East and Central Africa

Abstract

Introduction

The 1960s is normally celebrated in African literary studies as the decade of flag independence. In East Africa, the various countries in the region attained their independence between 1960 and 1963, making 2013, the last country’s golden anniversary, as Kenya marks her fiftieth independence anniversary this year, while Tanzania and Uganda marked theirs in 1961 and 1962 respectively. 1962 is also a significant year in East/African literatures, as it is the year when the first African Writers’ Conference was held at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda. This international conference brought together what was to become the cream of African letters, including writers such as West Africans Chinua Achebe, JP Clark, Wole Soyinka, Christopher Okigbo, South Africans Lewis Nkosi, Authur Maimane, Bloke Modsane, Eski’a Mphahlele and East Africans Rebekka Njau, Grace Ogot, Ngugi wa Thiong’o, and John Nagenda along with American poets Langston Hughes and J. Saunders Redding. But the Makerere conference was to become a landmark moment in African writing because of the kinds of debates it launched on questions such as the definition of African literature and what came to be known as “the language debate”. These debates remain unresolved in many senses, despite provocative interventions by Chinua Achebe, Obiajunwa Wali, and Ngugi wa Thiong’o and many subsequent generations of writers and scholars. In addition to being Uganda’s fiftieth independence anniversary, 2012 was also the fiftieth anniversary of the Makerere 1962 conference, and, as expected, the university set out to host a commemorative conference. Unfortunately, the conference was postponed and, though it is yet to take place, writers from the region and elsewhere have variously picked up on the region’s fiftieth anniversary of independence as a vantage point of reflection. Notable in this respect are what can be termed “biographies of the nation,” which look back at developments in the respective countries over the last fifty years. Among these are John McCracken’s A History of Malawi, 1855-1966 [see Auto/biographies, Malawi), Daniel Branch’s incisive Kenya: Between Hope and Despair, 1963-2012 [see Auto/biographies, Kenya] and After 50 Years: The Promised Land Is Still Too Far!, 1961-2011 on Tanzania, by John Ibrahim Werrema, Warren DM Reed, Jenerali Ulimwengu and Lisa Smith Holtz [see Auto/biographies, Tanzania].

Similar to previous years’ lists, life writing remains the genre of choice across the region, with a consistently growing volume of auto/biographical titles. An interesting subgenre of life writing that continues to take shape in the region comprises Peace Corps and travellers’ memoirs in reference to biographies seemingly inspired by life-changing visits to the continent where the visitors have arrived either as Peace Corps volunteers or, increasingly, on safari to escape from unbearable circumstances at home. It is unsurprising that East Africa should be the cradle of this kind of memoirs, as they seem to hark back to both the classical Safari genre of travel writing on the region, and the more recent phenomenon of humanitarian interventions and volunteering. The former category is represented in this year’s list by, among others, William J Hemminger’s African Son, John Donelly’s A Twist of Faith: An American Christian’s Quest to Help Orphans in Africa [see Auto/biographies, Malawi], Tim Ward’s Zombies on Kilimanjaro: A Father-Son Journey above the Clouds [see Auto/biographies, Tanzania] and Spencer West’s Standing Tall: My Journey [see Auto/biographies, Kenya]. West’s memoir chronicles his life as an amputee and how, in a world which limits the life possibilities of people with special needs, he embraced his difference without allowing it to undermine his life’s dreams. His search for meaning leads him to volunteer work in Kenya where he helps build a school in the rural Maasai Mara region. This becomes a defining moment in his life as he finds his purpose in motivating and inspiring people and proceeds to become a motivational speaker. Similarly, Tim Ward’s Zombies on Kilimanjaro is an unusual memoir about a strained father-son relationship: tensions and secrets unfold when the two men undertake a trip to Tanzania to climb the mountain. This book weaves the story of the Wards with the story of Mt. Kilimanjaro and the rapid loss of its glaciers as the reality of climate change manifests itself at the highest point on the continent.

This trend appears to have left its imprint on fiction authors too, as suggested by a rising number of novels set in the region that imaginatively explore the power of travel and humanitarian support to Africa in healing relationships and grief-ridden lives. Heather Clarker’s Chai Tea Sunday [see Fiction, Kenya] is an example of this kind of narrative, which, though fictional, is loosely based on the author’s cousin’s travel experiences in Kenya as a volunteer at an orphanage. In the novel, Nicky Fowler’s marriage falls apart when they suffer a devastating loss. Nicky decides to go to Kenya as a volunteer teacher at an orphanage where she finds the strength not only to recover from her loss, but to define a new purpose in life: supporting the orphans she has come to love deeply. Similarly, Shana Burg’s Laugh with the Moon [see fiction, Malawi] is a novel set in Malawi, where the author lived and worked for Save the Children. In the novel, thirteen-year-old Clare’s mother dies, leaving behind her daughter and her doctor husband who appears, to the young girl, more invested in his Malawian patients’ lives than her own. With time, however, Clare manages to adapt to Malawi, her new school and the new cultures, and eventually finds healing through her friendship with a local orphan, Memory. Paul Theroux’s The Lower River [see fiction, Malawi], is also set in Malawi and explores its main character’s return to Africa, where he once spent four years with the Peace Corps. Now, emerging from a broken marriage and having to pick up the pieces of his life, he chooses to relocate to Malawi where he finds himself again. A related trend in this kind of fiction is Christian fiction also set in Kenya, which follows the same line of recovery of life’s purpose and healing through helping others. Robin Jones Gunn’s Finally and Forever [see fiction, Kenya] is an excellent example of this. Terri Richards takes the journey-to-Africa novel on a different trip, in her novel Mission of Desire [see fiction, Kenya]. Here, the adventure-seeking Nicole Kennedy goes to Kenya to volunteer as a teacher but finds herself at the centre of an international million-dollar conspiracy and is eventually rescued by a government agent for whom she develops a romantic interest. Jeremy Bates complicates this trend of adventure by setting his novel The Taste of Fear [see Fiction, Tanzania] in Dar es Salaam on the eve of an Al-Qaeda terrorist attack on the US embassy in the city. The fictional American film star Scarlett Cox and her tycoon husband Salvador Brazza, visiting Dar es Salaam in an attempt to resuscitate their crumbling marriage, find themselves trapped in this terror attack as they are taken hostage and whisked off to neighbouring Congo. The nod to an Al-Qaeda attack in Dar es Salaam and a hostage situation seems to reference both the phenomenon of piracy off the East African coastline and the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam.

