Literature at the University of Jos and lectured for three years at the Federal Polytechnic, Bauchi. In 1999 he went to Lagos to write for ''Hints'' magazine, moving to ''Vanguard'' newspaper as Literary Editor.Biography Helon Habila website. Habila won the Music Society of Nigeria (MUSON) national poetry award for his poem "Another Age" in 2000, the same year his short story collectio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Togara Muzanenhamo
Togara Muzanenhamo (born 1975) is a Zimbabwean poet born in Lusaka, Zambia, to Zimbabwean parents. He was brought up in Zimbabwe on his family’s farm – west of the capital Harare. He attended St George's College, Harare. He studied in France and the Netherlands. After his studies he returned to Zimbabwe and worked as a journalist, then moved to an institute dedicated to the development of African screenplays. Muzanenhamo's first collection of poems, ''Spirit Brides'', was published by Carcanet Press Carcanet Press is a publisher, primarily of poetry, based in the United Kingdom and founded in 1969 by Michael Schmidt. In 2000 it was named the '' Sunday Times'' millennium Small Publisher of the Year. History ''Carcanet'' was originally a li ... in 2006. References Living people 1975 births People from Lusaka Zimbabwean poets Zimbabwean male writers Male poets Alumni of St. George's College, Harare {{Zimbabwe-writer-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wangui Wa Goro
Wangui wa Goro (born 1961) is a Kenyan academic, social critic, researcher, translator and writer based in the UK. As a public intellectual she has an interest in the development of African languages and literatures, as well as being consistently involved with the promotion of literary translation internationally, regularly speaking and writing on the subject. Professor Wangui wa Goro is a writer, translator, translation studies scholar and pioneer who has lived and lectured in different parts of the world including the UK, USA, Germany and South Africa. Early life and education She was born in Kenya but left to study in Europe for her undergraduate studies in Modern Languages and Economics at the University of Leicester. She continued to pursue her studies in education at the then University of London (now part of the University College of London), and later her doctoral studies in Translation Studies at Middlesex University. Career In 2020, she was awarded an Honorary Professor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Helen Oyeyemi
Helen Oyeyemi FRSL (born 10 December 1984) is a British novelist and writer of short stories. Life Oyeyemi was born in Nigeria and was raised in Lewisham, South London from when she was four. Oyeyemi wrote her first novel, '' The Icarus Girl'', while studying for her A-levels at Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School. She attended Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. Since 2014 her home has been in Prague. Career While she was in college, Oyeyemi's plays ''Juniper's Whitening'' and ''Victimese'' were performed by fellow students and later published by Methuen in 2014. In 2007, Bloomsbury published Oyeyemi's second novel, '' The Opposite House'', which is inspired by Cuban mythology. Her third novel, '' White Is for Witching'', was published by Picador in May 2009. It was a 2009 Shirley Jackson Award finalist and won a 2010 Somerset Maugham Award. In 2009, Oyeyemi was recognized as one of the women on Venus Zine's "25 under 25" list. Her fourth novel, '' Mr Fox'', was published by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atukwei Okai
Atukwei John Okai (15 March 1941 – 13 July 2018) was a Ghanaian poet, cultural activist and academic. He was Secretary-General of the Pan African Writers' Association, and a president of the Ghana Association of Writers. His early work was published under the name John Okai. With his poems rooted in the oral tradition,Ernest Dela Aglanu"We were rapping before rap came – Prof. Atukwei Okai", Myjoyonline, 20 March 2011 (via Modern Ghana). he is generally acknowledged to have been the first real performance poet to emerge from Africa, and his work has been called "also politically radical and socially conscious, one of his great concerns being Pan-Africanism". His performances on radio and television worldwide include an acclaimed 1975 appearance at Poetry International at Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, where he shared the stage with US poets Stanley Kunitz and Robert Lowell, and Nicolás Guillén of Cuba. Early life and education Atukwei Okai was born on 15 March 1941 in Acc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jack Mapanje
Jack Mapanje (born 25 March 1944)"Mapanje, Jack" ProQuest Learning: Literature. is a Malawian writer and poet. He was the head of English at the Chancellor College, the main campus of the University of Malawi before being imprisoned in 1987 for his collection ''Of Chameleons and Gods'', which indirectly criticized the administration of President Hastings Banda. He was released in 1991 and emigrated to the UK, where he worked as a teacher. Background The child of Nyanja and Yao people (East Africa), Yao parents, John Alfred Clement ("Jack") Mapanje was born in Kadango Village, Mangochi District, Malawi. He received his BA in education from the University of London and worked for a ti ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sefi Atta
