Three on the 2011 Orange Prize Longlist

The Orange Prize long list has just been published. The list include highly successful books such as Emma Donoghue's Room, which was shortlisted for the Booker Awards and Aminatta Forna's The Memory of Love which recently won the Commonwealth Writers Prize Best Book Award for Africa Region. Leila Aboulela also won the Caine Prize for African Writing in 2000 with The Museum.Out of the twenty (20) long-listed books, three of them are by Africans:

• The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna (Sierra Leone)
• The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives by Lola Shoneyin (Nigeria)
• Lyrics Alley by Leila Aboulela (Sudan)

The Orange prize was created to celebrate "excellence, originality and accessibility in women's writing throughout the world". Read more about the long-listed authors here. Also read my interview with Lola Shoneyin here. 

95. Opening Spaces: Contemporary African Women's Writing by Yvonne Vera (Editor)

Title: Opening Spaces: Contemporary African Women's Writing

Editor: Yvonne Vera

Genre: Short Story Antholgy/Feminism

Publishers: Heinemann (African Writers Series)

Pages: 186

Year of First Publication: 1999

Country: Various

This is a collection of 15 short stories by African women from 11 different countries. The anthology includes Leila Aboulela's Caine Prize winning story The Museum. With the exception of a few stories like Crocodile Tails, A State of Outrage, The Barrel of a Pen, and The Home-Coming, the stories revolve around polygamous husbands, domineering husbands, rape, domestic violence, girl empowerment and combinations of these.

The collection opens with Ama Ata Aidoo's The Girl Who can, which is a story about a girl who was looked down by her grandmother because she has lanky legs. 

'But Adjoa has legs,' Nana would insist; 'except that they are too thin. And also too long for a woman. Kaya, listen. Once in a while, but only once in a long while, somebody decides  - nature, a child's spirit mother, an accident happens, and somebody gets born without arms, or legs, or both sets of limbs. And then let me touch wood; it is a sad business. [..] But if any female child decides to come into this world with legs, then they might as well be legs.' (Page 9)

The grandmother kept questioning what she could actually achieve or do with such legs until she proved that there is more that could be achieved.

Written in the first person (as most of the stories were) and in flashes, Deciduous Gazettes (by Melissa Tandiwe Myambo) is about the trials of Mrs Ncube and her friends in a polygamous marriage. Though this is basically Mrs Ncube's narration, she sometimes assumes an omniscient observer telling the stories of her friends with as much detail. So that when Mai Sithole came home to find a talk-show programme discussing the issue of polygamy, she

[P]icks up the telephone table and smashes it into the television screen. ... She picks up a chair and throws it into her reflection again and again until shards of glass slide to the floor in jagged geometrical shapes: triangles, pentagons, octagons. She drags the chair into the kitchen and hurls it into the stove. (Page 34)

So pervasive was the issue that even on the cover of magazines Mrs Ncube's friends, with whom she shares similar fate, sees the sexism being portrayed. For

On the outside cover [of the Horizon magazine] is a picture of a woman opening the door to her husband arriving home from work late in the afternoon. Two children run joyfully to meet him. The slogan across the top is, 'Hapana muphuwira unopfuura Chibataura' [There is no love potion better than sadza]. (Page 37)

Lindsey Collen's Enigma is about the reflections a girl living with an overprotective father who wants her to get a good education so that she can get a bon garçon or a suitable boy to marry testing positive for pregnancy. She is thinking of what her father would do to her if she finds out that she is pregnant, the beatings and more. And her homework lies undone. The Red Velvet Dress by Farida Karodia is a rather interesting and twisted story. Katrina, after serving 25 years in prison for killing her father (whom she accused of sexually molesting her and her friend) came home to find her mother dying from cancer. And a family secret: the man he killed was not her father, as she had always presumed. Uncle Bunty by Norma Kitson opens with

You could have said Uncle Bunty was the ideal husband: he was a good provider. (Page 58)

And ends with:

That's how Auntie Betty learned that Uncle Bunty had a whole other family in Durban (a wife and three sons, all real males) and how, at age 81, she got her divorce from Uncle Bunty and lives very happily now in her flat overlooking the Durban beach front and goes to America whenever she feels like it. (Page 65)

It also about a domineering man who lived a double and polygamous life. In Aboulela's Caine-Prize winning story The Museum, a Sudanese woman, Shadia, sent abroad by her would-be husband to further her education found redemption and identity after a visit to the African Museum in Scotland with a classmate whom she was somewhat growing to like. She realised that her understanding of what Africa is is far different from the Africa that is on display. The Africa on-show in the Museum is about Scottish warriors who fought in the land and the plunder they carried home and Africa's wildlife. From a letter a diplomat wrote from Ethiopia in 1903

It is difficult to imagine anything more satisfactory or better worth taking part in than a lion drive. We rode back to camp feeling very well indeed. Archie was quite right when he said that this was the first time since we have started that we have really been in Africa - the real Africa of Jungle inhabited only by game, and plains where herds of antelope meet your eye in every direction. (Page 89)

State of Outrage by Sindiwe Magona is about a peoples' reaction to HIV/AIDS and how a group of friends who have lost one of their members infected with disease not to the disease but to the insane reaction of her neighbours set out to fight this pervasive homophobia even though statistics and projections show that, if nothing is done, by the year 2000 every single family would have at least one member living with the disease. This is one of the few stories that veered away from the usual 'bad-men' themes.

Night Thoughts by Monde Sifuniso is the only overtly political piece in the collection. It talks about the cycle of oppression and corruption, of how every new leader makes flamboyant promises only to morph into a personality far worse than his predecessor: adding onto the atrocities of his predecessor. Set in Barotseland, the western province of Zambia, a new litunga has been installed after the old one, Sikita, abdicated his. However the first thing Liswani, the new litunga, did after promising a new beginning and some form of democratic-tendencies did was to improve his litunga position (which though was not explained but was obviously lower than a king) into King, his indunas becoming ministers and the ngambela becoming prime minister. After that he sets out to enrich himself and to arrest and persecute anybody who spoke against him.