The Auto/biographies section also offers a number of exciting titles whose subject extends the region’s literary concerns in interesting ways. Notable among these is Adharanand Finn’s Running with the Kenyans: Passion, Adventure and the Secrets of the Fastest People on Earth [see Auto/biographies, Kenya]. A keen athlete himself, Finn moves with his family to the town of Iten in Kenya, and, as the title suggests, joins the athletes in their training sessions. Finn’s book echoes an earlier title Running by Jackie Lebo (2010), in exploring the hitherto under-examined phenomenon of athletics in Kenyan society. Other intriguing auto/biographical titles in this year’s list include Ian D. Dicks’ An African Worldview: The Muslim Amacinga Yawo of Southern Malawi [see Auto/biographies, Malawi] and Alastair Hazell’s The Last Slave Market: Dr John Kirk and the Struggle to End the African Slave Trade [see Auto/biographies, Tanzania]. Both books are very important additions to East and Central African letters precisely because of their engagement with subjects that have received limited attention of a book-length scope despite their historic and cultural centrality to the region’s histories.

As usual, this year’s list features both debut writers and new offerings from established authors. Among the later category is the second volume of Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s memoirs, In the House of the Interpreter [see Auto/biographies, Kenya] which is a sequel to the earlier Dreams in a Time of War (2010). The memoir offers an excellent reflection on Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s student years at Alliance High School and the deep impact of the school principal Carey Francis, on the intellectual diet on the school’s syllabus and the school’s firm grounding in the Christian faith, and on the development of his critical outlook, which was later to shape his life and thought as a writer and intellectual. Interestingly, this year’s list also features two of Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s novels – Weep not Child (1964) and A Grain of Wheat (1967) [see Fiction, Kenya] – originally published by Heinemann, but now reissued under the Penguin Modern Classics series, with introductions by Nigerian author Ben Okri and Tanzanian novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah respectively. These three texts – Ngugi’s memoirs of his youth, and the reissued novels with the new introductions – make for a new reading and re-reading of Ngugi wa Thiong’o, both in conversation with himself and with fellow writers from the continent. Two other established authors in this year’s list are Ugandan Laban Erapu and Tanzanian MG Vassanji with their novels, Joy to the World and The Magic of Saida [see Fiction, Uganda and Tanzania respectively]. The renowned Kenyan writer Grace Ogot published her autobiography, Days of My Life [see Auto/Biographies, Kenya].

2012 has also been a rich year in terms of critical studies on the region and its literatures, with a wide range of interesting articles, book chapters and book-length studies. Of the latter, Patricia M E Lorcin’s Historicizing Colonial Nostalgia: European Women’s Narratives of Algeria and Kenya 1900-Present and David P Sangren’s Mau Mau’s Children: The Making of Kenya’s Postcolonial Elite stand out as does James Ogude et al.’s Rethinking East African Literary and Intellectual Landscapes [see General Studies, Kenya]. These three titles offer important windows into different moments and fragments of the region’s literatures and the people behind it.

Given the general paucity of attention to drama and poetry in the region – a lack further signalled by the equally sparse output of the genre itself in this year’s and previous years’ lists – Mufunanji Magalasi’s Stage Drama in Independent Malawi 1980-2002 [see General Studies, Malawi] and Alice Jossy Kyobutungi Tumwesigye’s Henry Barlow: A Romanticist Reading [see Studies on Individual Authors] are particularly notable entries in this year’s list. A book-length study on Barlow’s poetry – and broadly, the region’s poetry – is long overdue, given Barlow’s centrality to the region’s poetry, a position he has occupied for decades. His classic poem “Building the Nation” remains an ever-relevant, still poignant critique of cultures of conspicuous consumption and wastefulness in East African politics.

Overall, while the region’s output remains modest in comparison to Anglophone Southern and West Africa, this year’s list nonetheless offers an engaging range of publications.

Bibliography: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Malawi

Research Aids

Malawi

Historical Dictionary of Malawi Owen JM Kalinga 567pp Scarecrow Press (Lanham).

