Abdelrahmam Munif | Cities of Salt Trilogy | Variations on Night and Day

Editorial Reviews:

From Publishers Weekly

Jordanian-born attorney Munif, former editor of the Baghdad-based monthly Oil and Development , brings his epic Cities of Salt trilogy full circle in its closing volume. Cities of Salt and The Trench , set in the Sultanate of Mooran (a thinly disguised version of Saudi Arabia) from the mid-1930s to the late 1950s, traced the effects of the discovery of oil by American and British groups. Variations covers the prelude to that period in the early decades of this century, showing how the Sultan Khureybit consolidated his power and created Mooran as a modern nation-state. By moving his chronology backwards, Munif instills the action with multiple levels of irony. His detailed picture of life in the palace, where the sultan's many wives vie for primacy, makes a vivid contrast with the common people's simple piety in Cities of Salt ; he also reveals the roots of the rivalry between two of Khureybit's sons, profligate Khazael and quietly intelligent Fanar, who will later fight for the sultanate. One of the most vividly realized protagonists is the British adventurer Hamilton, a fascinating combination of T. E. Lawrence and what might be a character out of Edward Said's Orientalism . The densely aphoristic prose and folkloric tone are for the third time superbly translated by Theroux. Munif is one of the most important writers to emerge from the Middle East in the last 20 years, and Variations on Night and Day triumphantly concludes his three-volume rumination on the poignancy of inevitable change, the sadness of those overwhelmed by the tides of history and the effect of those tides on the men and women who are carried by them.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Kirkus Reviews

The final installment of Munif's Cities of Salt trilogy, first published in 1989, offers still another view of the same historical subject: the corruption of traditional Arab values when Western allegiances substitute power and money for family and tribal loyalties. Munif's hero this time is Sultan Khureybit of Mooran, whose 1930's friendship with the British surveyor Hamilton makes him the natural instrument of London's notion that a single strong sheikh in the area will be easier to deal with than the usual endless wrangle. Accordingly, Khureybit looks beyond the normal means of consolidating his power--alliances with other chieftains and wholesale marriages with their daughters--and begins to attack his neighbors with quiet backing from abroad. With the flight of Ibn Madi, sultan of Awali, Khureybit's dominion seems secure. But his alliances force him closer to friends worse than his enemies--from the ferocious chieftain Ibn Mayyah, who refuses to take prisoners during the siege of Awali, to his latest wife Najma, whose entrance into his harem sets off a firestorm of backbiting and violence. Tale's end finds Khureybit still riding high--backed by the British crown and seconded by Hamilton, now called Abdelsamad on his conversion to Islam--but he's become a paper tiger, an absurd figure whose power struggles with his old allies even within his family--fights he can't possibly lose, though they strip him of everything he once loved--grow increasingly farcical. Munif is no Euro-basher, as his sympathetic, incisive portrait of Hamilton, the most compelling of his characters, shows. All the more impressive, then, is his satirical review of a calamitous series of cultural exchanges that leaves his Arab potentate bloated with borrowed power and utterly without grace or dignity. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Description

Full of Machiavellian intrigue and searing political satire, Variations on Night and Day, the final volume of Munif's landmark Cities of Salt trilogy, chronicles the creation of a Persian Gulf nation by a corrupt Arab monarch and conniving British empire builders.

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Arabic --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From the Inside Flap

Full of Machiavellian intrigue and searing political satire, Variations on Night and Day, the final volume of Munif's landmark Cities of Salt trilogy, chronicles the creation of a Persian Gulf nation by a corrupt Arab monarch and conniving British empire builders.

Product Details:

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Vintage; Reprint edition (November 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679755519
• ISBN-13: 978-0679755517
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches

Abdelrahmam Munif | Cities of Salt Trilogy | The Trench

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Munif sets this second volume of his critically acclaimed Cities of Salt trilogy in a Middle Eastern kingdom during the 1950s.

Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

The American ``liberation'' of Kuwait adds unexpected timeliness to the second volume of Munif's stately, satirical Cities of Salt trilogy (1987), which picks up the story of the Middle Eastern sultanate of Mooran in the 1950's, as the corrupting effects of oil, greed, and American values reach epidemic proportions. Munif cannily keeps both oil and Americans offstage, focusing instead on the petty conflicts and intrigues swirling through the reign of Sultan Khazael, and especially on the incessant plotting of Machiavellian Dr. Subhi Mahmilji, the young sultan's chief advisor, who has the authority to establish and direct Hammad al-Mutawa as head of the secret police--but whose power is subtly challenged by his wife Widad, who dreams of every man in the sultanate but him; by his assistant Muhammed Eid, who wants to marry his golden-haired daughter Salma; by his son Ghazwan, whose trip to the US infects him with the decline of the West; and by innumerable rivals in and out of court. Mooran's inexorable slide toward capitalism (Munif's title refers both to shifting seismic foundations and to holes people can fall into) is presented in tiny, apparently inconsequential episodes, from business deals--an automobile franchise provides a particularly riotous interlude--to family quarrels; and Munif, who seems to love his scheming principals as much as Jean Renoir loved his doomed aristocrats in Rules of the Game, stays so close to their plans, fears, and desires that their tragic absurdity remains hidden for a long time--until the inevitable peremptory reaction against the sultan's regime. Munif's satire, in fact, may be entirely too subtle for American readers. But this sly, patient dissection of a sultanate grown too rich for its own survival makes it clear why the author lost his own Saudi citizenship. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)