The collection ends with The Home-Coming by Milly Jafta, which is a story about a woman who after spending almost all her life abroad came home to meet a daughter who, although a stranger altogether to her, was prepared to offer her what her supposed good-life abroad never gave her, respect and recognition.

As a collection of works by women, it is expected that issues concerning women would predominate. Yet I was put off after the third or fourth story. The problem is should every story by a woman be against men or a man? However, the second half of the reading provided a series of varieties from a theme that was becoming monotonous and mundane after every read. In spite of this one of my favourite stories in the collection The Red Velvet Dress is also a story with such a theme. The ending took the reader by surprise and though a short story, it contains a lot of turns; the other favourite is Night Thoughts because of its political theme and its humour. It also reminded of the famous story Malawi's president, Bingu wa Mutharika's, ghost stories; the parallels could not be overlooked.

Though there were crowding around themes, a problem with most stories coming out of Africa, each story was delivered with verve and passion and thus most were realistic. On the other hand there were a few where the storyline or theme, I think, was overstretched losing its power. Overall, the collection is worth the read if one is very interested in issues affecting women and women empowerment. 

_______________________________

Brief Bio (Editor):Yvonne Vera, the Zimbabwean author, recently died in Toronto at the age of 40. She had moved there from Bulawayo in 2003, and was being treated for an AIDS-related illness. At the time of her death, she had published five novels (Nehanda, 1993; Without A Name, 1994; Under the Tongue, 1996; Butterfly Burning, 1998; and The Stone Virgins, 2002), several short stories, and an array of cultural, literary and social criticism. She had received numerous literary awards, including the Africa Region Commonwealth Writer's Prize in 1997, the Macmillan Writer's Prize for Africa in 2002 and the Swedish Tucholski Prize in 2004. (Continue reading)

Contributors

The Girl Who Can [Ama Ata Aidoo, Ghana]

Deciduous Gazettes [Melissa Tandiwe Myambo, Zimbabwe]

The Enigma [Lindsey Collen, Mauritius]

The Red Velvet Dress [Farida Karodia, South Africa]

Uncle Bunty [Norma Kitson, South Africa]

The Betrayal [Veronique Tadjo, Cote d'Ivoire]

The Museum [Leila Aboulela, Sudan]

The Power of a Plate of Rice [Ifeoma Okoye, Nigeria]

Stress [Lilia Momple, Mozambique]

A State of Outrage [Sindiwe Magona, South Africa]

Crocodile Tails [Chiedza Musengezi, Zimbabwe]

Night Thoughts [Monde Sifuniso, Zambia]

The Barrel of a Pen [Gugu Ndlovu, Zimbabwe]

A Perfect Wife [Anna Dao, Mali]

The Home-Coming [Milly Jafta, Namibia]

ImageNations Rating: 4.5/6.0

Jonathan Tel Wins 2015 Commonwealth Short Story Prize

Jonathan Tel from the UK has won the 2015 Commonwealth 2015 Short Story Prize for his story The Human Phonograph. Within its short form, the story encompasses great sweeps of the world and its history – from the US moon landing to Chinese nuclear tests to reading 19th century Russian literature. The protagonist of the story is a lonely figure in this vast world.

“The Human Phonograph ranges from the personal to the universal. The resonances remained with the judges, long after the reading. As one said, we were drawn into the lonely world of the protagonist and we stayed there. It is a disconcerting, extraordinary story of an individual in search of independence and reassurance in a difficult world,” said Romesh Gunesekera, Chair of the international panel of judges.

The Human Phonograph is published by The Guardian online. Its writer, Jonathan Tel, is himself a polymath with interests as varied as those in his story. A theoretical physicist and opera librettist, he has previously published three works of fiction including Freud’s Alphabet, a novel, and a short story collection The Beijing of Possibilities.

Jonathan Tel believes that “the one thing that fiction is so wonderful about, certainly ever since the modern novel was invented, is getting inside people’s heads …. Everything I write is imagined, but I feel I’m giving it some kind of truth.”

***

The Commonwealth Short Story Prize seeks out original voices from the 53 countries of the Commonwealth. The prize is judged by a panel of five eminent writers or readers, representing each of the regions of the Commonwealth, so that stories may be considered for both their regional and international voice.

Five regional winners (receiving £2500) are selected and one of these writers is named the overall winner (receiving £5000). The Commonwealth Short Story Prize is awarded for the best piece of unpublished short fiction.

The 2015 judges are Leila Aboulela (Africa), Fred D’Aguiar (Caribbean), Marina Endicott (Canada & Europe), Witi Ihimaera (Pacific), and Bina Shah (Asia). The overall Chair of the 2015 Prize is Romesh Gunesekera.

The regional winners for 2015 are Light by Lesley Nneka Arimah (Nigeria), The Umbrella Man by Siddhartha Gigoo (India), The King of Settlement 4 by Kevin Jared Hosein (Trinidad), Famished Eels by Mary Rokonadravu (Fiji) and The Human Phonograph by Jonathan Tel (UK).

The winning stories were published by The Caribbean Review of Books, The Guardian, Granta and Scroll.in and each of the winners celebrated in a local context of their own choosing. These included a bookshop in Delhi, a literary festival in Port of Spain, a university auditorium in Suva, an arts centre in Minnesota and a Chinese restaurant in central London – testifying to the global nature of the prize.

“Each year, entries to the Commonwealth Short Story Prize explore new territories in the stories they tell. This year, we received many more entries from countries not previously represented, which makes this prize a platform for less heard voices, and stories which need to be told” says Lucy Hannah, Programme Manager, Commonwealth Writers.

The 2015 Commonwealth Short Story Prize is part funded by the Sigrid Rausing Trust.

Commonwealth Writers also has an association with the London-based literary and media agency Blake Friedmann, which works with selected writers identified through the Prize.

