Reading Africa is a challenge to encourage everyone and anyone to read a book from every African country. This is a great way to discover the hidden gems of each country as seen through the unique perspective of the authors. The diversity on the African continent is highly under-appreciated such as the different natural environments, cultures, communities, economies, politics and other factors.
“Africans are not all coughing on each other in one big hut"- Trevor Noah.
Some African countries and communities experience peace and others are sadly ravaged by years of ongoing war. Some countries could be experiencing an economic boom and others experience slow to no progress. Furthermore, the cultural differences that permeate through the continental communities are remarkable! Whilst overlaps in some cultures exist, there are distinct differences in the traditions, beliefs, food and many other aspects of one community compared to another. This means that no two African communities, tribes or even families are exactly alike.
African books immerse you into the African world and allow you to discover what makes communities or individuals tick. The cultural, political and social nuances that separate one particular African community from another can be learned through African literary works. Books from Africa offer the ability to go beyond the acceptance of popularly projected stereotypes and misconceptions about Africa. They provide a much-needed glimpse into a continent that is grossly misunderstood. By reading African books, knowledge about Africa is attained and so is empathy, to view the world from the author’s or subject’s perspective. We want to encourage you to pick up an African-authored book and embark on the journey of reading a book from every African country. In so doing, you get a varied understanding and perspective of Africa; you will be on your way to learning about a great continent.
To get you started, here is FREE ACCESS to a list of books from every African country. The best thing is you can start with any country and there is no time limit!
We want to hear from you.
Use the hashtag #ReadingAfricaChallenge on your posts to share with us what African books you are reading!
You can also DM/email us with suggestions of books from any country in Africa so that we can constantly increase and update the list.
How did Reading Africa come about?
Reading Africa was born as I was listening to the Comfort Zone episode of the TED Radio Hour podcast. An author and speaker by the name of Ann Morgan presented her amazing project of reading a book from every country in the world in a year called “A Year of Reading the World”. Therefore, the project was adapted for Dopefrica, and instead of the world, it would be just Africa! Please check out this awesome project by Ann Morgan on ayearofreadingtheworld.com. Also if you’d like to learn more about the author & speaker visit annmorgan.me.