Original Language: Arabic

From the Publisher

"Munif's wonderful novel is a welcome corrective....[It] deepens, enriches and above all humanizes whatever sense of Arab culture we may have."-- The New York Times Book Review

Product details

• Paperback: 560 pages
• Publisher: Vintage Books; 1st Vintage International Ed edition (31 Dec 1993)
• Language English
• ISBN-10: 0679745335
• ISBN-13: 978-0679745334
• Product Dimensions: 19.8 x 13.4 x 3.1 cm

Abdelrahmam Munif | Cities of Salt

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Originally published in Beirut in 1984, this multipage epic brings to life many of the political issues that have plagued the Mideast for most of this century. Set in an unnamed gulf country that could be Jordan sometime in the 1930s, the novel relates what happens to the bedouin inhabitants of the small oasis community of Wadi al-Uyoun when oil is discovered by Americans. Seen through the eyes of a large and varied cast of bedouin characters, the upheaval caused by the American colonization is shown in various manifestations, from the first contact with the strange foreigners ("Their smell could kill birds!" observes Miteb al-Hathal, who later leads a rebellion of Arab workers when the village of Harran has been made into an American port city) to confused and suspicious descriptions of the sinister "magic" tools brought by the Americanswhich are in fact bulldozers, automobiles, radios and telephones. The story unfolds at a stately pace over a timespan of many years and provides an endless stream of characters and events, each connected to the next by many threads of plot. Theroux's sensitive translation conveys the subtleties of ambiguity and nuance inherent to the Arab language and culture. Banned in several Mideast countries including Saudi Arabia, this is the first volume of a planned trilogy by a Paris-based Jordanian novelist who holds a law degree from the Sorbonne and a Ph.D. in oil economics from the University of Belgrade. Despite the Lawrence of Arabia setting, Munif writes from a unique vantage point; English-language readers have been given few opportunities before now to look at this situation through native eyes.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Banned in several Middle Eastern countries, this novel records the encounter between Americans and Arabs in an unnamed Gulf emirate in the 1930s. As oil exploration begins, the destruction of an oasis community amounts to "a breaking off, like death, that nothing and no one could ever heal." The promise inherent in the creation of a city divided into Arab and American sectors provides the novel's most striking revelation: here not merely two cultures, but two ages, meetand stand apart. Alternatively amused and bewildered by the Americans and their technological novelties, the Arabs sense in their accommodation to modernity the betrayal of their own traditions. Highly recommended, if only for its cross-cultural insights.L.M. Lewis, Eastern Kentucky Univ., Richmond
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"The only serious work of fiction that tries to show the effect of oil, Americans and the local oligarchy on a Gulf country."--Edward W. Said

Product Description

Banned in Saudia Arabia, this is a blistering look at Arab and American hypocrisy following the discovery of oil in a poor oasis community.

Language Notes

Text: English, Arabic (translation)

From the Publisher

"The only serious work of fiction that tries to show the effect of oil, Americans and the local oligarchy on a Gulf country."--Edward W. Said

From the Inside Flap

Banned in Saudia Arabia, this is a blistering look at Arab and American hypocrisy following the discovery of oil in a poor oasis community.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

b.1933-January 24th 2004

Munif was born a Saudi national and brought up in Amman, Jordan to a Saudi father and Iraqi mother. In 1952 he moved to Baghdad to study law and later moved to Cairo. He received a law degree from the Sorbonne and a Ph.D. in oil economics from the University of Belgrade's Faculty of Economics. He later returned to Iraq to work in the oil ministry and became a member of the Ba'ath Party. He began writing only in the 1970s after he left his job with the ministry, quit the Ba'ath party, and moved to Damascus removing himself from a regime he opposed. He quickly became known for his scathing parodies of Middle Eastern elites, especially those of Saudi Arabia, a country which banned many of his books and stripped him of Saudi citizenship. He used his knowledge of the oil industry to full effect criticizing the businessmen who ran it and the politicians they served.

The author of fifteen novels, his masterwork is the Cities of Salt quintet that followed the evolution of the Arabian peninsula as its traditional bedouin culture is transformed by the oil boom. The novels create an entire history of a broad region, evoking comparison's to William Faulkner'sYoknapatawpha County. The quintet begins with Al-tih (1984, Cities of Salt) in the desert oasis of Wadi al-Uyoun that is disrupted by the arrival of western oilmen in an image similar to that of the disrupted village of Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart. As Achebe described the effects on a traditional African village of the arrival of powerful missionairies, so Munif chronicles the economic, social, and psychological effects of the promise of immeasurable wealth drawn from the deserts of nomad and oasis communities. The quintet continues with Al-ukhdud (1985;The Trench),Taqasim al-layl wa-al-nahar (1989; Variations on Night and Day), Al-munbatt (1989; The Uprooted), and Badiyat al zulumat (1989; The Desert of Darkness). Daniel Burt, in his The Novel 100, ranked the quintet as the 71^st greatest novel of all time. The last novel in the series has not been translated into English.

While his works were never particularly successful in the west, throughout the Middle East they are both critically acclaimed and extremely popular. Cities of Salt has been described by Edward Said as the "only serious work of fiction that tries to show the effect of oil, Americans and the local oligarchy on a Gulf country."