_______________

Author biography: Jonathan Tel is writing a fiction book set in contemporary China. It is composed of ten chapters, each of which may be read as an independent story, but which link together to form a novel. The Human Phonograph is extracted from this work. The opening chapter, ‘The Shoe King of Shanghai’ was shortlisted for the Sunday Times EFG Award 2014. He is also writing a book of poems about Berlin. 

 

The Commonwealth Short Story Prize is awarded for the best piece of unpublished short fiction (2000-5000 words). Regional winners receive £2,500 and the Overall Winner receives £5,000. Short stories translated into English from other languages are also eligible. Translators receive additional prize money. The 2016 Commonwealth Short Story Prize is now open for entry, closing date 1 November 2015.

 

Commonwealth Writers is the cultural initiative of the Commonwealth Foundation. Commonwealth Writer inspires, develops and connects writers in a range of disciplines. Our activities take place in Commonwealth countries, but our community is global (www.commonwealthwriters.org).

 

The Commonwealth Foundation is a development organisation with an international remit and reach, uniquely situated at the interface between government and civil society. It develops the capacity of civil society to act together and learn from each other to engage with the institutions that shape people’s lives. It strives for more effective, responsive and accountable governance with civil society participation, which contributes to improved development outcomes (www.commonwealthfoundation.com). 

230. Fathers & Daughters - An Anthology of Exploration by Ato Quayson (Editor)

Fathers & Daughters - An Anthology of Exploration  (Ayebia Clarke, 2008; 200) is a collection of essays, poems and short stories about the relationships between daughters and fathers told from the point of view of either the father or the daughter. There is that belief, true or otherwise, that a daughter's first love is the father. Yet, it is all too clear that in Africa, this father-daughter relationship has poorly been explored. Ato Quayson's book is the first book I have come across that donates its pages to such an important exploration. It is said that until the lion learns to speak, tales of the hunt will always favour the hunter. Thus, until fathers learn to tell their side of the stories, men's representation in African novels will always go against them.

The role of men in books like Nervous Conditions, So Long a Letter, Joys of Motherhood, Purple Violet of Oshaantu, Purple Hibiscus, Opening Spaces: African Women Writing and many others are nothing to write about. They are always abusive, neglectful, intolerant (sometimes caused by being polygamous), aggressive, and anything nefarious that one could think about. In fact, such was the representation of men that it has become a marketing tool - the more wicked the man in the novel, the faster the tears will flow and the quicker the books will fly off the shelf. This is not to say that there are no men with such traits. But men are not mono-dimensional as they are always portrait - usually by women - in novels to be. Is it therefore strange that Chimamanda Adichie - upon the publication of her first novel Purple Hibiscus - was pitied by an American reader who said he never knew men in Africa were that abusive? Yes, this is the extent to which such portrayals of men could lead to.  

However, what no one is writing about are the numerous men who struggle(d) to take their daughters to school, sometimes including the authors who adopt such writing template. Sometimes, you wonder if man is not a synonym for Devil. The ones who would pull heaven and earth to save their families are only talked about in non-print conversations. It becomes more glaring when one interviews some of these feminist activists who have made the lampooning of men their occupation. When asked whether their husbands support them, they almost always say yes and that 'they're different'. This 'different men' also need to be talked about; they need to be praised and celebrated to serve as models for others. On the other hand, the changing perception on the part of men on family and women has been left unexplored. Today, there are men who are not toeing the hardline of their fathers. Even most of these supposed hardline fathers, were 'hard' for the common good of the family. Most of them made the family's financial stability their objective to the detriment of being therefore the family and so are 'nefariously' written about.

Abena Busia's epistolary story about her father and her poem, together with Ayebia's story about her itinerant magistrate father, are examples of daughters who understood their fathers - the early generation dads. Whether this appreciation came later in life or not, it shows that the earlier generation of fathers was not entirely heartless as they are often portrayed. Leila Aboulela's Amulets & Fathers, which opens the collection, tells the story of a daughter who sets on a journey to avenge her father's death. It has an interesting twist to since and involves more than just the father.

This is the reason why I read Fathers & Daughters. Even then, there are some stories in this collection that put the survival of the father-daughter relationship on the shoulders of the daughter so that even in this collection, fathers are painted grey. In one of such stories Letter to a Lost Daughter by Harry Garuba, the daughter whose father had used all his resources to educate her to the highest level, so that she could become a doctor, against the grumblings and open protestations from other family members, closed all communication channels with her father because he do pester her to marry. Now, visiting her father's home to make preparation for his funeral, she discovers a letter from the father addressed to her, of which she was the author. In Zina Saro-Wiwa's His Eyes were Shining like a Child, a father who somewhat tormented and berated her daughter is transformed (or reincarnated) into a baby and suddenly appears at this old and unmarried daughter's front door. 

It's somewhat fascinating, this uneasiness between fathers and daughters. It perhaps stems from the fact that men, on the continent, are usually not supposed to show emotions and so this non-emotiveness is interpreted as 'wickedness' or 'hardiness', leading to hatred towards fathers, even by would-be fathers.

The contributions I enjoyed the most were by those men who expressed their feelings and, for once, talked for themselves in particular and men in genera; Simon Gikandi's A Voyage Round my Daughter is one of them. Gikandi's essay explored the role of women in Kikuyu culture and how a long-held matrilineal system became patrilineal. This was triggered when he took his children to visit his family, after numerous insistence and failures. According to Gikandi, he thought that it was the boys whom the family was eager to see but when this turned out to be wrong and that her daughter was the most sought after and on whom everybody totes, he was forced to analysed the situation. Paul Tiyambe Zeleza talks about bringing up her daughter and the happiness he got living with her in Memories of Birth and other Anectodes.

In all, this anthology is worth the read. It gives an African perspective on the father-daughter relationship; showing that it is not always true that fathers are insensitive and uncaring. it fills an important gap in African literature. It is recommended.

__________________

About author: Ato Quayson is professor of English and Director of the Centre for Diaspora and Transnational studies at the University. He studied at the Universities of Ghana, and Cambridge where he earned his PhD in 1995. He is a Fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences. His publications include Strategic Transformations in Nigerian Writing (Oxford and Bloomington: James Currey and Indiana University Press), and Postcolonialism: Theory, Practice or Practice? (Oxford: Blackwell, 2000). 