Sefi Atta (born January 1964) is a Nigerian-American novelist, short-story writer, playwright and screenwriter. Her books have been translated into many languages, radio plays have been broadcast by the BBC, and her stage plays have been performed internationally. Awards she has received include the 2006 Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa and the 2009 Noma Award for Publishing in Africa. Biography Atta was born in Lagos, Nigeria, in January 1964, to a family of five children. Her father Abdul-Aziz Atta was the Secretary to Federal Government and Head of the Civil Service until his death in 1972, and she was raised by her mother Iyabo Atta. She attended Queen's College, Lagos, and Millfield School in England. In 1985, she graduated with a B.A. degree from Birmingham University. She qualified as a chartered accountant in England and as CPA in the United States, where she migrated in 1994. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kadija Sesay
Kadija George , Hon. FRSL (born 1962), also known as Kadija Sesay, is a British literary activist, short story writer and poet of Sierra Leonean descent, and the publisher and managing editing, editor of the magazine ''SABLE LitMag''. Her work has earned her many awards and nominations, including the ''Cosmopolitan'' Woman of Achievement in 1994, Candace Woman of Achievement in 1996, ''The Voice'' Community Award in Literature in 1999 and the Millennium Woman of the Year in 2000. She is the General Secretary for African Writers Abroad (PEN) and organises the Writers' HotSpot - trips for writers abroad, where she teaches creative writing and journalism courses. Biography Born in London of Sierra Leonean heritage, Sesay is a graduate of Birmingham University, in England, where she majored in West African studies."Kadija George" at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diana Omo Evans
Diana Omo Evans FRSL (born 1972) is a British novelist, journalist and critic who was born and lives in London. Evans has written three full-length novels. Her first novel, ''26a'', published in 2005, won the Orange Award for New Writers, the Betty Trask Award and the deciBel Writer of the Year award. Her third novel ''Ordinary People'' was shortlisted for the 2019 Women's Prize for Fiction and won the 2019 South Bank Sky Arts Award for Literature. As well as writing fiction, Evans contributes essays and literary criticism to the national press. She was honoured as a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2020. Background and education Evans is the daughter of a Nigerian mother and an English father. She was born and grew up in Neasden, north-west London, with her parents and five sisters, one of whom was her twin. She also spent part of her childhood in Lagos, Nigeria. She completed a media studies degree at the University of Sussex. While in Brighton, she was a dancer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Delia Jarrett-Macauley
Delia Jarrett-Macauley , also known as Dee Jarrett-Macauley, is a London-based British writer, academic and broadcaster of Sierra Leonean heritage. Her debut novel, ''Moses, Citizen & Me'', won the 2006 Orwell Prize for political writing, the first novel to have been awarded the prize. She has devised and presented features on BBC Radio, as well as being a participant in a range of programmes. As a multi-disciplinary scholar in history, literature and cultural politics, she has taught at Leeds University, Birkbeck, University of London, and other educational establishments, most recently as a fellow in English at the University of Warwick."Delia Jarrett-Macauley biography" Delia Jarrett-Macauley website. She is also a business and arts consultant, specialising in organisation development. Early years an ...
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Valerie Mason-John
Valerie Mason-John (born 22 November 1962) is an English academic and the co-founder of ''Eight Step Recovery – Using The Buddha's Teaching to Overcome Addiction'', an alternative to the 12-step programmes for addiction. Thesis Since the publication of the book by Windhorse Publications in 2013, it has been the recipient of a Best USA Book Award 2014 and Best International Book Award 2015 in the self-motivational and self-help category. Eight Step Meetings now take place in the UK, USA, Canada, India and Finland. Mason-John is also the co-creator of Mindfulness Based Addiction Recovery (MBAR), which was inspired by ''Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression'' by John D. Teasdale, Mark Williams, and Zindal Seagal. Mason-John uses they/them Pronoun, pronouns and is a member of the LGBT community. They are the author of eight books and work as a public speaker in Mindfulness for Addiction and Emotional Well Being, and are a trainer i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