While he was one of the fiercest critics of Saddam Hussein and his regime, he was utterly opposed to the American invasion of Iraq and spent the last two years of his life working on non-fiction projects to oppose what he saw as renewed imperialism.

Product Details

• Paperback: 640 pages
• Publisher: Vintage; Vintage International ed edition (July 17, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 039475526X
• ISBN-13: 978-0394755267
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 1.4 inches

A.M. Issa-Salwe | Oral Culture and Computer Mediated Communication

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

"This study of the many creative and often highly political ways in which Somalis use computer-mediated communications is the very first of its kind. Drawing on painstaking empirical research, deep knowledge of the Somali political, social, and cultural contexts, and informed and lucid analysis, Dr. Issa-Salwe has produced a text that will prove to be foundational in its field and an indispensable point of reference for future studies." Lidwien Kapteijns, Kendall/Hodder Professor of History, Wellesley College, Wellesley, USA "This study, which is the first of its kind, illustrates how mailing list technology and websites enable members of one Diaspora community kept in touch with a political situation at home that is exceptional. It also shows how the mailing list and website has brought a new dimension to traditional methods of feuding. Somali websites contain news, opinion pieces and other features in Somali and on some websites in Somali and English. Dr Issa-Salwe's work reveals how the Somali web activity reflect the troubled history and politics of their homeland and continue to interest, involve, bring together and divide Somalis worldwide." Anthony Olden, Senior Lecturer of Information Management, Information Management Centre, Thames Valley University, United Kingdom

About the Author

Dr. Abdisalam M Issa-Salwe is an Associate Professor at the College of Computer Science and Engineering, Taibah University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Previously, he was lecturer in Information Systems at Thames Valley University, UK. His research interests include information systems management, strategic role of Information Systems. His work includes Electronic Communication and an Oral Culture: the Web Dynamics of Social Web Environment Case Study, LAP Lambert Academic Publishing, Saarbrücken 2010.

Product Details

• Paperback: 168 pages
• Publisher: LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing (October 21, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 3838346009
• ISBN-13: 978-3838346007
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces

A.M. Issa-Salwe | Electronic Communication and an Oral Culture

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Dr Abdisalam's work is a unique study of the extraordinarily enthusiastic adoption of Computer Mediated Technology which has virtually transformed overnight this nation celebrated for its oral poetry. His conclusions are based on his intensive field research inside and outside Somalia, at home and amongst the scattered diaspora. Despite the fact that in Somalia itself only a very few people have direct access to the internet, the seemingly endless Somali civil is expressed in a vigorous media war with web groups offering a novel way of creating collective self-representation. This innovating researcher shows, as the Somalia state fragments, a hectic rush for communities to rediscover themselves. The endless political conflict inside Somalia has coincided with a veritable boom in internet technology. Here, Somalis demonstrate their skills in adapting technologies to their current local needs and preoccupations. This is an important finding in that it demonstrates the shallowness of many Western ethnocentric assumptions about technological change. By: I. M. Lewis FBA, Emeritus Professor of Anthropology, LSE, University of London, UK.

Product Details:

      Paperback: 276 pages

• Publisher: LAP Lambert Academic Publishing (April 10, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 3838349350
• ISBN-13: 978-3838349350
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds

Modern African Writers

Hello Fellow Readers,

This is an introduction to the African Library. My name is Joe Pollitt and I would like to start to put together a series of published works found on the Internet by African Writers or about the issues surrounding Africa. The main source of information will be coming through the Amazon website with a brief editorial and information about the artist and their lives. Initially, I am starting off with a list of over 800 writers from Africa and this blog would like to explore as many as possible and maybe more.


All the artists will be labelled in the appropriate African countries from Algeria to Zimbabwe - there is a small tag feature at the bottom of the posts. Click if interested in a specific subject or country as they will be labels for Books on African Artists, African Design, Diaspora, Tribal Art, African Music, Modern Art, African Fashion and Photography and more....


