Companion To African Literatures

"Refreshing..." -- African Sudies Review

"The entries are knowledgeable, thorough, and clearly written.... Highly recommended... " --Choice

"...an ambitious reference guide to works on African literature." - African Studies Review

"This comprehensive compendium will be a handy companion for anyone working on African literatures. The entries are authoritative and up-to-date, providing reliable information on the hundreds of authors and texts that have contributed to a whole continent's literary flowering." --Bernth Lindfors

A comprehensive introduction and guide to African-authored works, with over 1,000 cross-referenced entries covering classics in African writing, literary genres and movements, biographical details of authors, and wider themes linking African, Afro-Caribbean and Afro-American literatures.

Now that it can claim three Nobel laureates and many other literary prizewinners, African literature is no longer an exotic backwater. This compact, competent reference work helps bring the enormous body of African writing to general readers. The entries--authors, titles, and selected thematic subjects--are in one alphabetical sequence. A list of themes and topics, subdivided by geographic regions, is provided. No entries treat specific countries, but a country-author guide identifies writers' nationalities. Cross-references for names or terms in the body of entries are starred. Such meticulous attention to sound, usable construction accurately forecasts equally competent entries. The editors comprise a stellar cast of scholars, and the list of contributors includes well-known as well as younger scholars from around the world, including many Africans. The entries are knowledgeable, thorough, and clearly written. Essays on themes (censorship, apartheid, the Nigeria-Biafra War, drama, religion, literature) are scholarly and a welcome addition to a reference work. Two pages of further readings round out this excellent and much needed update to earlier works--e.g., Hans Zell et al.'s New Reader's Guide to Africa Literature (CH, Mar'84)--and supplement African Writers, ed. by C. Brian Cox (CH, Jul'97), which provides more information on selected writers but lacks the breadth of Killam and Rowe. Highly recommended for all libraries.G. Walsh, Boston University, Choice, September 2000 Indiana University Press Indiana University Press

Douglas Killam was formerly Professor of Commonwealth Literature at the University of Guelf, Ontario, and previously taught at the Universities of Ibadan, Lagos, Dar es Salaam and Fourah Bay College. He was editor for twelve years of WLWE (World Literature Written in English) with the assistance of Ruth Rowe who is also an editor of this volume.