Brittle Paper, the online literary magazine for readers of African Literature, has shared its 100 notable African books of 2022 list. This year, the premier online literary brand inspiring readers to explore and celebrate African literary experiences in all its diversity, broke its 3-year tradition of compiling a list of 50 notable African books and upped the number to 100. The reason is simple. The African literary scene has expanded in the last few years. There were just too many good books to leave out..
The notable African Books of the Year list was launched in 2018 to highlight the most impactful books in a given year. The objective of Brittle Paper is to show the world how richly and expansively African literary culture is growing, and to introduce readers to new books, particularly books from under-represented parts of the continent.
This year, 23 countries are represented on the list, including Djibouti and Burkina Faso, for the first time. The cohort of authors runs the gamut of established (Tsitsi Dangaremgba, Niyi Osundare, Nnedi Okorafor, Sofia Samatar) and brand new voices (Mary Watson, Rimma Onoseta, Noor Naga, and many more.)
The array of genres featured include speculative fiction, YA, poetry, queer writing, memoirs, travel narrative, political thriller, crime, comics, romance fiction, satire and the absurd, historical fiction, children’s books, and more. 30 percent of the authors on the list are debut writers, sign that the culture is getting a good amount of new blood. African indie presses also made a showing in his year’s list. Bakwa, Masobe, Olongo, Black Bird, Iskanchi, Griot’s Lounge, Cassava, Blackbird Books, Uhlanga, Farafina, Paivapo, Abibiman Publishing, Narrative Landscape, and Tampered Press are some of the presses represented on the list.
Congrats to the authors and publishers featured on this list. Join us in celebrating their success and show them love by sharing the list, which can be found here.