Poetry

Kenya

Muli, Makau My Flower Garden and Other Poems 90pp Canon Literature Media (Nairobi).

Walmsley, Trudy The Changing Winds 71pp Logos Publishers (Nairobi).

Drama

Kenya

Abala, Imali J. A Fallen Citadel and Other Poems 63pp Langaa Research (Bamenda).

Nyongesa, Christopher Makhanu When Tributaries Even Out 120pp Automatic Immediate Technologies (Nairobi).

Fiction

Regional

Caine Prize Africa Violet and Other Stories: The Caine Prize for African Writing 2012 228pp Jacana Media (Johannesburg).

Kenya

Baker, Alex Wyndham Cursive 415pp Cutting Edge (London).

Bateman, David L Houses of Stone 333pp David Bateman (Auckland).

Bunn, Davis T Rare Earth 363pp Bethany House Publishers (Bloomington, Minn).

Clark, Heather A Chai Tea Sunday 298pp ECW Press (Toronto).

Coates, Frank Echoes from a Distant Land 404pp HarperCollins (Sydney).

—The Last Maasai Warrior 206pp HarperCollins (Sydney).

—Beyond Mombasa 146pp HarperCollins (Sydney).

Ford, Mackenzie The Clouds beneath the Sun – A Novel 448pp Anchor Books (New York) [2010].

Gathu, Charles State House Conspiracy 73pp Xlibris (Philadelphia).

Gichohi, Anne The Green Card Saga 116pp AW Gichohi (Nairobi).

Gunn, Robin Jones Finally & Forever 254pp Zondervan (Grand Rapids, Mich).

Hightower, Joyce No Shadow of Turning 380pp West Bow Press (S.I).

Kamau, Caxton The Dreams of Another Day 122pp C Kamau (Nairobi).

Kombani, Kinyanjui The Last Villains of Molo 212pp Longhorn (Nairobi).

Macharia, David N. The Wicked Shall Fall 156pp ADN Press (Nyeri).

Menezes, Braz More Matata – Love after the Mau Mau – A Novel Set in Kenya and Goa 279pp Matata Books (Toronto).

Murithi, Alex Excel to Excellence: How I Overcame Drug Addiction and Other Obstacles 143pp Guideposts Concierge (Nairobi).

Nderitu, Paul Line & Sinker 154pp Artful Touches (Nairobi).

Ndwiga, Robert The Terrorists of Jubaland 134pp Thinktank Marketing (Nairobi).

Ogola, Margaret A Mandate of the People 246pp Focus (Nairobi).

Richards, Terri Mission of Desire 232pp Bold Strokes Books (New York).

Nyongesa, Andrew Wafula Worms in the Lounge 299pp Splendor Publications (Ruiru).

Wa Thiong’o, Ngugi Weep Not Child 149pp Penguin (New York).

—A Grain of Wheat 242pp Penguin (New York) [originally pub 1967].

Wood, Barbara Green City in the Sun 734pp Turner (Nashville).

Malawi

Burg, Shana Laugh with the Moon 245pp Delacorte Press (New York).

Theroux, Paul The Lower River 323pp Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (Boston).

Tanzania

Bates, Jeremy The Taste of Fear 351 WiDo (Salt Lake City, UT).

Cussler, Clive and Grant Blackwood Lost Empire 402pp Putnam’s Sons (New York) [2010].

Ejersbo, Jakob Exile 164pp MacLehose (London).

Irion, Charles G and Ronald J Watkins Murder on Kilimanjaro 302pp Irion Books (Phoenix).

Mkufya, W W The Wicked Walk 108pp Mkuki na Nyota (Dar es Salaam).

Resnick, Michael D Seven Views of Olduvai Gorge – A Novella 45pp Phoenix (Rockville, MD).

Scholes, Katherine The Lioness 162pp Penguin Group Australia (Camberwell, Vic).

Sokko, Hamza The Gathering Storm 243pp Mkuki na Nyota (Dar es Salaam).

Vassanji, MG The Magic of Saida 305pp Doubleday (Toronto).

Uganda

Alkemade, Jo Belonging in Africa 280pp CreateSpace (S.I.).

Eng, Hans & JWB Mwesigwa Kaaragwire Becomes Queen: An African Folk Tale in English and Rukiga Hans & Mwesigwa (Kampala).

Erapu, Laban Joy to the World 104pp Bishop Stuart University (Mbarara) [2004].

—Shared Lives 124pp Bishop Stuart University (Mbarara).

Etengu, Raphael The Troubles of Belly 162pp Eyez Magazine and Publishers (Kampala).

Fodden, Giles The Last King of Scotland 176pp Penguin (Harlow) [1998].

Glass, Matthew Trigger Point 412pp Atlantic Monthly Press (New York).

Namakula, Elizabeth Lenana The Walled Garden: A Novel 93pp Platinum (Kampala).

Pendleton, Don Terror Trail 317pp Gold Eagle/Worldwide (Toronto; New York).

Rushedge, Tumusiime E. The Corrupt, the Quick and the Dead 322pp Fountain (Kampala).

Auto/biography

Kenya

Abranches, Maura Go Beyond the Classroom 66pp Asaph Office Publications (Nairobi).

Alkemade, Jo Belonging in Africa 280pp CreateSpace (S.I).