Here are over 800 African Writers



A
A.M. Issa-Salwe
Ababa Haylemelekot
Abbakar Adam Ismail
Ābbe Gubaññā
Abd Al-Rahman
Abnudi AbdAllah
al Tayeb
Abdelkébir Khatibi
Abdellatif Abdalla
Abdellatif Laabi
Abderrahmane Sissako
Abdi Sheikh Abdi
Abel Alier
Abena Busia 1953–
Abibatou Traoré 1973-
Abimbola Lagunju
Abiola Adegboyega
Aboul-Qacem Echebbi 1909–1934
Absa Gassama
Achmat Dangor 1948–
Adam Small
Adame Ba Konaré
Adaoa Lily Ulasi 1932–
Adebisi Thompson
Adelaide Fassinou 1955–
Adèle Caby-Livannah 1957–
Aden AwXirsi G. Cirro
Aderemi Raji-Oyelade
Adiza Sanoussi
Adjoua Flore Kouame 1964–
Āfawarq Gabra Iyasus
Afolabi Olabimtan
Afrax, Mohamed Dahir
Africanus Horton 1835–1883
Agostinho Neto 1922–1979
Ahamadou Maiga-dit-Prince 1974–
Ahdaf Soueif
Ahlam Mostaghanemi
Ahmad al-Tifashi
Ahmad Baba al Massufi 1556–1627
Ahmad Nassir
Ahmadou Kourouma 1927–2003
Ahmed Essop
Ahmed Sefrioui
Aïcha Fofana 1957–2003
Aïda Mady Diallo
Aília Momplé 1935–
Aïsha Diouri 1974-
Aïssatou Barry 1959–
Aïssatou Cisse
Aïssatou Cissokho
Aïssatou Diagne Deme
Aïssatou Diam,
Aïssatou Guido 1941–
Akeem Lasisi
Akilu Aliyu
Akin Adesokan
Akinwunmi Isola
Akissi Kouadio
Akosua Busia
Alan Paton 1903–1988
Alan Scholefield
Albert Camus 1913–1960
Albert Memmi
Albert Memmi 1920–
Alda do Espírito Santo 1926–
Alda Lara 1930–1962
Alemdjrodo Kangni 1966–
Aleth Felix-Tchicaya 1955–
Alex La Guma 1925–1985
Alexander McCall Smith, also connected with Botswana 1948– Alexander Orok
Alfred Hutchinson 1924–1972
Alhagi Kah
Alifa Rifaat
Alile Wahnon Ferro 1940–
Alimatou Koné
Alpha Mandé Diarra 1954–
Ama Ata Aidoo 1940–
Amadou Hampâté Bâ
Amandina Lihamba
Amatoritsero Godwin Ede
Amba Bongo
Amélia Muge 1952–
Amílcar Cabral 1921–1973 see also Guinea-Bissau
Amílcar Cabral 1921–1973 see also Cape Verde
Amina Mama
Amina Sow Mbaye 1937-
Aminata Maïga Ka 1940-
Aminata Ndiaye 1974-
Aminata Sophie Dièye 1973-
Aminata Sophie Dièye 1973-
Aminata Sow Fall 1941-
Aminata Traoré 1942–
Aminatta Forna
Aminu Kano
Amma Darko
Amos Tutuola
Amplia Veiga, born in Portugal 1931–
Ana Julia Monteiro Sança 1949–
Ananda Devi
Andre Brink
Andrée Clair, born and died in France 1916–1982
Andrew Martens
Andrew Plate 1980–
Andrew Sesinyi
Andy Abulu
Angela Nwosu
Angèle Bassolé-Ouédraogo, also connected with Burkina Faso
Angèle Ntyugwetondo Rawiri
Anita Omoiataman Ihaza
Anne Axis
Anne Kellas, also connected with Australia 1951–
Anne Landsman
Anne Marie Niane, born in Vietnam 1950-
Anne Piette, born in France 1943-
Anne-Marie Adiaffi 1951–
Annette Mbaye D`Erneville 1926-
Annick Assemian, born in France 1952–
Annie Yapobi
Anthony Appiah
Antjie Krog
Antoine Kaburahe 1965-
Anurée Blouin 1921–
Aoua Kéita 1912–1980
Aoun Al-Sharif Qasim
Archibald Campbell Jordan
Arlindo Barbeitos 1940–
Arthur Maimane 1932–
Arthur Nortje 1942–1970
Asenath Bole Odaga
Assamala Amoi, born in France 1960–
Assia Djebar 1936–
Athol Fugard 1932–
Austyn Njoku
Axmed Farah
Ali Idaja
Ayavi Lake 1980-
Ayi Kwei Armah
Azuka Nzegwu


B
Babatunde Awoyele
Babikir Badri
Baltasar da Silva Lopes 1907–1989
Bamekan Soucko
Bathily Bamiji Ojo
Barbara Kururu Ndimurukundo 1950–
Barolong Seboni, poet
Béatrice Lalinon Gbado
Bediako Asare, also connected with Tanzania
Ben Okri
Benedict Vilakazi
Benjamin Moloise
Benjamin Sehene 1959–
Bernadette Sanou Dao 1952–
Bernard Binlin Dadié
Berte-Evelyne Agbo, also connected with Benin
Berte-Evelyne Agbo, also connected with Senegal
Bessie Head, born in South Africa
Bessie Head, usually seen as a Botswana writer 1937–1986
Bessora born in Belgium 1968–
Betty Elisabeth Mweya Tol`Ande 1947–
Beverley Naidoo
Binéka Daniele Lissouba, born in France
Binyavanga Wainaina winner Caine Prize 2002
Birago Diop
Birhānu Zarīhun
Biyi Bandele
Blattengeta Heruy Welde Sellase
Bloke Modisane 1924–1986
Boubacar Boris Diop
Boundou Koné
Breyten Breytenbach 1939–
Brian Chikwava
Brigitte Yengo
Bruce Hewett
Bryce Courtenay 1933–
Buchi Emecheta 1944–
Bunmi Oyinsan

