The very best in African literature! New titles for 2011
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Novels, poetry and short stories from Africa
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New titles from renowned and award-winning African authors
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Featuring introductions by rising stars of African fiction and expert commentators
www.pearsonafrica.com/AWS
Over 50 years of celebrated titles from award-winning African authors! ■ First launched over 50 years ago, the acclaimed African Writers Series is the standard for African literature. ■ During this time, the series has been a vehicle for some of the most important writers Africa has produced and has ensured an international voice for literary masters such as Chinua Achebe. ■ Today, the series comprises over 70 titles by nearly 40 writers from 19 different countries, ranging from stories and poetry to biographical writings and essays. Included in this are the African Writers Series Classics, a selection of the most critically and widely acclaimed titles from this celebrated series.
The African Writers Series is suitable for anyone studying African literature from the age of 14 and upwards. For more information visit our website www.pearsonafrica.com/AWS, where you’ll find additional information on the African Writers Series. You can also find us on Facebook – sign in and search for ‘African Writers Series’ 2
New titles for 2011
The Lovers
Search Sweet Country
Author: Bessie Head
Author: B. Kojo Laing
The Lovers collects together Head’s short fiction of the 1960s and 70s, written mainly in Serowe, Botswana, and depicting the lives and loves of African village people pre- and post-independence. Anthology favourites, like her breakthrough ‘The Woman from America’ and ‘The Prisoner who Wore Glasses’ are included.
Set in 1970s Accra, this inventive and intense first novel provides an insight into the aspects of a Ghanaian society caught in transition between tradition and modernity. Like a skilful bartender, Kojo Laing has created a heady cocktail in Search Sweet Country that will not fail to stimulate the reader’s mind.
Author: B. Kojo Laing
978 0 435045 71 5
978 0 435045 70 8
978 0 435045 72 2
Now Published
Publishing August 2011
Labyrinths
The Sterile Sky
Author: Christopher Okigbo
Author: E. E. Sule
This extraordinary and powerful collection of interlinked poems, first published in 1971, showcases Okigbo’s rare talent. Each poem draws the reader into an arresting world of myth and intense contemplation, “a fable of man’s perennial quest for fulfilment”.
978 0 435045 69 2
Now Published
Woman of the Aeroplanes Kojo Laing’s second novel takes the reader on a fantastic journey filled with unforgettable characters and magical places. This unforgettable story, alternating between the twin sister towns of Tukwan in Ghana and Levensvale in Scotland, challenges every conception of what fiction should or could be about.978 0 435045 72 2
Publishing July 2011
As the gifted young Murtala comes of age in Kano, violent riots and his family's own woes threaten to erase all he holds dear. Stalked by monsters real and imagined, desperate to preserve a sense of self and the future, Murtala hunts for answers in the wreckage of the city – and gives us a unique insight into modern life in northern Nigeria. Mould-breaking in its tackling of religious conflict, this novel offers a powerful portrait of an African society in shock and transition. 978 0 435045 75 3
Publishing February 2012
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Acclaimed titles from Chinua Achebe…
A Man of the People
Anthills of the Savannah
Arrow of God
A powerful satire that chronicles the corruption threatening careerist politicians.
A story of West African politics, entwined with African legends, folk-tales and proverbs.
A chief priest has rivals in the tribe, in the white government, and even in his own family and when surrounded by trouble, he adopts an increasingly cosmic view of events.
978 0 435905 36 1
978 0 435905 34 7
978 0 435905 38 5
978 0 435905 30 9
Contemporary African Short Stories
No Longer at Ease
The Trouble with Nigeria
Things Fall Apart
African Short Stories Chinua Achebe & C. L. Innes (eds.) ‘Altogether a pleasure to read. The editors have chosen 20 stories by 20 different writers from all over Africa, grouping them geographically into West, East, North and Southern Africa.’ World Literature Today.
Chinua Achebe & C. L. Innes (eds.) This anthology displays the variety, talent and scope of contemporary African writing. The magical realism of Kojo Laing and Mia Couto contrasts with the styles of prizewinning authors Nadine Gordimer, Ben Okri and Moyez Vassanji. 978 0 435905 66 8
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Achebe uses the ‘fall’ of one man, a descendent of the hero in Things Fall Apart, to depict the birth of a whole new age in Nigerian life – one ruled by the most powerful and disillusioning corruption.
In this book Achebe broke silence at the time of the 1983 Nigerian elections. The style and wit partly cover his deep desperation. Did this message have an influence on the leaders of the 1983 New Year’s Eve coup in Nigeria?