Aldrick, J Northrup: The Life of Sir William Northrup McMillan, 1872-1925 244pp Old Africa Books (Kijabe).

Alfred, Obs Raila Amolo Odinga: His Presidency – The Best That Kenya Had 94pp OBS Academy (Nairobi).

Anderson, Marcia Tea without Sugar: Chastened for a Destiny 160pp Derek Press (Cleveland).

Barcott, Rye It Happened on the Way to War: A Marine’s Path to Peace 368pp Bloomsbury (London) [2011].

Branch, Daniel Kenya: Between Hope and Despair, 1963-2012 378pp Yale UP (New Haven).

Chomu, Kipchoge araap and Giles Humphry Unyielding Hope: The Life and Times of Koitaleel Somoei 96pp Phoenix (Nairobi).

Conijn, Frits Running on Empty: Life and Triumphs of Samuel Kamau Wanjiru 218pp Moran Publishers (Nairobi).

Dawood, Yusuf The Last Word 291pp Sasa Sema Publications (Nairobi).

Finn, Adharanand Running with the Kenyans: Passion, Adventure and the Secrets of the Fastest People on Earth 265pp Ballantine Books (New York).

Fratkin, Elliot M Laibon: An Anthropoligist’s Journey with Samburu Diviners in Kenya 179pp AltaMira Press (Lanham).

Gichuru, Esther The Power of Determination: Growing up in Kenya in the 40s, 50s, and 60s 184pp Xlibris (New York).

Goffard, Christopher You Will See Fire: A Search for Justice in Kenya 317pp W.W. Norton (New York).

Hornsby, Charles Kenya: A History since Independence 958pp I.B. Tauris (London).

Johnson, Stanley UNEP – The First 40 Years: A Narrative 298pp UNEP (Nairobi).

Kaggia, Bildad, M Kaggia, W. de Leeuw The Struggle for Freedom and Justice: The Life and Times of the Freedom Fighter and Politician Bildad M. Kaggia (1921-2005) 285pp Transafrica Press (Nairobi).

Kagwanja, Peter and Humphrey Ringera Kiraitu Murungi: An Odyssey in Kenyan Politics 323pp Kenway Publications (Nairobi).

Kelemba, Paul, Joyce Nyairo and Frank Odoi It’s a Madd, Madd World! With Maddo: The Hot Years 2007-2011 271pp Buni (Nairobi).

Kihara, Titus Ndiritu and Michael McDonald What I Never Told You: Memoirs of a Recovering Addict 88pp Pauline Publications (Nairobi).

Lonergan, Steve Riding in a Matatu: The Perils of Living in Kenya and Working for the UN 210pp Tiny Tembo (Victoria, BC).

Maathai, Wangari and Jane Rollason Unbowed 184pp Pearson Education (Harlow).

Manirambona, Thierry The Orchids: A Story of Suffering and Courage 94pp Pauline Publications (Nairobi).

Meikuaya, Wilson, Susan McClelland and Jackson Ntirkana The Last Maasai Warriors: An Autobiography 180pp Me to We (Toronto).

Miguna, Miguna Peeling back the Mask: A Quest for Justice in Kenya 588pp Gilgamesh Africa (London).

Moretto, Vittorio If I Lived a Thousand Lives: St. Daniel Comboni’s Journey to Holiness 143pp Paulines Publications (Nairobi).

Muluka, Barrack, Rosemary Okello Orlale and Dan Orlale Beyond the Shadows of My Dream: Martin Oduor-Otieno 212pp MvuleAfrica (Nairobi).

Muthoka, Nicholas and Joseph Mwaniki Fr. Giacomino Camisassa – The Heroic Story of a Priest after the Heart of Christ 117pp Paulines Publications (Nairobi).

Myrick, Carole Escape under the Kenyan Moon: A True Story 146pp West Bow Press (Bloomington).

Nolan, Francis The White Fathers in Colonial Africa, 1919-1939 472pp Paulines Publications (Nairobi).

Obama, Auma And Then Life Happens: A Memoir 342pp St. Martin’s Press (New York).

Ochuodho, Shem J Dawn of a Rainbow: The Untold Intrigues of Kenya’s First Coalition Government 260pp Adage Publications (Nairobi).

Ogot, Grace Days of My Life: An Autobiography 325pp Anyange Press (Kisumu).

Ogot, Bethwell A. Kenyans, Who Are We: Reflections on the Meaning of National Identity and Nationalism 168pp Anyange Press (Kisumu).

Oleary, Jack W, Mary Clare Lyons and Virginia Elizabeth Rose My Road to Kenya: A Story of Faith, Hope and Democracy in Action 148pp West Bow Press (Bloomington).

Opiyo, George Kenyatta Cabinets: Drama, Intrigue, Triumph 368pp Kenya Yearbook Editorial (Nairobi).

Prettejohn, Mike Endless Horizons: 100 Years of the Prettejohn Family in Kenya 413pp Old Africa Books (Kijabe).

Sheldrick, Daphne Jenkins Love Life and Elephants: An African Short Story 334pp Farrar, Straus and Giroux (New York).

Stewart, Andrew A Very British Experience: Fighting the Second World War 247pp Sussex Academic Press (Brighton).