C
C.C. Jaamac
C.J. Driver,
C.S.Z. Ntuli
Caetano da Costa Alegre 1864–1890
Caitlin Davies, born in Britain
Cali Xuseen Xirsi 1949–
Calixthe Beyala
Camara Laye
Can Themba 1924–1969
Carl Christian Reindorf
Carl de Souza 1949–
Caroline Angèle Yao
Casey Motsisi,
Catherine N`Diaye 1952-
Catherine Samali Kavuma
Chachage Seith
Chachage Chantal Magalie Mbazoo-Kassa
Charles Mungoshi
Charlotte Arisoa Rafenomanjato
Cheikh Anta Diop
Cheikh Hamidou Kane
Chenjerai Hove 1956–
Chielozona Eze
Chika Okeke
Chika Unigwe
Chike Ofili
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 1977–
China Keitetsi
Chinua Achebe 1930–
Chinwe Azubuike 1977-
Chinye Phiona Osai
Chris Abani
Chris Mann
Christiane Akoua Ekue 1954–
Christine Adjahi Gnimagnon, also connected with Benin
Christine Adjahi Gnimagnon, also connected with Senegal
Christine Kalonji
Christopher Hope, 1944–
Christopher Okigbo 1932–1967
Christopher van Wyk Chuma Nwokolo
Clarius Ugwuoha
Clémentine Nzuji 1944–
Clotilde Armstrong 1929-
Colette Samoya Kiruya 1952–
Colette Senami Agossou Houeto 1939–
Colleen Lindsay, also connected with Mauritius Colleen Lindsay, also connected with South Africa Conceição Lima 1962–
Coumba Diouf
Cristiane Remino-Granel, born on Martinique
Cucile-Ivelyse Diamoneka 1940–
Cyprian Ekwensi

D
D.B.Z. Ntuli Dambudzo Marechera 1952–1987
Damon Galgut
Dan Fulani
Daniel Olorunfemi Fagunwa
Dapo Adeniyi
David Ananou 1917–2000
David Diai
David Lambkin
David Niyonzima 1959–
Demese Tsege
Dennis Brutus
Dennis Osadebay
Denrele Ogunwa
Dev Virasawmy
Dia Kassembe
Diana Mordasini
Diederik Johannes Opperman 1914 -
Dike Okoro
Dina Salústio 1941–
Diur N`Thumb
Djibril Tamsir Niane
Don Mattera 1935–
Donatien Bihute 1940–
Donato Ndongo-Bidyogo 1950–
Doris Lessing, born in Persia now Iran 1919–
Douglas Livingstone, born in Malaysia 1932–1996
Doumbi Fakoly 1944–
Driss Chraïbi 1926–

E
E.C. Osondu Ebele Uche-Nwakile
Ebereonwu
Edmond Amran El Maleh 1917–
Edouard Maunick
Edward Wilmot Blyden 1832–1912, born in the Virgin Islands see also Liberia
Edward Wilmot Blyden 1832–1912, born in the Virgin Islands see also Sierra Leone
Edwin Barclay
Edwin Semzaba
Efua Dorkenoo
Efua Theodora Sutherland 1924–1996
Ellen Kuzwayo 1914–
Elsa Joubert, 1922–
Elspeth Huxley 1907–1997
Elvis Musiba
Emilie Anifranie Ehah, also connected with Senegal
Emilie Anifranie Ehah, also connected with Togo
Emma Huismans,
Emman Shehu
Emmanuel Dongala
Emmanuel Sule
Es`kia Ezekiel Mphahlele 1919–
Esho Oluborode
Esiaba Irobi
Essop Patel
Esther Kamatari 1951–
Eugène Marais
Eugénio Tavares 1867–1930
Euphrase Kezilahabi 1944–
Evelyne Mpoudi Ngole 1953-
Eyitemi Egwuenu

F
Faarax MJ Cawl 1937-1992
Falaba Issa Traoré 1930–2003
Fama Diagne Sène 1969-
Fanny Fatou Cissé 1971–
Fanta-Taga Tembely 1946–
Farida Karodia 1942–
Fatima Mernissi 1940–
Fatou Bolli
Fatou Diome 1968-
Fatou Kéita
Fatou Niang Siga 1932-
Fatou Sow Ndiaye
Fatouma Keïta 1977–
Félix Couchoro, also connected with Benin 1900–1968
Félix Couchoro, also connected with Togo 1900–1968
Femi Jeboda Ferdinand Oyono 1929–
Festus Iyayi
Fhazel Johennesse 1956–
Floe Hazoume 1959–
Flora Nwapa 1931–1993
Florent Couao-Zotti 1964–
Folasayo Dele-Ogunrinde
Francine Laurans 1962–
Francis Aupiais, born in France 1877–1945
Francis Bebey
Francis Imbuga
Francis Ohanyido 1970–
Francoise Balogun
Françoise Ugochukwu, born in France
Francy Brethenoux-Seguin
Frank Onyebu
Frantz Fanon, originally from Martinique 1925–1961
Frederick Kambemba Yamusangie

G
G. O. Apata
Gabriel Okara 1921–
Gad Ami 1958–
Gaël Koné 1976–
Galesiti Baruti
Gamal Al-Ghitani
Gcina Mhlophe 1959–
Genevieve Koutou
Guhl Germano Almeida 1945–
Ghislaine Sathoud 1969–
Gillian Slovo
Gina Dick
Girmācchaw Takla Hāwāryāt
Gisèle Halimi 1927–
Gisèle Hountondji 1954–
Glória de Santana 1925–
Godfrey Mzamane
Goley Niantié Lou
Grace Ogot 1930–
Graham Walker