In 2008, he edited Fathers and Daughters (Aeybia Clarke Publishing), a collection of essays from fathers on their daughters and vice versa. (Source)

NoViolet Bulawayo wins 12th Caine Prize for African Writing

I had always known that the announcement of the Caine Prize for African Writing would fall on my birthday. However, in joyful and thoughtful moods that birthdays always bestow upon its adult celebrants, I entirely forgot to follow the announcement on twitter. Thanks, however, to the internet I have been able to retrieve the announcement of the winner.

Press Release

Zimbabwe’s NoViolet Bulawayo has won the 2011 Caine Prize for African Writing, described as Africa’s leading literary award, for her short story entitled ‘Hitting Budapest’, from The Boston Review, Vol 35, no. 6 – Nov/Dec 2010.

The Chair of Judges, award-winning author Hisham Matar, announced NoViolet Bulawayo as the winner of the £10,000 prize at a dinner held this evening (Monday 11 July) at the Bodleian Library in Oxford.

Hisham Matar said:

The language of ‘Hitting Budapest’ crackles. Here we encounter Darling, Bastard, Chipo, Godknows, Stina and Sbho, a gang reminiscent of Clockwork Orange. But these are children, poor and violated and hungry. This is a story with moral power and weight, it has the artistry to refrain from moral commentary. NoViolet Bulawayo is a writer who takes delight in language.

NoViolet Bulawayo was born and raised in Zimbabwe. She recently completed her MFA at Cornell University, in the US, where she is now a Truman Capote Fellow and Lecturer of English. Another of her stories, ‘Snapshots’, was shortlisted for the 2009 SA PEN/Studzinski Literary Award. NoViolet has recently completed a novel manuscript tentatively titled We Need New Names, and has begun work on a memoir project.

Also shortlisted were:

• Lauri Kubuitsile (Botswana) ‘In the spirit of McPhineas Lata’ from The Bed Book of Short Stories published by Modjaji Books, SA, 2010
• Tim Keegan (South Africa) ‘What Molly Knew’ from Bad Company published by Pan Macmillan SA, 2008
• David Medalie (South Africa) ‘The Mistress’s Dog’, from The Mistress’s Dog: Short stories, 1996-2010 published by Picador Africa, 2010
• Beatrice Lamwaka (Uganda) ‘Butterfly dreams’ from Butterfly Dreams and Other New Short Stories from Uganda published by Critical, Cultural and Communications Press, Nottingham, 2010

The panel of judges is chaired by award-winning Libyan novelist Hisham Matar, whose first novel, In the Country of Men, was shortlisted for the 2006 Man Booker Prize. His second novel, Anatomy of a Disappearance, was published by Viking this March.

He is joined on the panel by Granta deputy editor Ellah Allfrey, publisher, film and travel writer Vicky Unwin, Georgetown University Professor and poet David Gewanter, and the award-winning author Aminatta Forna.

Once again, the winner of the £10,000 Caine Prize will be given the opportunity to take up a month’s residence at Georgetown University, Washington DC as a ‘Caine Prize/Georgetown University Writer-in-Residence’. The award will cover all travel and living expenses.

Last year the Caine Prize was won by Sierra Leonean writer Olufemi Terry. As the then Chair of judges, Fiammetta Rocco, said at the time, the story was 

ambitious, brave and hugely imaginative. Olufemi Terry’s ‘Stickfighting Days’ presents a heroic culture that is Homeric in its scale and conception. The execution of this story is so tight and the presentation so cinematic, it confirms Olufemi Terry as a talent with an enormous future.

Previous winners include Sudan’s Leila Aboulela, winner of the first Caine Prize in 2000, whose new novel Lyrics Alley was published in January 2010 by Weidenfeld & Nicolson, as well as Binyavanga Wainaina, from Kenya, who founded the well-known literary magazine, Kwani?, dedicated to promoting the work of new Kenyan writers and whose memoir One Day I Will Write About this Place will be published by Granta Books in November 2011.

You can read the winning story here.

[Courtesy: Wealth of Ideas]

Author's Country

For other categories, see Review

I have sought to read from as many parts of Africa as possible. This index categorises authors by country. The categorisation is such that authors are listed according to the nationality they possessed when their works became famous. Thus, Bessie head is considered a Motswana from Botswana rather than a South African and Coetzee, a South African rather than an Australian. Non-African authors are listed under 'Other Countries'. Always, the author's last name comes first. Anthologies: If it is a single-authored anthology, the author's name appears under the country where the author comes from. For multiple-authored anthologies only the editor('s') name(s) are (are) used. If the anthology is multiple-editored and the editors come from the same country, only the name of the editor which comes first at the back of the book is used (example Ivor Hartmann and Emmanuel Sigauke both come from Zimbabwe, only the former is used); if both (or all) editors come from different countries (as in Chinua Achebe (Nigeria) and C.L. Innes (Australia), then each editor's name appears under the country of origin. Under Australia, C.L. Innes name will come first followed by Achebe's. 

ANGOLA

Agualusa, Jose Eduardo: The Book of Chameleons
Pepetela: The Return of the Water Spirit

ALGERIA
Boudjedra, Rashid: The Repudiation
Djebar, Assia: The Foreigner, Sister of the Foreign Woman in Contemporary African Short Stories

BOTSWANA

Head, Bessie: A Question of Power

Head, Bessie: A Woman Alone
Head, Bessie: The Cardinals with Meditations and Short Stories
Head, Bessie: Maru
Head, Bessie: Snapshots of a Wedding in African Short Stories
Head, Bessie: Tales of Tenderness and Power
Head, Bessie: When Rain Clouds Gather
Kubuitsile, Laurie: In the Spirit of McPhineas Lata

CAMEROON

Doh, A. B.: The Spaces in-Between in African Roar 2013
Kwa, Dipita: In Bramble Bushes in African Roar 2013
Mongo Beti: The Poor Christ of Bomba
Mutia, Ba'bila: The Miracle in Contemporary African Short Stories
Oyono, Ferdinand: Houseboy