Thrane, Jorgen W. In and Out of Africa: A Farmerlife in Kenya 1952-2000 341pp Jorgen W Thrane (S.I.).

Thurow, Roger The Last Hunger: A Year in an African Farming Community on the Brink of Change 272pp PublicAffairs (New York).

Wainaina, Binyavanga One Day I Will Write about This Place 240pp London (Granta).

Wa Thiong’o, Ngugi In the House of the Interpreter 240pp Pantheon Books (New York).

West, Spencer and Susan McClelland Standing Tall: My Journey 215pp Me to We (Vancouver).

Willson, James G Guerrillas of Tsavo: Diary of a Forgotten Campaign, British East Africa, 1914-1916 368pp JamesWilson (Diani).

Malawi

Dicks, Ian D An African Worldview: The Muslim Amacinga Yawo of Southern Malawi 510pp Kachere Series (Zomba).

Donnelly, John A Twist of Faith: An American Christian’s Quest to Help Orphans in Africa 190pp Beacon Press (Boston).

Gibson, Jean Journey of Hope: Stories of Courage and Faith from Africa 223pp Monarch (Oxford).

Hemminger, William J African Son 94pp University Press of America (Lanham).

McCracken, John A History of Malawi, 1855-1966 485pp James Currey (Suffolk; New York).

Oliver, Kara Lassen Our Journey: Called to Malawi 88pp s.n. (Lexington).

Tanzania

Bartemes, Dave and Richard L Deming We Call Her Kili 97pp Authorhouse (Bloomington).

Gebregziabher, Syoum Symphony of My Life: The Challenging Times and My Variant Experiences from Ethiopia, Bhutan, Tanzania and the United States 339pp Red Sea Press (Trenton, NJ).

Grant, Richard Crazy River 174pp Little Brown (London).

Hatcher, Bill The Marble Room – How I Lost God and Found Myself in Africa 278pp Lantern Books (New York).

Hazell, Alastair The Last Slave Market: Dr John Kirk and the Struggle to End the African Slave Trade 224pp Constable (London).

Henderson, Harry The Leakey Family: Unearthing Human Ancestors 127pp Chelsea House (New York).

Jacobs, Donald R What a Life! A Memoir 320pp Good Books (Intercourse).

Joffe, Neville H Never Say Never: Life Lessons Learned Climbing Kilimanjaro 134pp Bizwisdom (Toronto).

Maganga, Margareth A Journey through Darkness – A Story of Inspiration 125pp Mkuki na Nyota (Dar es Salaam).

Mazrui, Ali AlAmin and Lindah Muhando Julius Nyerere, Africa’s Titan on a Global Stage: Perspectives from Arusha to Obama 390pp Carolina Academic Press (Durham, NC).

Msekwa, Pius The Story of the Tanzania Parliament 138pp P Msekwa (Dar es Salaam).

Panerl, Debra A Full Circle: Walking alongside Maasai Women of Tanzania 121pp Beavers’s Pond Press (Edina, MN).

Rennicke, Jeff and Lori Schneider More than a Mountain: Our Leap of Faith 292pp Empowerment through Adventure (S.I).

Sinclair, A.R.E. Serengeti Story – A Scientist in Paradise 278pp Oxford UP (Oxford).

Tucker, Shelby The Last Banana 361pp Stacey International (London).

Turner, Barry From the Plains of Africa to the Jungles of Parliament 178pp Optimum Publications (Maxville, Ont.).

Ward, Tim Zombies on Kilimanjaro: A Father-Son Journey above the Clouds 230pp Changemakers Books (Winchester UK).

Werrema, Ibrahim John, Warren DM Reed, Jenerali Ulimwengu, Lisa Smith Holtz After 50 Years: The Promised Land Is Still Too Far!, 1961-2011 164pp Mkuki na Nyota (Dar es Salaam).

Uganda

Bisase, Arnold Spero Guardian Angel: An Autobiography 308pp AuthorHouse (Bloomington, Ind.).

Bogdaniec-Seluga, Nadia Far from My Home Never to Return: A Polish Child’s WWII Memoir 211pp Martin Sisters Publishing (Kentucky).

Brown, J Larry Peasants Come Last 284pp Lucita Publishing (Sunnyvale, CA).

Duval, Armand Father Simeon Lourdel Missionary of Africa: Apostle of Uganda, 1853-1890 316pp Angel Agencies (Kampala).

Campbell, Mark On the Banks of the Chambura River 236pp Lulu (Morrisville, N.C.).

Crothers, Tim The Queen of Katwe: A Story of Life, Chess and One Extraordinary Girl’s Dream of Becoming a Grandmaster 232pp Scribner (New York).

Davis, Katie and Beth Clark Kisses from Katie: A Story of Relentless Love and Redemption 280pp Howard Books (New York).

Gatkuoch, Martha and Brett Brymaster It Feels like the Burning Hut: A Young Woman’s Journey from War-Torn Sudan to America 106pp Resource Publications (Eugene, Or).

Geddes, Gary Drink the Bitter Root: A Search for Justice and Healing in Africa 232pp Counterpoint (Berkeley, CA).

Govani, Jamie Life Is a Lesson: Never Give up Hope 156pp Authorhouse (S.I).

Hightower, Joyce No Shadow of Turning 380pp West Bow (S.I.).

