Q & A with Alain Mabanckou and why he said “Non” to Macron’s francophone project: The French language is varied, plural, diverse, and we don’t need France’s permission to create with it.
Americanah, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s fifth work to appear in Chinese, has been launched as 美国佬. See updated bilingual list of African Fiction in Chinese Translation/中文译本.
Collection of recent links re: China in Africa from Quartz Africa. Includes articles on Africa-based Confucian Institutes, rising number of young Africans being schooled in the PRC, and China’s role in the downfall of Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe.
How to Cope with the Social Pressures of a “Yoruba” Party in Lagos: You don’t want to arrive too early. By chance you actually have an invitation card (and not the ordainment of word of mouth), if it says 2 pm., arriving at 4 pm. is trying too hard. As we say in Lagos, don’t fall your own hand or, better yet, don’t stain your own white.
From the New York Times : A Wave of New Fiction From Nigeria, as Young Writers Experiment With New Genres
Sarah Ahrens reviews Alain Mabanckou’s Black Moses: “Black Moses” interestingly explores Congolese history and literature and the notion of a world literature in French. But, it falls far short of delivering on a plot level, as the female characters are underdeveloped and the novel’s conclusion plays into a contrived and predictable narrative about post-independence African nations and identity. (Mabanckou’s Demain, j’aurai vingt ans was recently launched in Chinese as 明天，我二十岁).
A Letter of Memorandum has been signed to translate Xi Jinping’s The Governance of China (Volumes 1 and 2) into Swahili, according to a press release from China’s embassy in Kenya (翻译出版备忘录).
The New African Magazine has revealed its 100 Most Influential Africans of 2017. Winners in the Arts & Culture category include Imbolo Mbue (Cameroonian author-to-watch), Roye Okupe (writer of the hit graphic novel series E.X.O.), author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (author and feminist), and Bushra al-Fadil (2017 Caine Prize winner).
AfroLit4China 