Signal and Noise: Media, Infrastructure, and Urban
Culture in Nigeria - Brian Larkin
"This eagerly anticipated book is a wonderful
contribution to several fields: media studies, cultural
studies, African studies, anthropology, and analyses
of globalization. Brian Larkin writes with eloquence
and passion, and he compels us to rethink our
assumptions about the work of transnational media
and the formation of identity."--Purnima Mankekar,
author of Screening Culture, Viewing Politics: An
Ethnography of Television, Womanhood, and Nation in
Postcolonial India."
Publisher: Duke University Press
Culture in Nigeria - Brian Larkin
"This eagerly anticipated book is a wonderful
contribution to several fields: media studies, cultural
studies, African studies, anthropology, and analyses
of globalization. Brian Larkin writes with eloquence
and passion, and he compels us to rethink our
assumptions about the work of transnational media
and the formation of identity."--Purnima Mankekar,
author of Screening Culture, Viewing Politics: An
Ethnography of Television, Womanhood, and Nation in
Postcolonial India."
Publisher: Duke University Press
The Opposite House - Helen Oyeyemi
"From Publishers Weekly:
Oyeyemi (Icarus Girl) returns to the realms of myth and magic in her second novel,
the rewarding and challenging narrative of Maja, a 24-year-old black Cuban woman
whose family fled Castro's revolution for London when she was seven. Maja has
recently moved in with her boyfriend, Aaron, and discovers she is pregnant with the
child she's wanted since she was five years old. And though adjusted to life in
London, she begins to wonder about the country her family left behind. Coloring her
search for a sense of belonging are the gods and goddesses of Santeria, a fusion of
Catholicism and West African Yoruba beliefs. Flashbacks flesh out Maja's
relationships with her Santeria-practicing Mami, her professor Papi (who is not a
Santeria practitioner) and her bully-bait younger brother, Tomás. Maja's gay best
friend, Amy Eleni, provides Maja with sharp insight that helps her come into her own.
Interwoven is the story of Aya, a goddess of Santeria who lives in the
"somewherehouse," which has one door that opens onto Lagos and one onto
London. Though the prose can tend toward the imprecise ("she felt a pull and a fuzzy,
bite-sized happiness"), the novel's lyrical and stylistic experimentation speaks to
Oyeyemi's depth of talent. (June) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division
of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved."
Publisher: Anchor
"From Publishers Weekly:
Oyeyemi (Icarus Girl) returns to the realms of myth and magic in her second novel,
the rewarding and challenging narrative of Maja, a 24-year-old black Cuban woman
whose family fled Castro's revolution for London when she was seven. Maja has
recently moved in with her boyfriend, Aaron, and discovers she is pregnant with the
child she's wanted since she was five years old. And though adjusted to life in
London, she begins to wonder about the country her family left behind. Coloring her
search for a sense of belonging are the gods and goddesses of Santeria, a fusion of
Catholicism and West African Yoruba beliefs. Flashbacks flesh out Maja's
relationships with her Santeria-practicing Mami, her professor Papi (who is not a
Santeria practitioner) and her bully-bait younger brother, Tomás. Maja's gay best
friend, Amy Eleni, provides Maja with sharp insight that helps her come into her own.
Interwoven is the story of Aya, a goddess of Santeria who lives in the
"somewherehouse," which has one door that opens onto Lagos and one onto
London. Though the prose can tend toward the imprecise ("she felt a pull and a fuzzy,
bite-sized happiness"), the novel's lyrical and stylistic experimentation speaks to
Oyeyemi's depth of talent. (June) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division
of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved."
Publisher: Anchor
Being Here: Modern Short Stories from Southern Africa -
Compiled by Robin Malan
"Robin Malan's selection of stories about and from South
Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Swaziland and Mozambique
since 1960, is a vibrant collection, chosen to reflect lived
experience of these places in these times u surely the most
exciting and most productive period in the history of
Southern Africa and its literature.
The collection includes stories by Nobel Prize winner
Nadine Gordimer, Achmat Dangor, Zoe Wicomb, Doris
Lessing, Sindiwe Magona and Richard Rive.
Being Here was first published in 1994 and has become a
firm favourite of teachers and students. This new edition
also contains updated teaching suggestions and new
points for discussion."
Publisher: New African Books
Compiled by Robin Malan
"Robin Malan's selection of stories about and from South
Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Swaziland and Mozambique
since 1960, is a vibrant collection, chosen to reflect lived
experience of these places in these times u surely the most
exciting and most productive period in the history of
Southern Africa and its literature.
The collection includes stories by Nobel Prize winner
Nadine Gordimer, Achmat Dangor, Zoe Wicomb, Doris
Lessing, Sindiwe Magona and Richard Rive.
Being Here was first published in 1994 and has become a
firm favourite of teachers and students. This new edition
also contains updated teaching suggestions and new
points for discussion."
Publisher: New African Books
Reading The Ceiling- Dayo Forster
"Ayodele has just turned eighteen and has decided, having now
reached womanhood, that the time is right to lose her virginity. She's
drawn up a shortlist: Reuben, the failsafe; Yuan, a long-admired
schoolfriend; Frederick Adams, the 42-year-old,
soon-to-be-pot-bellied father ofher best friend. What she doesn't
know is that her choice of suitor will have a drastic effect on the rest
of her life.