‘…The story is the tragedy of Okonkwo, an important man in the Igbo tribe in the days when white men were first appearing on the scene … a very simple but excellent novel’. The Observer Also available in an extended edition including essays, maps, illustrations
978 0 435913 50 2
978 0 435913 51 9
978 0 435906 98 6
978 0 435905 25 5 (Expanded edition)
More titles from the acclaimed Heinemann African Writers Series
Mine Boy Peter Abrahams
The Purple Violet of Oshaantu Neshani Andreas
9780435905620
9780435912086
The Concubine Elechi Amadi
Ama Ata Aidoo
Ihuoma, a beautiful young widow, has the admiration of the entire community in which she lives, and especially the hunter Ekwueme. However, their passion is fated, and jealousy, a love potion and the closeness of the spirit world, lift this simple Nigerian tale onto a tragic plane.
978 0 435910 14 3
978 0 435910 13 6
978 0 435905 56 9
So Long A Letter
The Poor Christ of Bomba
I Write What I Like
Wantok
Steve Biko
W. P. B. Botha
978 0 435905 98 9
978 0 435909 69 7
Changes Ama Ata Aidoo
Mariama Ba
The Girl Who Can and Other Stories
Mongo Beti 978 0 435913 52 6
978 0 435900 88 5
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More titles from the acclaimed Heinemann African Writers Series
Can We Talk and Other Stories
Dew in the Morning
Harvest of Thorns
Shimmer Chinodya
Shimmer Chinodya
Shimmer Chinodya
978 0 435912 05 5
978 0 435912 06 2
978 0 435905 82 8
Every Man is a Race
Beyond the Horizon
The Housemaid
Mia Couto
Amma Darko
Amma Darko
978 0 435909 82 6
978 0 435909 90 1
978 0 435910 08 2
Money Galore
Strange Man
Burning Grass
Amu Djoleto
Amu Djoleto
Cyprian Ekwensi
978 0 435901 61 5
978 0 435900 41 0
978 0 435900 02 1
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The Joys of Motherhood
Second Class Citizen
The New Tribe
Arrows of Rain
Efuru
Buchi Emecheta
Okey A Ndibe
Flora Nwapa
Buchi Emecheta
Buchi Emecheta
Nnu Ego is devoted to her children, giving them all her life – with the result that she finds herself friendless and alone in middle age. A powerful commentary on polygamy, patriarchy and women’s changing roles in urban Nigeria.
Adah’s fervoured desire to write is pitted against the dual forces of an egotistical and unfeeling husband and a largely indifferent white society.
A young Nigerian baby is adopted by the vicar of a sleepy English village. The New Tribe tells the story of Chester’s long search for his true identity, and the challenges he faces as a black child in a white family.
When a young woman runs into the sea and drowns, the police investigate the last man to see her alive, the eccentric vagrant known as Bukuru. What Bukuru reveals illuminates not just an army beyond control but also how his own tragic history is intertwined with the murderous past of the despotic ruler Isa Pallat Bello.
Nigerian Flora Nwapa’s first novel plants her story firmly in the world of women. Efuru, beautiful and respected, is loved and deserted by two undistinguished husbands.
978 0 435913 54 0
978 0 435909 91 8
978 0 435912 04 8
978 0 435906 57 3
978 0 435900 26 7
A Squatter’s Tale
The Translator
Ike Oguine
Leila Aboulela
Ambiguous Adventure
A novel about the pain and comedy in the lives of today’s economic refugees. Obi, a young hopeful Nigerian immigrant in America, tells a series of stories within a story of homesickness and living on the fringes of society, of ‘success’ and ‘failure’.
A subtle and moving novel which explores love, loss and cross cultural difference. Leila Aboulela’s melancholic and poetic story takes the reader on a journey where big concepts like the meaning of home, exile and faith are explored with sensitivity, thoughtfulness and beauty.
Chiekh Hamidou Kane
978 0 435906 55 9
978 0 435912 07 9
978 0 435901 19 6
Equiano’s Travels Olaudah Equiano and Paul Edwards (ed.) This landmark autobiography - arguably the first by an African writer - documents Equiano’s adventurous life in the 18th century, from childhood enslavement in Eastern Nigeria, to global traveller, to becoming a key member of the abolitionist movement in England. ‘Equiano’s book continues to be relevant well after two centuries not only because it is was competently organised and well written but also because it has behind it a strong personality whose presence is felt on every page.’ Professor Ogude 978 0 435906 00 9
Sambo Diallo finds his situation is ambiguous; while he has become estranged from his tribe, his faith and his homeland of Senegal, he is equally unable to identify with the soulless materialism he finds in France. Kane's novel, a classic of African letters, is a profound and meditative study of cultural separation and its effects.