CONGO

Dongala, E.B.: The Man in Contemporary African Short Stories

COTE D'IVOIRE

Kourouma, Ahmadou: Allah is not Obliged
Kourouma, Ahmadou: Waiting for the Wild Beasts to VoteTadjo, Veronique: As the Crow Flies

Tadjo, Veronique: Away from My Father in Fathers & Daughters - an Anthology of Exploration
Tadjo, Veronique: The Betrayal in Opening Spaces: Contemporary African Women's Writing
Tadjo, Veronique: The Shadow of Imana: Travels in the Heart of Rwanda

EGYPT

El-Bisatie, Mohammed: A Conversation from the Third Floor in African Short Stories
Mahfouz, Naguib: Palace Walk
Rifaat, Alifa: Distant View of a Minaret
El Saadawi, Nawal: Searching
El Saadawi, Nawal: God Dies by the Nile

GABON

Mengara, Daniel: Mema

GAMBIA
Sallah, Tijan M.: Weaverdom in Contemporary African Short Stories

GHANA

Acheampong, Sophia: Growing Yams in London
Acheampong, Sophia: Ipods in Accra
Adzei, Mawuli: TabooAgambila, G.a.: Journey
Agyei-Agyiri, Alex: Unexpected Joy at Dawn

Aidoo, Ama Ata: Certain Winds from the South in African Short Stories
Aidoo, Ama Ata: Changes
Aidoo, Ama Ata: Diplomatic Pounds and Other Stories
Aidoo, Ama Ata: No Sweetness HereAidoo, Ama Ata: The Girl Who Can in Opening Spaces: Contemporary African Women's Writing

Akorli, Elikplim: A Heart's Quest
Akpabli, Kofi: A Sense of Savannah: Tales of a Friendly Walk through Northern Ghana
Akpabli, Kofi: Tickling the Ghanaian: Encounters with Contemporary Culture
Annan, Kofi: Interventions - A Life in War and Peace
Anyidoho, Kofi: The Place we Call Home and Other Poems
Armah, Ayi Kwei: The Beautyful Ones are not yet Born

Armah, Ayi Kwei: Fragments

Armah, Ayi Kwei: The Healers

Armah, Ayi Kwei: Two Thousand Seasons

Asibon, Aba Amissah: The Lump in her Throat
Asibon, Aba Amissah: Salvation in Odd Places in African Roar 2013
Badoe, Yaba: True Murder
Baezie, Camynta: African Agenda
Bedwei, Farida N.: Definition of a Miracle
Brew-Hammond, Nana Ekua: Powder Necklace
Busia, Abena P.A.: Traces of a Life: A collection of Elegies and Praise Poems
Busia, Abena P.A.: On Locations: A Letter to my Father in Fathers & Daughters - an Anthology of Exploration
Busia, Abena P.A.: Of Memory and Loss in Fathers & Daughters - an Anthology of Exploration
Darko, Amma: Faceless

Darko, Amma: Not Without Flowers
Darkoa-Sekyiamah, Nana (Editor): Women Leading Africa - Conversations with Inspirational African Women 

Damoah, Nana Awere: Excursions in my Mind
Damoah, Nana Awere: Through the Gates of Thought
Damoah, Nana Awere: Truth Floats in African Roar 2010

de-Graft Aikins Ama: The Three Little Girls of Anamaase in Fathers & Daughters - an Anthology of Exploration
Egblewogbe, Martin: Mr. Happy and the Hammer of God

Egblewogbe, Martin: Look Where You Have Gone to Sit (Co-Editor)
Harruna Attah, Ayesha: Harmattan Rain

Harruna Attah, Ayesha: Tamale Blues in African Roar 2010

Heward Mills, Marilyn: Cloth Girl

Kabu, Mamle: The End of Skill

Kabu, Mamle: Mr Oliver in A Life in Full and Other Stories

Kwakye, Benjamin: The Clothes of Nakedness

Kwakye, Benjamin: The Other Crucifix

Laing, Kojo: Big Bishop Roko and the Altar Gangsters

Laing, Kojo: Search Sweet Country
Laing, Kojo: Vacancy for the Post of Jesus Christ in Contemporary African Short Stories

Mahama, John Dramani: My First Coup D'etat - Memories from the Lost Decades of Africa
Marshal, Bill: Permit for Survival
Myers, James Robert (Editor): Breaking Silence - A Poetic Lifeline from Slavery to Love
Neequaye, Isaac: Water Wahala in African Roar 2011
Nkrumah, Kwame: Neo-Colonialism: The Last Stage of Imperialism

Parkes, Nii Ayikwei: Tail of the Blue Bird

Quayson, Ato (Editor): Fathers & Daughters - an Anthology of Exploration

Quayson, Ato: Bobo, the Snowflake Catcher in Fathers & Daughters - an Anthology of Exploration
Ribeiro-Ayeh, Ayebia: The Wake-Up Call in Fathers & Daughters - an Anthology of Exploration

Sekyi, Kobina: The Blinkards

Sumprim, Alba Kunadu: The Imported Ghanaian

Ulzen, Papa Kobina: Accra! Accra! More Poems about Modern Afrika

KENYA

Amlani, Alnoor: Soul Safari in A Life in Full and Other Stories
Gikandi, Simon: A Voyage Round my Daughter in Fathers & Daughters - an Anthology of Exploration
Hassan, Abdulghani Sheikh The Faces of Fate in African Roar 2013
Kibera, Leonard: The Spider's Web in African Short Stories
Kantai, Parselelo: You Wreck Her
Kahora, Billy: Urban Zoning
Kenyatta, Jomo: The Gentlemen of the Jungle in African Short Stories
Mabura, Lily: How shall we Kill the Bishop in A Life in Full and Other Stories
Matata, Lydia: Cut it Off in African Roar 2013
Mativo, Kyalo: On the Market Day in Contemporary African Short Stories
Munene, Samuel: The David Thuo Show in A Life in Full and Other Stories
Ogot, Grace: Green Leaves in African Short Stories
Oluoch Chianga Clifford: Set me Free in A Life in Full and Other Stories
wa Ngugi, Mukoma: How Kamau wa Mwangi Escaped into Exile
Sitawa Namwalie: Cut off My Tongue
wa Thiong'o, Ngugi: A Grain of Wheat
wa Thiong'o, Ngugi: Dreams in a Time of War - a Childhood Memoirwa Thiong'o, Ngugi: Matigari

wa Thiong'o, Ngugi: Minutes of Glory in African Short Stories
wa Thiong'o, Ngugi: The River Between
wa Thiong'o, Ngugi: Weep Not, Child
wa Thiong'o, Ngugi: Wizard of the Crow

