SOAS has committed to establishing the Margaret Busby New Daughters of Africa Award for years to come.  Following the successful launch of the inaugural Margaret Busby New Daughters of Africa Award in 2020, the University would like to turn this award into a lasting legacy in Margaret’s name, establishing a new generation of African female writers.

The award supports a black, female African student taking an MA in African Studies, MA Comparative Literature or MA Translation (in African Languages) at SOAS University of London. This award is for a student with a particular interest in African Literature, with the aim to support a new generation of African female writers. This scholarship covers the fees, accommodation and living costs.

To donate to the award, click HERE.

New Daughters of Africa is now available in paperback. To buy your copy, click HERE.

Africa Writes featured an exclusive discount for the paperback of New Daughters of Africa in their latest newsletter. Are you subscribed? Head over to their blog to catch exclusive offers and content.

“I, as an African woman, navigate life, work, family, and daily living in America even as my heart continues to reach out, yearning for the smells, tastes, sounds, colours of Africa.” Dr Juliana Makuchi Nfah-Abbenyi

Literandra interview contributors from the groundbreaking anthology, New Daughters of Africa, to celebrate the newly-released paperback edition.

Follow Literandra on Instagram and read their interview with Dr Juliana Makuchi Nfah-Abbenyi online now.

‘My Beloved died in January. He was a foot taller than me and had large, beautiful dark eyes and dexterous, kind hands. He fixed me breakfast and pots of loose-leaf tea every morning. He cried at both of our children’s births, silently, tears glazing his face. Before I drove our children to school in the pale dawn light, he would put both hands on the top of his head and dance in the driveway to make the kids laugh. He was funny, quick-witted, and could inspire the kind of laughter that cramped my whole torso. Last fall, he decided it would be best for him and our family if he went back to school. His primary job in our household was to shore us up, to take care of the children, to be a househusband. He traveled with me often on business trips, carried our children in the back of lecture halls, watchful and quietly proud as I spoke to audiences, as I met readers and shook hands and signed books. He indulged my penchant for Christmas movies, for meandering trips through museums, even though he would have much preferred to be in a stadium somewhere, watching football. One of my favorite places in the world was beside him, under his warm arm, the color of deep, dark river water.’

Acclaimed novelist Jesmyn Ward lost her beloved husband—the father of her children—as COVID-19 swept across the country. She writes through their story, and her grief for Vanity Fair.

Jesmyn Ward’s work features in New Daughters of Africa, a glorious portrayal of the richness, range and diversity of African women’s voices. Now available in paperback.

Ahead of the UK paperback release of New Daughters of Africa, we have teamed up with Literandra to announce that the  first 100 pre-ordered copies will be signed by editor Margaret Busby.

The copies will be allocated on a first come first serve basis, so order your copy before they run out! Available HERE.

‘Growing up, most of us probably had that one friend, who we were very fond of but who somehow, wittingly or not, made us feel at once inadequate about ourselves and grateful to be around them. That kind of friendship is what Leila Aboulela’s short story ‘A Very Young Judge’ is about.

The story explores the friendship between the first person narrator and her fashionable, fascinating, and ferocious friend Leena. It examines the role and nature of friendships between women and girls. ‘A Very Young Judge’ shows that women and girls can be each other’s most fierce judges and / or supporters.

Alongside this, the story also shines a light on the importance of self-determination, discernment, and critical examination of one’s friends and circle. It’s easy to get absorbed by a group of friends and forget to remain critical of one’s own and their morals alike. ‘A Very Young Judge’ also shows how quickly the most popular and revered girl in school (or anywhere else, for that matter) can morph into a deeply problematic, judgmental, and exclusionary person. It alludes to the fact that ‘hero-worship’ and the idolisation of any human being is a dangerous and slippery slope, because we are all fallible and susceptible to change.

Thank you to Literandra for reviewing Leila Aboulela’s short story from New Daughters of Africa. Make sure to follow Literandra on Instagram as they work their way through the anthology.

Read the full review HERE.

Africa in Words: ‘So, I think that’s why this anthology is so important, because it is providing a space and providing that platform for so many people.’

Margaret Busby: ‘It’s really just showing that there is more that you could be enjoying, that you could be learning from, that you could be reading. There are things that could open your mind, that could enlighten you that you have to seek out for yourself because it is not being offered within your formal curriculum.’

Read here.

