Books

Grace
Chika Unigwe’s “Grace” Exposes the Line Between Wanted and Unwanted Pregnancy

Grace is an immensely provocative story that asks questions about the rightness or wrongness of…

Jollof Rice and Other Revolutions
“Jollof Rice and Other Revolutions” Review: Omolola Ijeoma Ogunyemi’s Debut Is a Triumph of Voice Storytelling

Omolola Ijeoma Ogunyemi presents an array of women, each caught up in events seemingly bigger…

Jonathan Kariara
The Legacy of Jonathan Kariara, Kenya’s Foundational Poet and Editor

Jonathan Kariara became foundational not by speaking the loudest, but by enabling others, mentoring, editing,…

Gemspread
Literary Merit or Not: Nigerian Publishing and Gemspread’s Attempt

Since the cost of book printing contributes more to the retail price of books, one…

The Naming
Of Cities and Ancestors: A Review of “The Naming” and “African Urban Echoes”

[In The Naming,] Chinua Ezenwa-Ohaeto wants to say something of his Igbo background. . .…

Poetry Has All My Pain
“Poetry Has All My Pain” and “Love Through the Eyes of a Village Boy” Review: Vic’Adex Twin Collection Finds Tension in Parental Absence and Love

Poetry Has All My Pain and Love Through the Eyes of a Village Boy straddles the…

Afrocritik’s Most Anticipated Books of 2026
Afrocritik’s Most Anticipated Books of 2026

Many of the books listed below will engage readers in the coming year; some will…

Afrocritik’s Notable African Books of 2025
Afrocritik’s Notable African Books of 2025

The good news is that African writers are still firing on all cylinders in all…

Fenestration
Carrying These Poems Far Into the Middle and Beyond: A Review of Othuke Umukoro’s “Fenestration”

By and large, we find in Umukoro’s Fenestration, poems that are alive, awake and aware;…

Meja Mwangi
The Life and Works of Meja Mwangi, Kenya’s Great Chronicler

The late Meja Mwangi’s work insisted that literature espouses life. It cannot hold every detail,…