Three men. Three paths. One will send Ayodele to Europe, to
university and to a very different life - but it will be a voyage strewn
with heartache. Another will send her around the globe on an epic
journey, transforming her beyond recognition but at the cost of an
almost unbearable loss. And another will see her remain in Africa, a
wife and mother caught in a polygamous marriage.
Each will change her irrevocably - but which will she choose?"
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Ltd
"Ayodele has just turned eighteen and has decided, having now
reached womanhood, that the time is right to lose her virginity. She's
drawn up a shortlist: Reuben, the failsafe; Yuan, a long-admired
schoolfriend; Frederick Adams, the 42-year-old,
soon-to-be-pot-bellied father ofher best friend. What she doesn't
know is that her choice of suitor will have a drastic effect on the rest
of her life.
Three men. Three paths. One will send Ayodele to Europe, to
university and to a very different life - but it will be a voyage strewn
with heartache. Another will send her around the globe on an epic
journey, transforming her beyond recognition but at the cost of an
almost unbearable loss. And another will see her remain in Africa, a
wife and mother caught in a polygamous marriage.
Each will change her irrevocably - but which will she choose?"
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Ltd
| Afrik'Musik |
Cultural Awakening
Top 5's... For the pleasure of your senses
Top 5's... For the pleasure of your senses
| "FashioninAfrica.com: a celebration of african creativity" |
| "'Discover the artwork of sculptor Eugene N’Sondé" |
| "AFRONOVA: Contemporary Art Gallery based in Johannesburg" |
| African Consciousness© |
| Copyright © 2007-2008 AfricanConsciousness.Com |
Nathaniel Barnes- Blues
Africa Online: Top 5 Web Picks
| Books to Discover |
| Upcoming Events |
| "Discover the music of Malian singer Rokia Traoré" |
Say you're one of them - Uwem Akpan
"Uwem Akpan's stunning stories humanize the perils of poverty and violence so
piercingly that few readers will feel they've ever encountered Africa so
immediately. The eight-year-old narrator of "An Ex-Mas Feast" needs only
enough money to buy books and pay fees in order to attend school. Even when
his twelve-year-old sister takes to the streets to raise these meager funds, his
dream can't be granted. Food comes first. His family lives in a street shanty in
Nairobi, Kenya, but their way of both loving and taking advantage of each other
strikes a universal chord.
In the second of his stories published in a New Yorker special fiction issue,
Akpan takes us far beyond what we thought we knew about the tribal conflict in
Rwanda. The story is told by a young girl, who, with her little brother, witnesses
the worst possible scenario between parents. They are asked to do the
previously unimaginable in order to protect their children. This singular
collection will also take the reader inside Nigeria, Benin, and Ethiopia,
revealing in beautiful prose the harsh consequences for children of life in Africa.
Akpan's voice is a literary miracle, rendering lives of almost unimaginable
deprivation and terror into stories that are nothing short of transcendent. "
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
"Uwem Akpan's stunning stories humanize the perils of poverty and violence so
piercingly that few readers will feel they've ever encountered Africa so
immediately. The eight-year-old narrator of "An Ex-Mas Feast" needs only
enough money to buy books and pay fees in order to attend school. Even when
his twelve-year-old sister takes to the streets to raise these meager funds, his
dream can't be granted. Food comes first. His family lives in a street shanty in
Nairobi, Kenya, but their way of both loving and taking advantage of each other
strikes a universal chord.
In the second of his stories published in a New Yorker special fiction issue,
Akpan takes us far beyond what we thought we knew about the tribal conflict in
Rwanda. The story is told by a young girl, who, with her little brother, witnesses
the worst possible scenario between parents. They are asked to do the
previously unimaginable in order to protect their children. This singular
collection will also take the reader inside Nigeria, Benin, and Ethiopia,
revealing in beautiful prose the harsh consequences for children of life in Africa.
Akpan's voice is a literary miracle, rendering lives of almost unimaginable
deprivation and terror into stories that are nothing short of transcendent. "
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Dan Kamit - Les Mots et Les Couleurs
Genre: R&B
Genre: R&B
Emmanuel Jal - Warchild
Genre: Hip Hop
Genre: Hip Hop
Sean Kuti - Many Things
Genre: Afro-Beat
Genre: Afro-Beat
Rokia Traoré - Tchamantche
Genre: Blues/Contenporary Malian Music
Genre: Blues/Contenporary Malian Music
Adama - Delicate Dragon
Genre: Pop/Alternative
Genre: Pop/Alternative
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Pripalo, International Festival for Arts and Culture July 18th through July 22nd, 2008 Niamey, Niger |
GNAWA: Photography Exhibit by Algo, Virgile Jourdan May 24th through July 19th, 2008 Marseille, France |
| Cuba's 2008 World Music Festival June 11th through June 15th 2008 Varadero, Cuba |
| Real Life Film Festival May 31st through June 17th, 2008 Accra, Ghana |
Sakifo Musik Festival August 6th through August 12th, 2008 Saint-Leu, Réunion Island |
| A great web resource for African Music! |
| Kehinde Wiley’s Solo Exhibit at The Studio Museum in Harlem "The World Stage: Africa, Lagos ~ Dakar" July 17th - October 26th, 2008 New York, NY- USA http://www.studiomuseum.org/the-world-stage- africalagos-dakar/ |