MB: ‘Often, I’m at events or on panels and I ask the audience how many people want to be a writer, and everybody’s hands go up. And then you ask who wants to be a publisher and nobody’s hand goes up. But you can do both; it’s not as if you have to choose. You just have to be involved; otherwise they get to decide that you can come in the door. We have to be there at every level, whether it’s on the newspapers, etc. Otherwise, who chooses to review your show or my book? Who are the gatekeepers? We need to be part of it, so that there can be other perspectives. That way, everybody ends up benefitting. You want a richer literature, a richer artistic community. You don’t want everything to be narrowed down to just a small voice or coterie of people that are all thinking the same way. It would be very strange if you walked down the street and everybody looked exactly the same, spoke the same, or wore the same clothes. How boring would that be? But sometimes you feel that’s how it is. I can still go to a publishing party where I’m the only black person. And it’s not as if they even notice, because that’s the way it is for them – that’s the norm.’

Read this three-part interview with Margaret Busby by Satch Hoyt, as they discuss music, publishing and Black writing for Afro-Sonic Mapping.

‘Zukiswa Wanner’s short story, ‘This Is Not Au Revoir‘ is a feminist story that packs a punch. Set in Johannesburg, it follows the life and times of Naledi, a woman who decides that, in spite of everything she has been through, enough is enough. We follow her journey to self-determination through heartbreaks, mental health issues, and societal constraints.

‘While the story reads like an empowering, snappy, almost coming-of-age-story, it also looks at deeply complex societal and cultural issues. Over the course of the story, we see as Naledi evolves from the woman who unwittingly accepts emotional mistreatment from her lovers, to the one who decides to put herself first.’

Thank you to Literandra for reviewing Zukiswa Wanner’s short story from New Daughters of Africa. Literandra will be featuring the anthology across their platforms over August and September, to mark the publication of the paperback.

Read the full review HERE.

Afrolit Sans Frontières is a virtual literary festival for writers of African origin, founded by author and publisher Zukiswa Wanner as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic international lockdowns. There have been four editions running every month since they began in March. Season five is up next and will include New Daughters of Africa contributors Sisonke Msimang and Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀, as well as editor Margaret Busby.

You can follow Afrolit Sans Frontières on Instagram HERE. The festival is entirely free – head to their Insta Stories to watch each conversation as it happens.

We’re overjoyed to announce that Idza Luhumyo is the first recipient of the Margaret Busby New Daughters of Africa Award.  Luhumyo will start at SOAS University of London this Autumn and we very much look forward to celebrating with her.

Her writing has previously been published by Popula, Jalada Africa, The Writivism Anthology, Baphash Literary & Arts Quarterly, MaThoko’s Books, Gordon Square Review, Amsterdam’s ZAM Magazine, Short Story Day Africa, and The New Internationalist. Her work has been shortlisted for the Short Story Day Africa Prize, the Miles Morland Writing Scholarship, and the Gerald Kraak Award.

The news was shared by 2 Girls & A Pod, Vanguard, James Murua, the African Writers Trust and Brittle Paper.

‘I’ve been making my way through New Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Writing by Women of African Descent, edited by Margaret Busby (2019). It’s more than 1,056 pages long and yes, I’m in it, but so are more than 200 other writers. The first incarnation of the book, Daughters of Africa (1992), is even longer and features another couple of hundred writers. Bringing together fiction, poetry, memoir and essays, both books are an incredible introduction to black women’s writing from around the world, and feature every established name you can imagine, as well those who deserve to be better known.’

Bernardine Evaristo, contributor to Brave New Words, New Daughters of Africa and joint-winner of the Booker Prize 2019 with her novel Girl, Woman, Other joins a rich list of authors and politicians discussing the best books to read during Lockdown for The Guardian. Read more.

Marie Claire asked  Samantha Williams, campaigner and founder of independent multicultural book supplier This is Book Love to hand-pick a selection of titles to help educate yourself and your children – on race and racism.  Included in her list was New Daughters of Africa, edited by Margaret Busby and available to buy here.

To celebrate International Women’s Day 2020, Ros Martin organised Listen to Me Sister, celebrating writing from New Daughters of Africa and honouring the words of African women.

The event brought alive a range of writings: essay, commentary, provocation, short story and poetry from women of the African continent and its diaspora in US, Caribbean and UK others, their struggles past & present and view on life and the world around them from over 200 hundred years.

This public event was supported by the University of Bristol’s Centre of Black Humanities.

Photograph of Ros Barber by Christelle Pellecuer.

Amy Zamarripa Solis features Margaret Busby, editor of New Daughters of Africa, in her 100 Pioneering Women of Sussex blog series for Brighton Museum.