LESOTHO

Mofolo, Thomas: Chaka

Morojele, Morabo: How We Buried Puso

MALI

Dao, Anna: A Perfect Wife in Opening Spaces: Contemporary African Women's Writing

MALAWI
Chimombo, Steve: The Rubbish Dump in Contemporary African Short Stories
Kenani, Onjezani Stanley: Happy Ending in A Life in Full and Other Stories
Kenani, Onjezani Stanley: Love on Trial
Mapanje, Jack: Chattering Wagtails of Mikuyu Prison
Mapanje, Jack (Editor): Gathering Seaweed: Africa Prison Writing
Mkandawire, Dango: The Times in African Roar 2011
Zeleza, Tiyambe: Smouldering Charcoal
Zeleza, Tiyambe: Memories of Birth and Other Anectodes in Fathers & Daughters - an Anthology of Exploration

MAURITIUS
Collen, Lindsey: The Enigma in Opening Spaces: Contemporary Women's Writing

MOZAMBIQUE

Couto, Mia: The Birds of God in Contemporary African Short Stories
Couto, Mia: Voices Made Night

Couto, Mia: Every Man is a Race
Honwana, B.L.: Papa, Snake, and I in African Short Stories
Momplé, Lília: Neighbours: The Story of a Murder
Momplé, Lília: Stress in Opening Spaces: Contemporary African Women's Writing

NAMIBIA

Andreas, Neshani: The Purple Violet of Oshaantu
Jafta, Milly: The Home-Coming in Opening Spaces: Contemporary African Women's Writing

NIGER
Soumana, Boureima Igodiame: Near But Far in Bloodlines - Tales from the African Diaspora

NIGERIA

Abiola, H.: Smooth Lanes in Bloodlines - Tales from the African Diaspora
Achebe, Chinua: A Man of the People
Achebe, Chinua and Innes, C.L. (Editors) African Short Stories

Achebe, Chinua: Anthills of the Savannah
Achebe, Chinua: Arrow of God
Achebe, Chinua: Civil Peace in African Short Stories
Achebe, Chinua & Innes, C.L. (Editors): Contemporary African Short Stories

Achebe, Chinua: No Longer At Ease

Achebe, Chinua: Things Fall Apart
Achebe, Chinua: The Trouble with Nigeria

Adagha, Ovo: The Plantation in A Life in Full and Other Stories
Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi: Half of a Yellow Sun

Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi: Purple Hibiscus

Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi: The Thing Around Your Neck

Ajumeze, Henry: Dimples on the Sand

Akpan, Uwem: Say You're One of Them
Atta, Sefi: A Bit of Difference
Balogun, Odun: The Apprentice in African Short Stories
Chigbo, Okey: The Housegirl in Contemporary African Short Stories
Dibia, Jude: A Life in Full in A Life in Full and Other Stories
Ekwensi, Cyprian: Burning Grass

Ekunno, Mike: Anti Natal in African Roar 2013
Emecheta, Buchi: The Joys of Motherhood

Garuba, Harry: Letters to a Lost Daughter in Fathers & Daughters - an Anthology of Exploration
Habila, Helon: Three Seasons in in Fathers & Daughters - an Anthology of Exploration
Iduma, Emmanuel: Out of Memory in African Roar 2011
Irele, Abiola F: Me and My Daughters in in Fathers & Daughters - an Anthology of Exploration
Izundu, Uchenna: God No Go Vex in Fathers & Daughters - an Anthology of Exploration
Kalu, Anthonia C: The Initiation in Fathers & Daughters - an Anthology of Exploration
Maja-Pearce, Adewale: The Hotel in Contemporary African Short Stories
Mazi-Njoku, Chimdindu: Snake of the Niger Delta in African Roar 2011
Morocco-Clarke, Ayodele: Silent Night, Bloody Night in African Roar 2011
Morocco-Clarke, Ayodele: Nestbury Tree in African Roar 2010 
Myne Whitman (a pseudonym): A Heart to Mend
Nubi, Ola: Green Eyes and Old Photo in African Roar 2013
Nwokolo, Chuma Jnr: Diaries of a Dead African
Nwokolo, Chuma Jnr: The Ghost of Sani Abacha
Nwokolo, Chuma Jnr: Quaterback and Co in African Roar 2010
Oguibe, Olu: Obiageli Okigbo in Conversation with Olu Oguibe in Fathers & Daughters - an Anthology of Exploration
Okoye, Ifeoma: The Power of a Plate of Rice in Opening Spaces: Contemporary African Women's Writing
Okri, Ben: Converging City in Contemporary African Short Stories

Okri, Ben: The Famished Road
Okri, Ben: Incidents at the Shrine
Okri, Ben: Infinite Riches
Olaniyan, Tejumola: My Girls in Fathers & Daughters - an Anthology of Exploration

Olofintuade, Ayodele: Eno's Story
Onuzo, Chibundu: The Spider King's Daughter
Osofisan, Femi: Women of Owu
Osondu, E.C.: Waiting
Owoyele, David: The Will of Allah in African Short Stories
Rotimi, Babatunde: Bombay's Republic
Rotimi, Ola: Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again