Jagielski, W and Antonia Lloyd-Jones The Night Wanderers: Uganda’s Children and the Lord’s Resistance Army 275pp Seven Stories Press (New York).

Kafeero, Paul Job & Kathryn Barrett-Gaines One Little Guitar: The Words of Paul Job Kafaeero 290pp Fountain (Kampala).

Kanonymous, JP Laughter in Small Doses: Life’s Tacks and Tickles 344pp Tourguide (Kampala).

Kanyeihamba, George The Blessings and Joy of Being Who You Are 594pp n.i. (Entebbe).

Kayanja, Jessica To Live or Not to Leave 114pp Girl Power (Kampala).

Lever, Janice Bye Mzungu – Memoir of a Californian in Uganda 355pp CreateSpace (Charleston, S.C.).

Lovell, Nikki We Are One Village: The Inspiring True Story of an African Community’s Impact on a Young Australian Girl 241pp Allen & Unwin (Sydney).

Mills, Stephen & Brian Yonge A Railway to Nowhere: The Building of the Lunatic Line, 1896-1901 Mills Publishing (Nairobi).

Namuddu, Katherine Never a Dull Moment: 1950s Village Schooling in Uganda 248pp Xlibris (S.I).

Obol, Robert Nyeko The Life and Lessons from a Warzone: A Memoir of Dr. Robert Nyeko Obol 212pp Lulu Communications (Raleigh, N.C.).

O’Dowd, John The Amazing Story of the KONY 2012 Phenomenon 574pp O’Dowd (s.n.).

Parris, Jill, Isabella Dupre & Laurie Humphries Life in the Winds of Change 260pp s.n. (S.I.).

Singh, Madanjeet Culture of the Sepulchre 237pp Penguin (New Delhi).

Tejani, Nergesh I Hear a Song in My Head: A Memoir in Stories of Love, Fear, Doctoring and Flight 296pp New Academia Publishing (Washington DC).

Wright, John S Ravaged Innocents: Children of War 240pp JoJo Publishing (Docklands).

Anthologies

Regional

Caine Prize African Violet and Other Stories: The Caine Prize for African Writing 2012 228pp Jacana Media (Johannesburg).

EAEP Ties That Bind and Other Stories 234pp East African Educational Publishers (Nairobi).

Kenya

Belfar, Edward Wanderers: Stories 218pp Austin UP (Texas).

Gill, Harshi Syal and Parvin D. Syal African Quilt: Stories of the Asian Indian Experience in Kenya 214pp Dog Ear Publications (Indianapolis).

Ondieki, Sam Regenerate: A Lyrical Omnibus 99pp Twaf! Records (Nairobi).

Odhiambo, Tom and Eliphas Nyamogo Fresh Paint: Literary Vignettes by Kenyan Women 112pp Contact Zones (Nairobi).

Tanzania

Ejersbo, Jakob and Mette Petersen Revolution 350pp MacLehose Press (London).

Liundi, Christopher C. Quotable Quotes from Mwalimu Julius K Nyerere: Collected from Speeches and Writings 130pp Mkuki na Nyota (Dar es Salaam).

Uganda

Brian, Bwesigye Fables out of Nyanja 49pp Kushinda (Kampala).

Dipio, Dominica & Stuart Sillars Traditional Wisdom: Folktales from Uganda 268pp ComMatters (Nairobi).

Tumwesigye, Alice Jossy Kyobutungi Fireplace Experience: Folktales from Ankole 80pp Bishop Stuart University (Mbarara).

Twongyeirwe, Hilda ed World of Our Own and Other Stories: Stories from the Second FEMRITE Regional Residency for African Women Writers 188pp FEMRITE (Kampala).

Twongyeirwe, Hilda & Ellen Banda-Aaku Summoning the Rains: 3^rd FEMRITE Regional Residency for African Women Writers 226pp FEMRITE (Kampala).

Criticism

General Studies

Regional

Beyond the Postcolonial: World Englishes Literature Emma Dawson Varughese 239pp Palgrave Macmillan (New York).

Ethnic Patriotism and the East African Revival: A History of Dissent c.1935 to 1972 Derek Peterson 344pp African Studies (London).

“The Emergence of Local Patronages and Intellectual Traditions in Post-independence East Africa: Nativism or a Critique of Difference and Universalism?” James Ogude Rethinking East African Literary and Intellectual Landscapes pp1-22 [see this section].

“Influence of the Mashairi Tradition on Contemporary East African Poetry in English” Edwin Mosoti Rethinking East African Literary and Intellectual Landscapes pp169-189 [see this section].

“Intervention Theatre Traditions in East Africa and the Paradox of Patronage” Christopher Joseph Odhiambo Rethinking East African Literary and Intellectual Landscapes pp55-73 [see this section].

“Inventing East African Hip-hop: Youth and Musical Convergence in East Africa” George Gathigi Music, Performance and African Identities pp35-48 [see this section].

“Kwani? and the Imaginations around Re-invention of Art and Culture in Kenya” Tom Odhiambo Rethinking East African Literary and Intellectual Landscapes pp23-37 [see this section].

Music, Performance and African Identities eds Toyin Falola and Tyler Fleming 346pp Routledge (New York).