‘In the 1990s, she edited the ground-breaking anthology Daughters of Africa (Jonathan Cape, 1992) and its 2019 follow-up New Daughters of Africa, published by Myriad Editions, who has an office in Brighton. The 2019 anthology has been nominated for NAACP Awards for Outstanding Literary Work 2020 and a Lifetime Achievement in African Literature by Africa Writes in 2019. Each anthology compiles more than 200 women from Africa and the African diaspora.

The title references a call to action from first African-American public speaker Maria W Stewart, who said in 1831:

‘O, ye daughters of Africa, awake! awake! arise! no longer sleep nor slumber, but distinguish yourselves. Show forth to the world that ye are endowed with noble and exalted faculties.’’

Amy is one of the creative team behind Writing our Legacy, raising awareness of the contributions of Black and Ethnic Minority (BME) writers, poets, playwrights and authors born, living or connected to Sussex and the South East.

Brittle Paper celebrated Women’s History Month by featuring women writers from Daughters of Africa and New Daughters of Africa; monumental anthologies edited by Margaret Busby. Head to their instagram profile to see which authors they chose to feature.

Literary icon – Margaret Busby – talks about her second and most recent anthology ‘New Daughters of Africa’. She tells us what motivated her to publish its predecessor (‘Daughters of Africa’) in 1992, as well as why she felt the time was right for a sequel in 2019. Watch here.

 New Daughters of Africa by Margaret Busby was reviewed by The Bookseller, Financial Times and The Irish Times amongst many others, and was given a round up by Books in the Media, along with a 4/5 star rating.

Margaret Busby’s New Daughters of Africa featured in West End Extra, with journalist John Gulliver speaking fondly of  colleague Angela Cobbinah’s contribution. The feature included a photograph of Angela Cobbinah alongside Nah Dove, Harriet Evans and Shezan Renny at the Owl Bookshop in London.

Red magazine picked Margaret Busby‘s New Daughters of Africa as one of their top 10 books by brilliant women around the world.

‘Subtitled “an international anthology of writing by women of African descent’, this collection gathers together women’s voices from Antigua to Zimbabwe as they share their experiences of sisterhood, race, gender and everything and anything in between. Some of our favourite writers like Zadie Smith, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Malorie Blackman and Candice Carty-Williams are represented in this anthology which uses short stories, poetry, diaries and so much more to explore the rich history, culture and legacy of Africa on its daughters around the world.’

Head to Red Online to see the full list.

Margaret Busby New Daughters of Africa Award
Applications are now open for the the Margaret Busby New Daughters of Africa Award. It will pay for the recipient’s tuition fees and accommodation in central London, plus a food scholarship at International Student House. Applications must be in before 20 February 2020. A huge thank you to New Daughters of Africa contributors, SOAS and International Student House for making this possible.

Read more about the award and support with a donation HERE.

Sarah Ladipo Manyika shares her five favourite books of love, set in Africa, for Frolic. New Daughters of Africa is one of those five. ‘There’s a wide range of stories in this spectacular collection from 200 women writers of African descent and many of them are love stories. From romantic love to familial love to love of nation and love of self—there are many great stories to chose from.’

‘As a black woman trying to find my own voice, [Margaret Busby] has been endlessly interested, supportive and enthusiastic about helping a generation like me find our place and our ability to make change through writing.’

To celebrate Black History Month, people used social media to those they felt deserved recognition. Writer Afua Hirsch also got involved with the campaign, choosing to champion Margaret Busby (editor of Daughters of Africa and, more recently, New Daughters of Africa, to which Afua contributed).

Read the full article in the Metro.

What did you read to celebrate Black History Month? Turnaround featured a fantastic selection of books for those needing inspiration, including Margaret Busby’s New Daughters of Africa. Black History Month might now be drawing to a close, but that’s no reason not to keep reading diverse and diasporic texts.

‘Following up her ground-breaking 1992 anthology that collected standout work from more than 200 women from the African Diaspora, Margaret Busby’s New Daughters of Africa seeks to showcase the work of writers of African descent for a new generation. Bringing together voices around the world both new and historical, including Roxane Gay, Zadie Smith and Diane Abbott, it’s a mammoth tome containing fiction, poetry, essays, speeches and more. Each piece of writing speaks to black women’s experiences, exploring sisterhood, tradition, romance, race and identity. For a celebration of Black history and Black excellence not just this month but all year round, pick this one up.’ Read in full HERE.