Rotimi, Ola: The Gods are not to Blame
Saro-Wiwa, Ken: A Month and a Day & Letters
Saro-Wiwa, Zina: His Eyes were Shinning Like a Child in Fathers & Daughters - an Anthology of Exploration
Soyinka, Wole: Death and the King's Horseman
Soyinka, Wole: Kongi's Harvest
Soyinka, Wole: The Lion and the Jewel
Soyinka, Wole: Madmen and Specialists

Soyinka, Wole: You Must Set Forth at Dawn
Tubosun, Kola: Behind the Door in African Roar 2010 
Tutuola, Amos: The Palm-Wine Drinkard
Uche, Peter: Lose Myself in African Roar 2011
Ugwu, Georgia Ijeoma: African Queen in Bloodlines - Tales from the African Diaspora
Wood, Molara: Indigo in A Life in Full and Other Stories

SENEGAL
Ousman, Sembène: False Prophet in African Short Stories
Bâ, Mariama: So Long a Letter

SEYCHELLES
Amla, Hajira: Longing Home in African Roar 2011

SIERRA LEONE
Olufemi, Terry: Stickfighting Days in A Life in Full and Other Stories
Bockarie, Kalunda: Lunar Slam in Bloodlines - Tales from the African Diaspora

SOMALIA
Herzi, Saida Hagi-Dirie: Government by Magic Spell in Contemporary African Short Stories

SOUTH AFRICA

Abrahams, Peter: Mine Boy
Aucamp, Hennie: For Four Voices in South African Short Stories from 1945 to Present
Barris, Ken: The Life of Worm in A Life in Full and Other Stories
Bauling, Jayne: Business as Usual in African Roar 2013
Biko, Steve: I Write What I Like
Boetie, Dugmore: Familiarity is the kingdom of the Lost in South African Short Stories from 1945 to Present
Breytenbach, Breyten: The Double Dying of an Ordinary Criminal in South African Short Stories from 1945 to Present
Brink, Andre: Praying Mantis

Brink, Andre: Before I Forget

Charles, Herman: Bekkersdal Marathon in South African Short Stories from 1945 to Present
Coetzee, J.M.: Duskland

Coetzee, J.M.: In the Heart of the Country
Cope, Jack: Escape from Love in South African Short Stories from 1945 to Present

Essop, Ahmed: The Hajji in South African Short Stories from 1945 to Present
Essop, Ahmed: The Betrayal in African Short Stories
Golightly, Walton: AmaZulu
Gordimer, Nadine: Amnesty in Contemporary African Short Stories

Gordimer, Nadine: Bridegroom in African Short Stories
Gordimer, Nadine: Burger's Daughter
Gordimer, Nadine: The Conservationist
Gordimer, Nadine: July's People

Gordimer, Nadine: Six Feet of the Ground in South African Short Stories from 1945 to Present

Gwala, Mafika: Reflections in a Cell in African Short Stories

Havemann, Ernst: Bloodsong in South African Short Stories from 1945 to Presentvan Heerden Etienne: Mad Dog in South African Short Stories from 1945 to Present

Herbstein, Manu: Ama - A Story of the Atlantic Slave Trade

Hirson, Denis with Martin Trump (Editors): South African Short Stories from 1945 to Present 

Hope, Christopher: Learning to Fly in South African Short Stories from 1945 to Present
Jacobson, Dan: The Zulu and the Zeide in South African Short Stories from 1945 to Present
Karodia, Farida: The Red Velvet in Opening Spaces: Contemporary African Women's Writing
Kitson, Norma: Uncle Bunty in Opening Spaces: Contemporary African Women's Writing
Mabuza, Lindiwe: Wake... in Contemporary African Short Stories
Magona, Sindiwe: A State of Outrage in Opening Spaces: Contemporary African Women's Writing
Mandela, Nelson: No Easy Walk to Freedom
Maqutu, Andiswa: A Yoke for Companionship in African Roar 2013
Maseko, Bheki: Mamlambo in South African Short Stories from 1945 to Present
Medalie, David: The Mistress's Dog
Morgan, Alistair: Icebergs
Mphahlele, Ezekiel: The Coffee-Cart in African Short Stories
Muller, Elise: Night at the Ford in South African Short Stories from 1945 to Present
Mutwa, Vausamazulu Credo: Indaba, My Children
Myburgh, Constance: Hunter Emmanuel
Ndebele, S. Njabulo: The Prophetess in Contemporary African Short Stories
Nkosi, Lewis: Underground People
Paton, Alan: A Life for a Life in South African Short Stories from 1945 to Present
Paton, Alan: Cry, the Beloved Country
Schierhout, Gill: Invocations to the Dead in A Life in Full and Other Stories

Seripe, Vuyo: Almost Cured of Sadness in A Life in Full and Other Stories
Smit, Barto: I take Back my Country in South African Short Stories from 1945 to Present
Smith, Alex: Soulmates in A Life in Full and Other Stories
Themba, Can: The Suit in South African Short Stories from 1945 to Present
Tshabangu, Mango: Thoughts in a Train in South African Short Stories from 1945 to Present
Vladislavic, Ivan: The Brothers in South African Short Stories from 1945 to Present
Wanner, Zukiswa: A Writer's Lot in African Roar 2011
Wicomb, Zoe: A Trip to the Gifberge in South African Short Stories from 1945 to Present

SUDAN
Aboulela, Leila: The Museum in Opening Spaces: Contemporary African Women's Writing
Aboulela, Leila: Fathers and Amulets in Fathers & Daughters - an Anthology of Exploration
Mahjoud, Jamal: Road Block in Contemporary African Short Stories
Salih, Tayeb: A handful of Dates in African Short Stories
Salih, Tayeb: Season of Migration to the North

TANZANIA
Gurnah, Abdulrazak: Bossy in African Short Stories
Mollel, Tololwa Marti: A Night Out in Contemporary African Short Stories
Vassanji, M.G.: Leaving in Contemporary African Short Stories