“The Popular Periodical and the Politics of Knowledge Production: Locating Jahazi” Garnette Oluoch-Olunya Rethinking East African Literary and Intellectual Landscapes pp39-54 [see this section].

Rethinking East African Literary and Intellectual Landscapes eds James Ogude, Grace A Musila and Dina Ligaga 424pp Africa World Press (Trenton).

Style in African Literature: Essays on Literary Stylistics and Narrative Styles eds JKS Makokha, John Obiero-Ogone and Russell West-Pavlov 444pp Amsterdam (Rodopi).

Kenya

“Adjudicating the Court System through Drama: An Examination of Vioja Mahakamani’s Role on Kenyan Television” Fred Mbogo Rethinking East African Literary and Intellectual Landscapes pp359-376 [see this section].

Ambiguous Pleasures: Sexuality and Middle Class Self Perceptions in Nairobi Rachel Spronk 310pp Berghahn Books (New York).

“‘The Cat with Nine Lives’: Paul Ngei and the Making of Modern Kenya” Myles Osborne Journal of Eastern African Studies 6(2) pp196-210.

“Charles Njonjo: The Portrait of a ‘Big Man’ in Kenya” Jean-Francois Medard pp58-78 in Neopatrimonialism in Africa and Beyond eds Daniel Bach and Mamoudou Gazibo 260pp New York (Routledge).

“Ethnicity, Violence and the Immigrant-Guest Metaphor in Kenya” Sarah Jenkins African Affairs 111(445) pp576-596.

“Farms in Africa: Wildlife Tourism Conservation and Whiteness in Postcolonial Kenya” Grace A Musila Rethinking East African Literary and Intellectual Landscapes pp235-256 [see this section].

“Hip-hop and Cultural Citizenship on Kenya’s ‘Swahili Coast’” Andrew J Eisenberg Africa 82(4) pp556-578.

Historicizing Colonial Nostalgia: European Women’s Narratives of Algeria and Kenya 1900-Present Patricia ME Lorcin 317pp Palgrave (New York).

“The Invention of Traditional Music in the City: Exploring History and Meaning in Urban Contemporary Kenya” James Ogude Research in African Literatures 43(4) pp147-165.

“From Kamiriithu to XYZ-Show: Between Cultural ‘Flaws’ and Democratic Change in Independent Kenya” Hannington Ochwada pp196-211 in Development, Modernism and Modernity in Africa ed Augustine Agwuele 321pp Routledge (New York).

“Kenya’s Diasporic Cyber ‘Publics’ and the ‘Virtual’ Negotiation of Identities: Exploring the Disjunctures and Conjunctures” George Ogola Rethinking East African Literary and Intellectual Landscapes pp379-397 [see this section].

Mau Mau’s Children: The Making of Kenya’s Postcolonial Elite David P Sandgren 185pp University of Wisconsin Press (Madison).

“Matangazo ya Biashara na Ginsia: Gender Stereotypes and Advertisements in Kenya” Maurice Nyamanga Amutabi pp182-196 in Development, Modernism and Modernity in Africa ed Augustine Agwuele 321pp Routledge (New York).

“The Place and Thematic Function of a Panegyric in Swahili Society: The Case of Sufi al-Busiri’s Kasida ya Hamziyyah” Tom Olali Rethinking East African Literary and Intellectual Landscapes pp192-221 [see this section].

Race and Empire: Eugenics in Colonial Kenya Chloe Campbell 210pp Manchester UP (Manchester) [2007].

“(Re)Producing Nationalism in Everyday Life: A Critical Reading of Official National Narratives in Kenyan Radio Drama” Dina Ligaga Rethinking East African Literary and Intellectual Landscapes pp341-358 [see this section].

“In Search of My Father’s Garden: Kenya as the Focal Point for the Study of a New Kind of Narrative in African American Autobiography” Claire Joly pp75-115 in Race and Identity in Barack Obama’s Dreams from My Father: A Collection of Critical Essays eds Michael A Zeitler and Charlene T Evans 291pp Edwin Mellen Press (Lewiston).

“The Serious People of ‘Raha’: The Politics in the Ethnic Stereotyping of the Luo in Okatch Biggy’s Benga” Tom M. Mboya Rethinking East African Literary and Intellectual Landscapes pp277-293 [see this section].

“Things Fall Apart: What Troubles Hath Kenyan Hip-Hop in Kenya?” Music, Performance and African Identities pp283-295 [see this section].

‘“Virtual Expressions’: Alternative Online Spaces and the Staging of Kenyan Popular Cultures” Dina Ligaga Research in African Literatures 43(4) pp1-16.

“Watching the ‘Daily Show’ in Kenya” Angelique Haugerud, Dillon Mahoney and Meghan Ference Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power 19(2) pp168-190.

Malawi

Stage Drama in Independent Malawi 1980-2002 Mufunanji Magalasi 250pp Chancellor College Publications (Zomba).

Tanzania

“Burning the Mabanda: Incendiary Actis, Interpretative Frames and Iconoclash in the Indian Ocean” William Cunningham Bissell African Art 45(3) pp70-83.

The Culture of Colonialism: The Cultural Subjection of Ukaguru T. O. Beidelman 383pp Indiana UP (Bloomington).

“From Dansi to Bongo Flava: Popular Music and Politics in Tanzania 1955-2005” Maria Suriano Rethinking East African Literary and Intellectual Landscapes pp295-313 [see this section].