‘Looking to the future, Busby believes that not only is it important to have black women writing corrective histories but also to have them in positions where they’re able to publish said histories. “I’m often in spaces where people think it’s more important to be a writer over a publisher but who is going to tell these stories? Who is going to make these stories and histories a priority if we’re relying on white gatekeepers to let them through the door? We need writers, publishers, editors and more. We need to participate in every sphere and be part of the process in every sense so that we can enable other people to pass on those histories.”‘

Paula Akpan, columnist and co-founder of Black Girls Fest quotes Margaret Busby in an article on the stories and experiences of black women in the UK for Refinery29. Read in full HERE.

Somerset House invited contributors to the New Daughters of Africa anthology to their current exhibition celebrating the past 50 years of Black creativity; Get Up, Stand Up Now!  The evening featured Yassmin Abdel-Magied, Yemisi Aribisala, Yaba Badoe, Jacqueline Bishop, Yrsa Daley-Ward, Anni Domingo, Karen McCarthy Woolf, Bridget Minamore and Margaret Busby in conversation and reading from their own work, as well as the work of others in the anthology.

Picture taken by Lisa Lee.

New Daughters of Africa featured in the latest issue of Poets & Writers Magazine—a U.S. publication by the nation’s largest nonprofit organisation serving creative writers.

Margaret Busby, editor of New Daughters of Africa, was invited to Edinburgh International Book Festival, alongside authors Namwali Serpell, Leila Aboulela, Candice Carty-Williams and Bernardine Evaristo, to discuss and read from the anthology. The women paid tribute to author Toni Morrison, who contributed to the first Daughters of Africa anthology, twenty five years ago. The event was part of the Telling Her Story series of events, celebrating ‘bold, defiant, revolutionary women’.

‘I love both women and was blessed to have spent some time in each of their company. Before I ever saw them in the flesh, I was in awe of their words.’

Author and contributor to New Daughters of Africa, Edwidge Danticat, writes a heartfelt tribute article for Daughters of Africa contributors and iconic black authors, Toni Morrison and Paule Marshall, for The New Yorker.

Read the full piece HERE.

New Daughters of Africa, edited by Margaret Busby and featuring over 200 women writers in Africa and its diaspora previously launched in the U.K. in March and at the Uganda International Writers Conference in May. This month, a particularly apt one as August in South Africa is designated as “Women’s Month,” the anthology launched in Johannesburg. James Murua shares photographs from the launch on his literature blog, which you can see HERE.

Author Zadie Smith, contributor to New Daughters of Africa, reflects on the life and influence of Toni Morrison as part of PEN America’s tribute to the late Nobel laureate.

‘In 1992, my mother’s close friend, the Ghanaian born, legendary Black-British publisher Margaret Busby, published the first volume of Daughters of Africa, in which Morrison was of course included, alongside more than two hundred contributors. Its title came from the words of Maria W. Stewart, the first African-American woman to give public lectures: “O, ye daughters of Africa, awake! awake! arise! no longer sleep nor slumber, but distinguish yourselves. Show forth to the world that ye are endowed with noble and exalted faculties.” A year after that, Morrison won the Nobel Prize. A year after that, I went to university to embark on a course of English Literature which included not a single daughter of Africa nor any sons either. Change was a long time coming, but Morrison stayed out front, leading us into the future, like a pilot light.’

Read in full HERE.

SOAS University of London has awarded an honorary doctorate to Margaret Busby, editor of New Daughters of Africa.

Baroness Valerie Amos, Director of SOAS, called Margaret a pioneer and innovator who has ‘sought to bring about change in the world’.

SOAS is the leading Higher Education institution in Europe specialising in the study of Asia, Africa and the Near and Middle East.

‘It has been a long time since a book created the kind of buzz and excitement which has surrounded New Daughters of Africa: An International Anthology of Writing by Women of African Descent.’ New Daughters of Africa features on a list of The Best African Books of 2019 by Samira Sawlani for African Arguments. 

The Africa Writes inaugural Lifetime Achievement in African Literature award was presented to Margaret Busby. The award was presented to Busby by writer Ade Solanke and Diane Abbott MP as part of the festival headline event celebrating the anthology New Daughters of Africa. (Image of author and New Daughters of Africa contributor Bernardine Evaristo with Margaret Busby at Africa Writes, British Library).

