African Literature

African literature refers to literature of and from Africa. As George Joseph notes on the first page of his chapter on African literature in Understanding Contemporary Africa, while the European perception of literature generally refers to written letters, the African concept includes oral literature.
As George Joseph continues, while European views of literature often stressed a separation of art and content, African awareness is inclusive:

"Literature" can also imply an artistic use of words for the sake of art alone. ... traditionally, Africans do not radically separate art from teaching. Rat
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Cursed Daughters
Dream Count
Jacaranda
My Friends
This Motherless Land
The Promise
Watch Us Dance (In the Country of Others, #2)
Little Rot
Yinka, Where Is Your Huzband?
Africa Is Not a Country: Notes on a Bright Continent
Nearly All the Men in Lagos Are Mad
And So I Roar
Blessings
La plus secrète mémoire des hommes
Small Worlds
Things Fall Apart (The African Trilogy, #1)
Half of a Yellow Sun
Americanah
Purple Hibiscus
Homegoing
The Thing Around Your Neck
Disgrace
So Long a Letter
We Should All Be Feminists
No Longer at Ease (The African Trilogy, #3)
A spell of good things by Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀Nightbloom by Peace Adzo MedieHangman by Maya BinyamMaame by Jessica GeorgeRiver Spirit by Leila Aboulela
100 Notable African Books of 2023
100 books — 5 voters
Never My Father's Daughter by Bamini SelladuraiThe Joy Luck Club by Amy TanThe Kite Runner by Khaled HosseiniNever My Father's Daughter by Bamini SelladuraiThe Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
Immigrant Experience Literature
1,048 books — 1,705 voters

The First Wife by Paulina ChizianeSleepwalking Land by Mia CoutoThe Tuner of Silences by Mia CoutoGungunhana by Ungulani Ba Ka KhosaChoriro by Ungulani Ba Ka Khosa
Literature of Mozambique
31 books — 6 voters


Diriye Osman
The God of Imagination lived in fairytales. And the best fairytales made you fall in love. It was while flicking through "Sleeping Beauty" that I met my first love, Ivar. He was a six-year-old bello ragazzo with blond hair and eyebrows. He had bomb-blue eyes and his two front teeth were missing. The road to Happily Ever After, however, was paved with political barbed wire. Three things stood in my way. 1. The object of my affection didn't know he was the object of my affection. 2. The object of ...more
Diriye Osman, Fairytales for Lost Children

Idowu Koyenikan
Most people write me off when they see me. They do not know my story. They say I am just an African. They judge me before they get to know me. What they do not know is The pride I have in the blood that runs through my veins; The pride I have in my rich culture and the history of my people; The pride I have in my strong family ties and the deep connection to my community; The pride I have in the African music, African art, and African dance; The pride I have in my name and the meaning behind it. ...more
idowu koyenikan, Wealth for all Africans: How Every African Can Live the Life of Their Dreams

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