H
Haddis Alemayehu
Haïdara Fatoumata Sirantou
HaJi Abdullahi Ali Dariy 1895-1973
Hama Tuma 1949–
Hammie Rajab
Hamzat Kassim
Hayam Abbas Al-Homi
Hédi Bouraoui 1932–
Helen Ovbiagele 1944–
Hélène Kaziende
Helon Habila
Henri Lopes 1937– , born in Congo-Kinshasa
Henriette Diabate
Herman Charles Bosman 1905–1951
Honorine Mare 1972–
Hortense Mayaba
Hussein Ali Du`ale Awil
Hyacinth Obunseh

I
Ibn Battuta 1304–1377
Ibrahim `Ali Salman 1937–
Ifi Amadiume
Iheoma Obibi
Ijeoma Ogwuegbu
Ike Anya
Ike Oguine
Ike Okonta
Ikhide R. Ikheloa Nnamdi
Ingrid de Kok 1951–
Innānu Āggonāfir pseudonym of Nagāsh Gabra Māryām
Isabelle Boni-Claverie
Isabelle Montplaisir
Ivan Vladislivic 1957 –
Ivone Ramos: 1926– short-stories

J
J. Sobowole Sowande
J.C. Dlamini
J.E. Casely-Hayford
J.J.R. Jolobe
J.K. Ngubane
J.M. Coetzee, awarded the 2003 Nobel Prize in Literature 1940–
Jack Mapanje
Jack McBrams
Jackee Batanda
Jacqueline Fatima Bocoum
Jacques Derrida 1930–2004
Jamal Mahjoub
James McClure
Jamin Owhovoriole
Jean Amrouche, Algeria 1907–1962
Jean Fanchette
Jean Pliya 1931–
Jean Sénac 1926–1962
Jean-Baptiste Abessolo 1932–
Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo 1901–1937
Jeanne de Cavally 1926–
Jeannette Balou Tchichelle 1947–
Jeannine Herrmann-Grisius
Jeremy Cronin 1949–
Jeremy Gordin
João Cleófas Martins 1901-1970
John L. Dube
John Marangwanda
John Mateer, also connected with Australia
John Pepper Clark 1935–
John van Melle, born in the Netherlands 1887–1953
Jomo Kenyatta 1892?–1978
Jorge Barbosa
Jorge McDoogal 1907–1962
José Craveirinha 1922–2003
José Eduardo Agualusa 1960–
José Francisco Tenreiro 1921–1963
José Luandino Vieira 1935–
José Pliva 1966–
Joseph Ki-Zerbo
Josette D. Abondio
Josiane Cointet, born and lives in France
Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel 1966–
Jude Dibia
Julius Nyerere 1922-1999
Jumoke Verissimo
Justine M`Poyo Kassa-Vubu 1951–
Justine Mintsa 1967–

K
K. Sello Duiker 1974–2005
K.S. Bongela
Kabika Tshilolo
Karen Blixen aka Isak Dinesen 1885–1962
Karo Umukoro
Kateb Yacine 1929–1989
Kavidi Wivine N`Landu
Kayode Aderinokun
Keenadiid Kelwyn Sole
Ken Bugul 1947-
Ken Lipenga
Ken Saro-Wiwa, son of Kenule Saro-Wiwa | November 10th 1996
Kenule Saro-Wiwa
Kesso Barry 1948–
Khadi Fall 1948-
Khadi Sy Bizet
Khadidjatou Khady Hane Khady Sylla 1963-
Kidist Bayelegne
Kimé Dirama Fall
Kofi Awoonor 1935–
Kokalu O. Kalu
Kole Ade-Odutola
Kole Omotosho
Kossi Efoui 1962–
Koumanthio Zeinab Diallo 1956–
Kusow, A.M.
Kwame Nkrumah 1909–1972

L
Ladipo Soetan Lauryn, also connected with Benin and Togo, born in France 1978– Lauryn, also connected with Côte d`Ivoire and Togo, born in France 1978– Lauryn, also connected with Togo and Benin, born in France 1978–
Laye Camara
Leila Aboulela
Leïla Sebbar
Lenrie Peters
Leonard Mncwango
Léonie Abo, 1945–
Léopold Senghor 1906-2001
Leopoldina Barreto
Lettie Viljoen 1948–
Lewis Nkosi 1936–
Lilian Berthelot
Lima-Baleka Bosekilolo
Lina Magaia
Lola Shoneyin Loud Speaker
Luis Bernardo Honwana
Lye M Yoka
Lynne Freed

