Bonus: Carolyn E. Holmes reviews “The Inheritors” and “Until We Have Won Our Liberty”

Carolyn E. Holmes writes for The Monkey Cage about two books that take different roads to understand South Africa:The Inheritors: An Intimate Portrait of South Africa’s Racial Awakening by Eve Fairbanks and Until We Have Won Our Liberty: South Africa after Apartheid by Evan Lieberman.  “It is not that Fairbanks’s account of the New South Africa is pessimistic while Read More…

Ep. 83: A conversation with Yvonne Owuor on development, politics, storytelling, and more

We begin this week’s news wrap with a discussion of some of the best literature of the decade – thanks to a curated list by African Arguments – and we are extremely fortunate to feature one of these authors in this episode, Yvonne Owuor. Kim and Rachel also chat about films, China in Africa, cocoa price coordination in Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire, and a call for applicants to the next meeting of the Working Group in African Political Economy.

Yvonne Owuor is an acclaimed author, winning the Caine Prize for African Writing in 2003 for her short story, The Weight of Whispers, and short-listed for the Folio Prize for her novel Dust (2014).  She has recently published a beautiful coming-of-age story, The Dragonfly Sea (2019), that explores aspects of East African sea imagination in a time of China’s return to its milieu.  Owuor received the (Kenya) Head of State Commendation in 2016 for her cultural and artistic contributions.  Rachel sat down with Yvonne at the Institute for Advanced Study in Nantes, where they are both Fellows, to discuss literary journeys, the “development industry,” Kenyan politics, and a global, historical, and encompassing view on transregional exchange. Our featured segment with Yvonne begins at 11:22. 

Bonus: A review of Milli Lake’s book on NGOs and gender justice in Congo and South Africa

In this bonus recording, hear Ufahamu Africa host Kim Dionne read Laura Seay’s (@texasinafrica) review of Strong NGOs and Weak States: Pursuing Gender Justice in the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Africa, a book by LSE political scientist Milli Lake (@MilliLake).  The review was published as the tenth installment of the African Politics Summer Reading Spectacular (#APSRS19), and this recording is being shared as part of a collaboration with The Monkey Cage (@monkeycageblog), a blog on politics and political science at The Washington Post.

Bonus: An author Q&A with Elizabeth Foster on her new book, African Catholic

In this bonus recording, hear Ufahamu Africa host Kim Dionne read a Q&A between TMC editor Laura Seay and Elizabeth Foster, author of African Catholic: Decolonization and the Transformation of the Church. The Q&A was published in this past Friday’s installment of the African Politics Summer Reading Spectacular, and this recording is being shared as part of a collaboration with The Monkey Cage, a blog on politics and political science at The Washington Post.

Bonus: A review of Bleck and van de Walle’s book on electoral politics in Africa

In this bonus recording, hear Ufahamu Africa host Kim Dionne read her review of Electoral Politics in Africa Since 1990, a book by Jaimie Bleck and Nicolas van de Walle. The review was published in this past Friday’s installment of the African Politics Summer Reading Spectacular, and this recording is being shared as part of a collaboration with The Monkey Cage, a blog on politics and political science at The Washington Post.

Bonus: A review of Peter Martell’s new book on South Sudan

In this bonus recording, hear Ufahamu Africa host Kim Dionne read Laura Seay’s review of First Raise a Flag, a book about why South Sudan won the war but lost the peace by author and journalist Peter Martell. The review was published in this past Friday’s installment of the African Politics Summer Reading Spectacular, and this recording is being shared as part of a collaboration with The Monkey Cage, a blog on politics and political science at The Washington Post.

Bonus: A review of Nanjala Nyabola’s book on Kenyan politics in the digital age

Have a listen to this week’s review of Nanjala Nyabola’s (@Nanjala1) Digital Democracy Analogue Politics, published by Zed Books (@ZedBooks). The review was published on Friday as part of the African Politics Summer Reading Spectacular (#APSRS19), and this recording is being shared as part of a collaboration with The Monkey Cage (@monkeycageblog), a blog on politics and political science at The Washington Post.

Ep. 2: A conversation with Priscilla Takondwa Semphere on storytelling

  Takulandirani! (That’s “We welcome you,” in Chichewa.) This week we launch the #SecondSaturday series, where we chat with an author about their book. Our guest is Priscilla Takondwa Semphere, who talked about her book, Ekari Leaves Malawi. Priscilla is a student at Smith College who also writes for the Huffington Post.  In our chat with Priscilla, we talked Read More…