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More titles from the acclaimed Heinemann African Writers Series
A Woman Alone
Collector of Treasures
Maru
A Question of Power
Bessie Head
Bessie Head
Bessie Head
Bessie Head
978 0 435906 03 0
978 0 435909 81 9
978 0 435913 58 8
978 0 435907 20 4
The Heinemann Book of South African Short Stories Denis Hirson with Martin Trump (eds.) This anthology features short stories from South Africa by a diverse range of authors including Nadine Gordimer, Bessie Head and Can Themba. The stories are set between 1945 and 1992 and give an insight into South Africa’s history and the realities of life in South Africa during and after apartheid.
Serowe: Village of the Rain Wind
The Cardinals Bessie Head
Bessie Head 978 0 435902 73 5
978 0 435909 67 3
When Rain Clouds Gather
The Imprisonment of Obatala
Bessie Head
Obotunde Ijimere
978 0 435913 57 1
978 0 435900 18 2
8
978 0 435906 72 6
The Enemy Within Steve Jacobs
The Clothes of Nakedness Benjamin Kwakye
978 0 435909 98 7
978 0 435912 01 7
The Beautyful Ones are Not Yet Born
In the Fog of Seasons’ End
The Seven Solitudes of Lorsa Lopez
The Grass is Singing
Ayi Kwei Armah
Alex La Guma
Sony Labou Tanzi & Clive Wake
978 0 435905 40 8
978 0 435909 80 2
978 0 435905 94 1
978 0 435901 31 8
No Easy Walk to Freedom
The Chattering Wagtails of Mikuyu Prison
Gathering Seaweed: African Prison Writing
The House of Hunger
Nelson Mandela
Jack Mapanje
Jack Mapanje (Ed)
978 0 435907 82 2
978 0 435911 98 0
978 0 435912 11 6
978 0 435895 89 3
Mema
Chaka Thomas Mofolo
Neighbours: The Story of a Murder
Oil Man of Obange
Daniel Mengara
Doris Lessing
Dambudzo Marechera
John Munonye
Lilia Momple 978 0 435909 23 9
978 0 435902 29 2
978 0 435912 09 3
978 0 435900 94 6
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More titles from the acclaimed Heinemann African Writers Series
God’s Bits of Wood
Houseboy
Sembene Ousmane
Ferdinand Oyono
The Old Man and the Medal
The Return of The Water Spirit
Ferdinand Oyono
Perpetela
978 0 435909 59 8
978 0 435905 32 3
978 0 435900 39 7
978 0 435912 10 9
Distant View of a Minaret
Season of Migration to the North
The Cowrie of Hope
Poems of Black Africa
Binwell Sinyangwe
Wole Soyinka
Alifa Rifaat
Tayeb Salih
978 0 435909 12 3
978 0 435913 53 3
978 0 435912 02 4
978 0 435901 71 4
A Grain of Wheat Ngugi wa Thiong’o Set in a Kenyan village, Ngugi’s compelling story addresses love, friendship and betrayal against the dramatic backdrop of rapid historical change. Ngugi’s reflection on a key chapter in Kenya’s past the period just before independence – explores the question of nationalism and the challenges an independent Kenya will face.
As the Crow Flies
The Shadow of Imana
Veronique Tadjo
Veronique Tadjo
978 0 435912 03 1
978 0 435910 15 0
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978 0 435913 56 4
How to order titles from the African Writers Series For customers in the UK you can order direct from Pearson: Devil on the Cross
The Black Hermit
Ngugi wa Thiong’o
Ngugi wa Thiong’o
978 0 435908 44 7
978 0 435900 51 9
Customer Services, Pearson Education Ltd, FREEPOST ANG2041, Harlow, CM20 2BR Tel: 0845 6301111 Fax: 0845 313 7777 Email: enquiries@pearson.com
For customers outside the UK please contact International Customer Services:
The River Between
Weep Not, Child
Ngugi wa Thiong’o
Ngugi wa Thiong’o
978 0 435905 48 4
978 0 435908 30 0
Pearson Education International Customer Services, Edinburgh Gate, Harlow, Essex, CM20 2YF, UK Tel: +44 1279 623925 Fax: +44 1279 623627 Email: icsorders@pearson.com Or contact your local Pearson representative or agent (see the back cover for details).
Open Spaces: An Anthology of Contemporary African Women Writers
Smouldering Charcoal Tiyambe Zeleza
Yvonne Vera (ed.) 978 0 435910 10 5
978 0 435905 83 5
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