Tag: Literature

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Ep. 91: A conversation with Peace Medie about gender and conflict in Africa, writing research and fiction, and more

The news wrap in this week’s episode offers tribute to Malawian economist and thinker Thandika Mkandawire, discusses COVID-19’s economic impacts, and more.

This week’s conversation is with Peace Medie (@PeaceMedie), a Senior Lecturer in Gender and International Politics at the University of Bristol. Her research examines gender, politics, and conflict in Africa. During a conversation we recorded at the African Studies Association annual meeting, we talk about campaigns to end gender-based violence, writing both academic research and fiction, the ethics of research in African politics, and more. During that chat, we talk about what she found when researching her newly published book, Global Norms and Local Action: The Campaigns to End Violence against Women in Africa and we talk about her forthcoming debut novel, His Only Wife, which listeners can pre-order now. Her segment begins at 9:28.

As a content note to our listeners, our conversation touches on Peace’s research, which includes women’s reporting of sexual violence and rape to the police.

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Bonus: Kim Dionne’s TMC review of Sisonke Msimang’s book, “Always Another Country”

In this bonus recording, hear Ufahamu Africa host Kim Dionne read her review of Always Another Country, a memoir by South African writer Sisonke Msimang. 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.

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Bonus: Laura Seay’s TMC review of Ayisha Osori’s book, “Love Does Not Win Elections”

In this bonus recording, hear Ufahamu Africa host Kim Dionne read Laura Seay’s review of Love Does Not Win Elections, a memoir by Ayisha Osori. 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. 

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Ep. 46: A conversation with Evan Mwangi on translations, literature in African languages, and more

For the first time ever, Kim and Rachel are together to record this week’s episode, which includes a conversation with Northwestern University’s Evan Mwangi. Professor Mwangi talks about his most recent book, Translation in African Contexts, and the debates about literature in African languages. He also tells us about his next book, which will be about animals in African literature.

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Ep. 45: A conversation with Abdulbasit Kassim on religion, Boko Haram, and more

In this week’s episode, we talk about conflict in Cameroon, work by the writer Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, land restitution in South Africa, and Nanjala Nyabola’s new book. This week’s featured conversation is with Abdulbasit Kassim, who visited Northwestern University’s Institute for the Study of Islamic Thought in Africa earlier this week. Kassim is a PhD student in the Department of Religion at Rice University, where his research focuses on the Intellectual History of Islam in Africa, Contemporary Islamic Movements in Africa, Postcolonial African States, African Religions, and the International Relations of Sub-Saharan Africa. He is the co-editor of The Boko Haram Reader: From Nigerian Preachers to the Islamic State. The Boko Haram Reader is an unprecedented collection of primary source texts, audio-visuals, and nashids translated into English from Hausa, Arabic, and Kanuri. It traces the history and evolution of the Boko Haram movement. Kassim’s segment begins at 5:53.

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Ep. 44: A conversation with Anthonia Kalu on writing and African storytelling

In this episode of Ufahamu Africa, we talk about a new West African currency, media freedom in Tanzania, and an Ethiopian satellite that will launch soon. This week’s featured conversation is with Dr. Anthonia Kalu, a professor of comparative literature and gender and sexuality studies at UC Riverside. In our chat we talk about kola nuts, cross-cultural digital possibilities, writing, and African storytelling. Her interview begins at 6:44. 

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Ep. 42: A conversation with author Petina Gappah on politics, writing, and more

This week’s episode features Petina Gappah, a writer and international lawyer from Zimbabwe. Thanks to the efforts of Chipo Dendere, Petina visited the Five Colleges earlier this year and we had a chance to sit down and talk. In addition to chatting about her forthcoming historical novel on David Livingstone’s companions, we talk about Gappah’s award-winning book The Book of Memory, and her two collections of short stories, An Elegy for Easterly and Rotten Row. In our conversation, she shares why she became a writer and her approach to writing. 

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Ep. 38: A conversation with Cajetan Iheka on the environment in African literature

  This week’s episode features a conversation with Cajetan Iheka (@profiheka), an assistant professor of English at the University of Alabama. Iheka’s research and teaching focus on African and Caribbean literatures and film, postcolonial studies, eco-criticism, and world literature. In Episode 38, we talk about his book, Naturalizing Africa: Ecological Violence, Agency, and Postcolonial Resistance Read More…

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Ep. 35: A conversation with Boniface Mwangi on photography, running for office, and more

This week’s episode features a conversation with award-winning photojournalist and political activist Boniface Mwangi. Mwangi recently ran to be a member of parliament in Starehe constituency, which is in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital city. Thanks to the efforts of friend of the podcast Dr. Chipo Dendere, Mwangi recently visited the Pioneer Valley to give a lecture at Amherst College. While he was here, I sat down with him and asked about his recent campaign for office and about his book, Unbounded, which features stories about his life juxtaposed with a sample of some of his amazing photography. In addition to being sold in Kenya, Unbounded is currently available in the United States via Amazon. Our conversation begins at 2:14.

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Ep. 5: A conversation with Dr. T.J. Tallie to kick off Black History Month

This week on Ufahamu Africa we commemorate the start of Black History Month with a conversation with historian Dr. T.J. Tallie of Washington and Lee University. He shares insights from his research on settler colonialism in South Africa in the 1800s, connecting ideas and themes to the contemporary period.  We’re very grateful to Zaza Kabayadondo for Read More…