This is our story

This is my last roundup of 2009 so I thought I would do something different and cover some of the arts and literature blogs from and on Africa. The blogs fall roughly into two categories – those which publish their own work; and those which review and report on the work of others. As always there are many blogs that started with enthusiasm, but very quickly ended. Few people realise that it takes time and dedication to maintain a blog so I have tried to stick to regularly updated blogs. Here are some of my favourites.

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I’ll start with Poefrika, which is one of the oldest poetry blogs and is written by Rethabile Masilo, who also regularly contributes to Black Looks. Poefrika is the most comprehensive of all the literary blogs, publishing poems by Africans and non-African poets, reviews and interviews. He also has a section on best practice and writing tips. His latest post is ‘Ten poems to read before you die’.

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African Literature News & Review authored by Chielo Zona Eze who describes himself as a ‘Nigerian writer and philosopher’ began in January this year. Again the posts are comprehensive in their coverage of authors from across the continent and there are links to reviews and plenty of ‘How to’ tips. His last post is on ‘Black Sister Street’, the novel by Nigerian/Belgian writer Chika Unigwe:

‘It must be to Chika's credit that she created characters driven, as you put it, by "a deep hunger" or like most of us here in Obodo Oyibo, by a deep pain, cut off from the natal source of our being; here prostituting our talents rather cheaply. This is where I locate the beauty and relevance of Chika's work. I am happy she is ever ready to address the "open sore" of our continent out of the abiding love she has for it. This is our story, unapologetically ours, and we are happy she tells it without flinching.’

Critical Literature Review is edited by Ayodele Morocco-Clarke and is exactly what it says, publishing critical and detailed reviews of books by writers from across the continent and beyond. The latest post is ‘Lets Exhume Dead Poetry’, a review of a new anthology ‘Poetry is Dead’.

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Fluid Thought written by poet Bomi showcases her own work, whilst Jude Dibia, by the Nigerian author, publishes his own short stories with some reviews and essays from other writers.

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Finally in the literature section is Moroccan writer and critic, Laila Lalami. Laila’s is one of the oldest blogs, dating back to October 2001 when she blogged as ‘Moorish Girl’, which was one of the first blogs I started reading back in 2004. Her first post on 1 October was a one line ‘Hello world this is Moorish Girl’s first post’. Her third post still has a relevance today:

“Tuesday, October 2nd, 2001

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When you think of freedom fighters in the context of Afghanistan, who do you think of? Afghan women have been fighting for years to document the abuses inflicted upon them by both the Taliban and the Northern Alliance, and to sound the alarm about the spread of radicalist thinking. Here’s an interesting article on Salon.com. If you want to help, visit the Afghan Women’s Mission.”

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The next two blogs are two of my favourites. The first is by artist/animator Kenneth Coker and the second is by digital artist Jepchumba. Kenneth Coker uses his blog to display his art work for various projects and is a mixture of illustrations, animations and digital art work.

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African Digital Art is a group and blog started by Kenyan Jepchumba. It features artists, reviews, interviews, ‘How to’s’ and also includes a community / social networking space. If digital art is your thing then ADA is the place to be. You can also follow them on Twitter and Facebook. Their most recent post is the hilarious video animation titled ‘Nigerians Love Football’.

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Finally, two publisher sites. Cassava Republic the publishing house recently started by Bibi Bakare-Yusuf and Jeremy Weate and based in Abuja. And the excellent Umuzi, based in South Africa. And lastly, from Black Looks, a very personal review of Harare North, by Brian Chikwava.

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* Sokari Ekine blogs at Black Looks.
* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at Pambazuka News.