Digital Drama: Teaching and Learning Art and Media in Tanzania Paula Uimonen 255pp Routledge (New York).

“Hooligans and Heroes: Youth Identity and Hip-Hop in Dar-es-salaam, Tanzania” Alex Perullo pp315-336 in That’s the Joint!: The Hip-Hop Studies Reader eds Murray Forman and Mark Anthony Neal 760pp Routledge (New York).

“The Language of Young People: Rap, Urban Culture and Protest in Tanzania” Jose Arturo Saavedra Casco pp273-292 in Music and Protest ed Ian Peddie 561pp Ashgate (Farnham).

“Rap, Cartoon and Rap Cartoon: Representations of the Maasai in Contemporary Tanzanian Popular Culture” Katrina Daly Thompson Music, Performance and African Identities pp49-61 [see this section].

“Remembered Intimacies: Tradition and Gendered Power in Tanzanian Creative Expression” Aaron L. Rosenberg Research in African Literatures 43(1) pp118-135.

“The South Africanization of Tanzanian Christian Popular Music” Mathayo P Ndomondo Music, Performance and African Identities pp144-168 [see this section].

Taifa: Making Nation and Race in Urban Tanzania James Brennan 292pp Ohio UP (Athens).

“Tanzania Fifty Years on (1961-2011): Rethinking ‘Ujamaa’ Nyerere and Socialism in Africa” John S Saul Review of African Political Economy 39(131) pp117-125.

Theatre for Women Empowerment and Development: The Experience of Politics in Rural Tanzania Julieth Timoth Kabyemela 112pp LAP Lambert Academic (Saarbrucken).

Uganda

“The Audible Future: Reimagining the Role of Sound Archives and Sound Repatriation in Uganda” Sylvia Nannyonga-Tamusuza Ethnomusicology 56(2) pp206-233.

“Between Town and Country: Shifting Identity and Migrant Youth in Uganda” Caroline Barratt and Martin Mbonye Journal of Modern African Studies 50(2) pp201-223.

“The Cost and Reward of Manhood: The Practice of Imbalu Ritual among the Bagisu” Dominic Dipio Rethinking East African Literary and Intellectual Landscapes pp315-339 [see this section].

“Morality Plays and Money Matters:Towards a Situated Understanding of the Politics of Homosexuality in Uganda” Joanna Sadgrove Journal of Modern African Studies 50(1) pp103-129.

“Up Close and Far Away: Renarrating Buganda’s Troubled Past” Sidney Littlefield Kasfir African Art 45(3) pp56-69.

“Heirs of Tradition or Veiled Anxieties? Romance, Sex and Marriage in Contemporary Ugandan Women’s Short Stories” Lynda Gichanda Spencer Rethinking East African Literary and Intellectual Landscapes pp98-117 [see this section].

Studies on Individual Writers

Barlow, Henry Henry Barlow: A Romanticist Reading 192pp Alice Jossy Kyobutungi Tumwesigye Bishop Stuart University (Mbarara).

Farah, Nuruddin “Reconstruction of the Subject and Society in Nuruddin Farah’s Links and Knots” Fatima Fiona Moolla Rethinking East African Literary and Intellectual Landscapes pp121-145 [see General Studies].

Gurnah, Abdulrazak “Shifting Paradigms: The Indian Ocean World in Abdulrazak Gurnah’s Paradise and Desertion” Maria Olaussen Rethinking East African Literary and Intellectual Landscapes pp215-233 [see General Studies].

Kapur-Dromson, Neera “Gender Affiliation or Racial Loyalties? Women and the Domestication of History in Neera Kapur-Dromson’s From Jhelum to Tana” Godwin Siundu Rethinking East African Literary and Intellectual Landscapes pp254-274 [see General Studies].

P’Bitek, Okot and Ngugi wa Thiong’o “Theorising Craft: Reading the Creative through the Critical in the Works of Okot p’Bitek and Ngugi wa Thiong’o” Susan N. Kiguli Rethinking East African Literary and Intellectual Landscapes pp75-96 [see General Studies].

Wa Thiong’o, Ngugi Approaches to Teaching the Works of Ngugi wa Thiong’o 265pp Oliver Lovesey MLA (New York).

—“Post-colonial Prison and Colonial Violence in Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s Detained” Isaac Ndlovu Rethinking East African Literary and Intellectual Landscapes pp147-167 [see General Studies].

—“Beyond Ecclesiastical Confines: The Bible in the African Novels of Ngugi wa Thiongo and Bessie Head” Andrew Mbuvi pp112-133 Postcolonial Perspectives in African Biblical Interpretations eds Musa W Dube Shomanah, Andrew Mutua Mbuvi and Dora R Mbuwayesango 529pp Society of Biblical Literature (Atlanta).

—“‘How Does a Girl Grow into a Woman?”‘: Girlhood in Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s The River Between” Keguro Macharia Research in African Literatures 43(2) pp1-17.

—“Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s Wizard of the Crow and Postcolonial Pedagogy” Raphael Dalleo Research in African Literatures 43(3) pp138-154.

—“Ngugi wa Thiong’o and the African Dictator Novel” Robert Spencer Journal of Commonwealth Literature 47(2) pp145-158.