Africa Writes Bristol was an amazing weekend of ideas, books, conversation and laughter. New Daughters of Africa contributors joined editor Margaret Busby to discuss the anthology. (L-R) Margaret Busby, Namwali Serpell, Leone Ross  and Sharmaine Lovegrove at Africa Writes Bristol, June 2019.

New Daughters of Africa, edited by Margaret Busby and featuring over 200 African women contributors has been chosen by Mambo magazine as one of the top 5 books to read this summer.

 New Daughters of Africa features in The Sunday Times South Africa.

‘New Daughters of Africa addresses obstacles faced by black women writers. Custom, tradition, friendships, sisterhood, romance, sexuality, intersectional feminism, the politics of gender, identity and more are explored in this collection of work from over 200 writers.’

New Daughters of Africa received high accolades and front page treatment in The Times Literary Supplement. 

The George Padmore Institute newsletter celebrates the hugely successful launch of New Daughters of Africa, edited by close friend Margaret Busby.

The George Padmore Institute, based in London, is an archive, educational resource and research centre housing materials relating to the black community of Caribbean, African and Asian descent in Britain and continental Europe.

Bustle features New Daughters of Africa in their curated list of new books coming out in May 2019.

Ready to be overwhelmed in the very best way?  All curated, edited and introduced by Margaret Busby, this collection of work across a wide-range of genres gives us a window into the extraordinary lives of excellent women.

New Daughters of Africa features in HYPEBAE’s 10 books to add to your summer 2019 reading list.

 New Daughters of Africa is Book of the Week at Greenwich Book Festival! Catch Margaret Busby, Malorie Blackman, Bridget Minamore and Diana Evans at Greenwich Book Festival on the 15th June. More Information HERE 

‘Why did it take me so long to learn of Margaret Busby, who became the first black woman and youngest publisher in Britain, and whose recent New Daughters of Africa shows black women writers in Britain well before the arrival of the Windrush generation.’

Shola von Reinhold discusses the black writers and creatives who existed in the artistic folds of Britain but whose history wasn’t shared alongside more well-known artists because of the colour of their skin. Shola explores the role Margaret played as the first black woman publisher in Britain, whilst also highlighting other publishers and artists working to promote and celebrate black authors and artists in Britain today. Read the article in full over on the Independent website.

 New Daughters of Africa editor Margaret Busby and contributors Adeola Solanke, Candace Allen, Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond, Carmen Harris, Yemisi Aribisala, Anni Domingo feature in the Spring 2019 issue of Alt A Review, which you can buy HERE.

‘In this essay, I turn my thoughts away from arresting visual art to focus on a landmark union: Margaret Busby OBE with Candida Lacey of Myriad Editions and 200+ women from Africa and her Diasporas. It is a great literary assembly put together for the purpose of reconstructing perceptions about Africa and her women; celebrating African women in literature and showcasing the dazzling range of their work…’
A fantastic essay on African Women in Literature and New Daughters of Africa by literary journalist and publicist Olatoun Gabi-Williams on the Borders Literature Online website.

Africa Writes delves into the life of Margaret Busby, discussing her epic contribution to the representation of black women in publishing.  ‘By vocalising the narratives of the marginalised, Margaret Busby has expanded the possibility of learning, and has ultimately opened the door for dialogue to occur.’

Read the article in full HERE.

 The Sussex Express features New Daughters of Africa in the run up to Charleston Festival, where Margaret Busby, Diana Evans and Bonnie Greer will be discussing the book on May 22nd at 3pm. Tickets are now available via the Charleston Festival website. Read the full article here.

‘At once a war-front, a home-front and a sanctuary for our souls, the page is where Africa’s literary daughters wield our pens like swords to stake our claim to a true feminism whose power, urgency and truth can be found only at gender’s intersections: colonialism, race, culture, class, sexuality, history and nation.’ A fabulous article in The Guardian Arts by Olatoun Gabi-Williams, discussing Margaret Busby, Myriad Editions and New Daughters of Africa. Read in full here.

‘Margaret Busby has returned with New Daughters of Africa to showcase a younger generation of writers, some of whom the literary establishment has yet to recognize adequately, but it also includes superstars like Edwidge Danticat of Haiti, Nigerian, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Zadie Smith (UK) and recently deceased Andrea Levy (UK).  Caribbean writers are well represented by the likes of Karen Lord, Claudia Rankine, Lisa Allen Agostini, Malorie Blackman, Nalo Hopkinson, and others, some of whom will join Busby at this year’s festival.’

Marina Salandy-Brown discusses the importance of the title on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.