M
M. Manuela Margarido 1925–
M.G. Vassanji 1950–
Mafika Gwala 1946–
Magema Fuze
Maggy Correa
Maguy Kabamba 1960–
Mahmood Mamdani
Maik Nwosu
Maïmouna Abdoulaye 1949-
Maishe Maponya
Makhosazana Xaba
Malcolm de Chazal 1902–1981
Mama Seck Mbacke
Mambou Aimée Gnali
Mame Bassine Niang 1951-
Mame Younousse Dieng
Mame Younousse Dieng
Mammo Wudneh
Mangistu Lammā Manïssa
Mansour Khaled
Manu Herbstein 1936–
Manuel de Novas 1938–
Manuel Lopes
Manuel Rui Monteiro
Marcel Cabon 1912–1972
Margaret Ogola
Marguerite Taos Amrouche 1913–1976
María Nsué Angüe 1945–
Mariama Bâ 1929-1981
Mariama Barry, also connected with Guinea Mariama Barry, also connected with Senegal
Mariama Méité 1967–
Mariama Ndoye
Mariana Kesso Diallo
Marie Anne Caro
Marie Béatrice Umutesi 1959–
Marie Bernadette Tiendrébéogo 1958–
Marie Giselle Aka born in the Lebanon 1971–
Marie Ndiaye, born in France 1967-
Marie Rose Turpin 1957-
Marie-Aimable Umurerwa
Marie-Christine Koundja 1957–
Marie-Danielle Aka
Marie-Leontine Tsibinda
Marie-Simone Séri, also connected with Burkina Faso
Marie-Simone Séri, also connected with Senegal
Marinette Secco, born in France 1921–
Mario Domingues 1899–
Mário Pinto de Andrade 1928–1990
Marion Diby Zinnanti 1960–
Mark Behr South Africa/Tanzania
Mark Behr, also connected with South Africa
Marlene van Niekerk
Martina Awele Nwakoby 1937–
Mary Lee Martin-Koné, born in USA
Massa Makan Diabaté 1938–1988
Mazisi Kunene
Mbulelo Mzamane
Mbwango Reis Luis
Meja Mwangi 1948–
Menan du Plessis 1952–
Mendes de Carvalho
Meshack Asare 1945–
Mia Couto 1955–
Micere Mugo 1942–
Michael Daniel Ambatchew 1967–
Michael Dei-Anang
Michele Assamoua, originally from France 1941–
Michèle Rakotoson
Micheline Coulibaly, born in Vietnam 1950–2003
Mike Jimoh
Mike Nicol 1951–
Miriam Tlali 1933–
Mobolaji Adenubi
Modikwe Dikobe
Moges Kebede
Mohamed Haji Mukhtar
Mohammed al-Shankiti
Mohammed Choukri
Mohammed Dib 1920–2003
Mohammed Khaïr-Eddine
Mohammed Sule
Mohammed Zefzaf
Molara Ogundipe
Mongane Wally Serote, 1944–
Mongo Beti pseudonym of Alexandre Biyidi Awala
Monica Arac de Nyeko
Monique Ilboudo
Moroesi Akhionbare 1945–
Moses Isegawa
Mositi Torontle
Moteane Melamu
Mouloud Feraoun 1913–1962
Mouloud Mammeri 1917–1989
Mouna-Hodan Ahmed 1972–
Moussa Diagana
Moussa Konaté
Moussa Ould Ebnou
Mpho Matsepo Nthunya
Mudi Sipikin
Muhammad Ahmad
Mahgoub Muhammad Awzal 1680-1749, prolific Sous Berber poet Muntu Xulu
Muriel Diallo 1967–
Muritala Sule
Murwan Al-Rasheed
Musaemura Zimunya 1949–
Mustafa Sadek El-Rafey
Muyaka bin Haji al-Ghassany
Mwana Kupona binti Msham
Myriam Warner Vieyra, born in Guadeloupe 1939-
Mzamane Nhlapo

N
N.J. Makhaye Nadège
Noëlle Ango Obiang
Nadele Noele Ango Obiang
Nadine Bari, born and lives in France 1940–
Nadine Gordimer, awarded the 1991 Nobel Prize in Literature 1923– Nadine Nyangoma, born in Belgium
Nafissatou Dia Diouf 1973-
Nafissatou Niang Diallo 1941-1982
Naguib Mahfouz, 1911– , awarded the 1988 Nobel Prize in Literature Nawâl El Saadâwi 1931–
Ndèye Comba Mbengue Diakhaté
Ndèye Doury Ndiaye 1936-
Nega Mezlekia
Nelson Mandela 1918–
Ngugi wa Mirii 1951–
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong`o 1938–
Nick Twinamatsiko
Niran Okewole
Njabulo Ndebele 1948–
Nkechi Nwosu-Igbo
Nkem Nwankwo 1936–2001
Nnaemeka Oruh
Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu
Nnorom Azuonye
Noëlle Bizi Bazouma 1959–
Noémia de Sousa 1926–
Noni Jabuvi 1919?/1921?–
Nozipa Maraire 1966–
Nuruddin Farah 1945–

O
Obakanse S. Lakanse
Obi Nwakanma
Obi Obiwu Iwuayanwu
Ogaga Ifowodo
Oklomin Kacou
Okot p`Bitek
Oladejo Okedeji
Oladipo Yemitan
Olaudah Equiano
Olinda Beja 1946–
Olive Schreiner, 1855–1920
Oliver Mbamara
Olu Oguibe
Olubukola Kwegan
Olufunmi Aluko
Olympe Bhêly-Quenum
Omolola Ijeoma
Ogunyemi Ondjaki
Onookome Okome
Onuora Nzekwu
Oscar Ribas
Osita Okoroafor
Osonye Tess Onwueme 1955–
Oswald Mtshali
Oum Ramatou 1970–
Oumou Diarra, born in Yugoslavia 1967–

P
Parselelo Kantai
Pascale Quao-Gaudens 1963–
Patrick Cullinan 1932–
Paul Tiyambe Zeleza
Paula Tavares 1952–
Paulin J. Hountondji 1942–
Paulin Joachim 1931–
Paulina Chiziane 1955–
Pedro de Gouveia Leite Mateus
Peggy Lucie Auleley
Penina Mlama
Pepetela Artur Carlos Maurício
Pestana dos Santos, 1941–
Perpetual Emenekwum-Eziefule
Peter Abrahams
Peter Anny-Nzekwue
Phaswane Mpe, 1970–2004
Phumasilwe Myeni
Pius Adesanmi
Prof. Maxime Z. Somé
Professor Ndumbe Eyoh
Pyabelo Chaold Kouly 1943–

Q
Quobna Ottobah Cugoano

R
Ra`ouf Mus`ad, also connected with Egypt
Rachid Boudjedra 1914–
Rachid Mimouni 1945–1995
Raïs Neza Boneza 1979–
Rajat Neogy
Raphael Armattoe
Rayda Jacobs
Raymond Chasle
Rebeka Njau 1930–
Reesom Haile
Regina Yaou 1955–
Remi Adedeji 1937–
Remi Okere
Remi Raji
Rene Maran, born near Martinique 1887–1960
Riana Scheepers
Richard Dogbeh, also connected with Benin, Senegal and Côte d`Ivoire 1932–2003
Richard Rive
Robert Bin Shaaban 1902-1962
Rocha Chimera
Rolfes Robert
Reginald Dhlomo 1901–1971
Ronnie Uzoigwe
Rosa de Saron
Rosalie Nana 1962–
Rose Zwi, born in Mexico
Rosemary Esehagu
Russell Smith, born South Africa, raised and lives in Canada
Ruth First 1925–1982

S
Sa`adu Zungur
Sahle Sellassie 1936–
Salama Moussa Samatar,
Said, S. Samir Amin
Samuel Ajayi Crowther 1809–1891
Samuel E.K. Mqhayi
Samuel Johnson
Samuel Olagunju Ogundipe
Sandile Dikeni
Sandra Pierrette Kanzie
Sara Pinto Coelho 1913–1990
Sarah O`Gorman
Sayyid Aidarusi
Sean Adetula
Sefi Atta
Segun Akinlolu
Segun Akinyode
Sembène Ousmane
Senator Ihenyen
Senouvo Agbota Zinsou 1946–
Sergio Frusoni 1901–1975 Poems in the crioulo of São Vicente
Shabbir Banoobhai 1949–
Shafi Adam Shafi
Sheila Fugard, born in England 1932–
Sheila Roberts 1937–
Sibusiso Nyembezi
Silvie Bokoko 1960–
Simbo Olorunfemi
Simone Kaya 1937–
Simporé Simone Compaore
Sindiwe Magona, 1943–
Sipho Sepamla 1932–
Sirah Balde de Labe
Sokhna Benga
Sol T. Plaatje
Sola Osofisan
Solomon Mutswairo 1924– see also Zambia
Sony Labou Tansi 1947–1995
Sophie Heidi Kam 1968–
Stanlake Samkange 1922–1988 Stanley Onjezani Kenani
Stephen Gray, 1941–
Stephen Watson 1955– Steven Chimombo
Sulaiman Ibrahim Katsina
Sumaila Isah Umaisha
Suzy Henique Nikiéma 1983–
Syl Cheney-Coker b.1945
Sylviane Diouf Sylvie Kande, born in France

T
T.M. Aluko 1918–
Tāddasa Lībān Tahar Ben Jelloun 1944–
Tahar Djaout 1954–1993
Tanella Boni
Tanure Ojaide 1948–
Tatamkula Afrika, also connected with South Africa 1920–2002 
Tatamkulu Afrika, born in Egypt 1920–2002
Tayeb Salih
Tchicaya U Tam`si 1931–1988
Tembela Sekele, also connected with Lesotho
Tété-Michel Kpomassie 1941–
Therese Assiga Ahanda
Thérèse Muamini Thomas Mofolo 1876–1948
Tierno Monénembo
Timothy Wangusa
Tita Mandeleau 1937-
Todd Matshikiza 1921?–1968
Tolu Ajayi
Tolulope Ogunlesi
Tony Eprile born Johannesburg, lives in U.S.
Tony Nduka Otiono
Toyin Adewale-Gabriel
Tsegaye Gabre-Medhin 1936–
Tsitsi Dangarembga 1959––

U
Uche Nduka
Uduma Kalu
Ugonna Wachuku 1971– , lives in Geneva, Switzerland
Umaru Dembo
Ungulani Ba Ka Khosa
Unity Dow
Unoma Nguemo Azuah

V
V.Y. Mudimbe 1941–
Valérie Pascaud-Junot born in France
Van Onselen
Vera Ezimora
Véronique Tadjo 1955–
Victor Ehikhamenor
Vusamazulu Credo Mutwa

W
Waberi Abdourahman 1965–
Wahome Muthahi –2003
Wale Adebanwi
Walid Soliman 1975–
Werewere-Liking Gnepo, also connected with Cameroon 1950–
Wilbur Smith 1932–
William Boyd
Williams Sassine
Wilma Stockenstrom 1933–
Wole Soyinka 1934– , awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature

Y
Yambo Ouologuem 1940–
Yamusangie, Frederick Kambemba
Yolanda Morazzo 1928–
Yolande Mukagasana
Youssef Rzouga 1957–
Yusuf Dawood
Yusufu Adamu
Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor winner Caine Prize 2003
Yvonne Vera, also connected with Canada 1964–2005

Z
Z.S. Qangule Zakes
Mda Zarra Guiro 1957–
Zoe Wicomb 1948–
Zulu Sofola 1935–