Recently published New Daughters of Africa features in an article by Professor Selwyn Cudjoe for the Trinidad Daily Express. He says of Margaret Busby, editor of the book, ‘She remains a prolific African griot who is always doing book reviews and radio programs, writing articles and obituaries, and acting as a one-woman repository of black people’s writing.’

Read the article in full here.

 Books in the Media featured New Daughters of Africa this month, thanks to fabulous reviews by The Irish Times, The Financial Times and The Bookseller. Read all mentioned reviews here.

‘It’s fitting that New Daughters of Africa was launched in March, because there is an undeniable feeling around the book that history is in fact being made.

The anthology, the brainchild of Margaret Busby, brings together 200 black female writers from across the diaspora. It’s less of a follow up from the first, more of a wonderful and exciting child that’s a testament to the impact of the previous publication of its kind by the writer.

Speaking to Life & Style about the need for the book now, Busby said: “There are so many writers who need to have a light shone on their work, that’s why.’

Alannah Francis for The Voice Online. Read in full here.

Imani Perry, professor of African-American studies at Princeton University, praises New Daughters of Africa in the Financial Times.

‘I have found myself returning to a phrase of one of the writers in the anthology who was new to me. In her 1993 essay “The Autobiography of an Idea”, Arthenia Bates Millican wrote: “I have kissed the darkness hello. And as I move, I search through that darkness for the most brilliant fight.” This is the calling, and the beauty, of both the old and the new daughters of Africa.’

Buy your copy of the anthology here.

Camden New Journal reported from the SOAS launch for New Daughters of Africa.‘

‘A raw and touching little memoir of the childhood years of Angela Cobbinah, a regular contributor to the New Journal – and its co-founder in 1982 – has been chosen in a prestigious anthology of the writings of women of African descent, edited by the illustrious publisher Margaret Busby.’

‘It tells of her early years – often puzzling and painful – as the only black child in a Cornish village where she lived with her mother, a Hungarian refugee who had become the local midwife – her father had returned to his native country, Ghana.’

‘Her name sits among such household literary names as Zadie Smith, Chimamanda Adichie, Andrea Levy and Marion Blackman but also many unknowns. Typical of Angela’s writings, her 3,000-word memoir displays a candour and insight­fulness that beautifully illustrates a maturing mind caught up in an atmosphere of prejudice and ignorance.’

Read more here.

New Daughters of Africa received huge praise in this review of the anthology by The Irish Times. 

‘Some of the short stories will make you hold your breath… The result is a necessary wealth of work – a welcome addition to any book shelf and a compulsory education for anyone unaware of the countless gifted African women journalists, essayists, poets and speakers who should influence how we see the world. Sometimes you need an anthology to remind you of the variety, strength and nuance of writing among a certain region or group of people. New Daughters of Africa is indispensable because African voices have been silenced or diminished throughout history, and women’s voices even more so.’

Read here.

Margaret Bubsby was invited onto Woman’s Hour last week to discuss New Daughters of Africa with Jenni Murray. Listen in full online now.

‘New Daughters of Africa,  compiled by Margaret Busby in a gargantuan editorial feat, showcases the creativity and achievements of contributors including Roxane Gay, Zadie Smith, and Diane Abbott. It is a behemoth of thought and reflection, exploring sisterhood, tradition, romance, race and identity – individually, and at large.’

New Daughters of Africa was chosen by Turnaround as Book of the Month.

‘The book reveals works in progress, identities in transition, shapeshifting sensibilities, a delicious mash-up of expectations. Who knew that Nadifa Mohamed, one of Granta’s best young British novelists in 2013, was also a fine poet? The chef Zoe Adjonyoh, from whom cookery writing might have been expected, delivers a memoir of her father that is indeed “A Beautiful Story”. Contributors are drawn to write about countries not theirs by birth: a Zimbabwean shines light on Antigua, Ghana has an impact on a writer from Trinidad.’

‘The aspirational mantra of inclusivity and diversity is increasingly routine, fashionable even, in today’s publishing industry, but lasting change has yet to be achieved. Verna Wilkins, founder of the children’s imprint Tamarind Books, explains in her essay that she began hands-on work creating books in diverse classrooms in the belief that the process must start with children: “They should see themselves as the authors, editors, designers, illustrators and publishers of the future.”’

Margaret Busby wrote an amazing article for The Guardian about New Daughters of Africa. Read it in full here.

To celebrate International Women’s Day, Red magazine chose 10 books by women authors. New Daughters of Africa was one of those spotlighted – check out the entire list here.