UGANDA

Baingana, Doreen: Tropical Fish, Tales from Entebbe

Bwesigye, Brian: Through the same Gate in African Roar 2013
Dila, Dilman: The Puppets of Maramudhu in African Roar 2013
Lamwaka, Beatrice: Butterfly Dreams
Nsengiyunva Nambozo, Beverley: Unjumping
Sifuniso, Monde: Night Thoughts in Opening Spaces: Contemporary African Women's Writing

ZAMBIA
Moyo, Dambisa: Dead Aid - Why Aid Makes things Worse and How there is another Way for Africa 
Serpell, Namwali: Muzungu in A Life in Full and Other Stories
Sinyangwe, Binwell: A Cowrie of Hope
ZANZIBAR
Gurnah, Abdulrazak: Cages in Contemporary African Short Stories

ZIMBABWE

Brakash, Jonathan: Running in Zimbabwe in Writing Free
Chikowero, Murenga Joseph: Uncle Jeffrey in African Roar 2011
Chikwava, Brian: The Wasp and the Fig Tree

Chikwava, Brian: Harare North
Chinodya, Shimmer: Dew in the Morning
Chinodya, Shimmer: Harvest of Thorns
Dangarembga, Tsitsi: Nervous Conditions

Dangarembga, Tsitsi: The Book of Not
Erlwanger, S. Alison: Home in African Roar 2013
Gappah, Petina: Miss McConkey of Bridgewater Close in Writing Free
Hartmann, W. Ivor & Sigauke, Emmanuel (Editors): African Roar 2010 
Hartmann, W. Ivor & Sigauke, Emmanuel (Editors): African Roar 2011
Hartmann, W. Ivor: Diner Ten in African Roar 2011
Hartmann, W. Ivor: Lost Love in African Roar 2010
Hove, Chenjerai: Shadows
Huchu, Tendai: The Hairdresser of Harare
Huchu, Tendai: Crossroads in Writing Free
Kerstein, Donna: The Situation in Writing Free
Kwabato, Ethel: Time's Footprints in Writing Free
Mabasa, Ignatius: The Novel Citizen in Writing Free
Mandishona, Daniel: A Wasted Land in Contemporary African Short Stories
Mandishona, Daniel: An Intricate Deception in Writing Free
Manyika, Sarah Ladipo: Girlfriend in Fathers & Daughters - an Anthology of Exploration
Marechera, Dambudzo: Protista in African Short Stories
Matambandzo, Isabella: The Missing in Writing Free
Mhangami-Ruwende, Barbara: Transitions in African Roar 2013
Mlalazi, Christopher: A Cicada in the Shimmer in African Roar 2010
Mlalazi, Christopher: When the Moon Stares in Writing Free
Mupfudzo, Ruzvidzo Stanley: Witch's Brew in African Roar 2011
Musarir, Blessing: Eloquent Notes on a Suicide: Case of the Silent Girl in Writing Free
Musengezi, Chiedzi: Crocodile Tails in Opening Spaces: Contemporary African Women's Writing
Musoda, Masimba: Yesterday's Dog in African Roar 2010 
Musiyiwa, Ambrose: Danfo Driver in Writing Free
Myambo Tandiwe Melissa: La Salle de Départ
Myambo Tandiwe Melissa: Deciduous Gazzettes in Opening Spaces: Contemporary African Women's Writing 
Ncube, Mbonisi P.: Chanting Shadows in African Roar 2011
Ndlovu, Gugu: The Barell of a Pen in Opening Spaces: Contemporary African Women's Writing
NoViolet Bulawayo (pseudonym) : Hitting Budapest
NoViolet Bulawayso: Main in African Roar 2011
NoViolet Mka (pseudonym): Shamisos in Writing Free
Nzenza, Sekai: The Donor's Visit in Writing Free
Sasa, Fungiyasi: Eyes On in Writing Free
Sigauke, Emmanuel (Editor): African Roar 2013

Sigauke, Emmanuel: African Wife in Writing Free
Sigauke, Emmanuel: Return to Moonlight in African Roar 2010 
Sigauke, Emmanuel: Snakes Will Follow You in African Roar 2011
Staunton, Irene (Editor): Writing Free
Tapureta, Beaven: Cost of Courage in African Roar 2010
Tshuma Novuyo Rosa: Big Pieces, Small Pieces in African Roar 2010 
Tshuma Novuyo Rosa: The King and I in A Life in Full and Other Stories
Tagwira, Valerie: The Journey in A Life in Full and Other Stories
Yvonne Vera (Editor): Opening Spaces: An Anthology of Contemporary African Women's Writing

OTHER COUNTRIES

Afghanistan
Hosseini, Khaled: The Kite Runner

America

Adams, Eleanor: Along Racial Lines in Bloodlines - Tales from the African Diaspora
Asimov, Isaac: The Foundation Trilogy
Bass, Sarah: To Rest in Bloodlines - Tales from the African Diaspora
Beare, Emma (Editor): Speeches that Changed the World
Brown, Dan: The Lost Symbol
Bryant, Sarah: Sand Daughter
Carroll, Jeff: No World Order in Bloodlines - Tales from the African Diaspora
Carter, Jimmy: Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis
Cather, Willa: Death Comes for the Archbishop
Daghetto, Arose N.: Rendezvou with Poverty in Bloodlines - Tales from the African Diaspora
Dike, W. Virginia: Birds of Our Land
Faulkner, William: Absalom, Absalom!
Ferris, Joshua: The Pilot
Fitzgeral, Scott F.: The Great Gatsby
Foer, Jonathan Safran: Here We Aren't, So Quickly
Franzen, Jonathan: The Corrections
Glaysher, Frederick: The Parliament of Poets 

Hall, Manly P.: The Secret Destiny of America

Harvey, Joan C. with Cynthia Katz: If I'm So Successful Why do I Feel Like a Fake, The Impostor Phenomenon
Heller, Joseph: Portrait of an Artist, as an Old Man
Hemingway, Ernest: A Farewell to Arms
Henry, Veronica (Editor): Bloodlines - Tales from the African Diaspora
Henry, Veronica: My Soul to Free in Bloodlines - Tales from the African Diaspora
Herbert, Frank: Dune Hill, Carrick Laban (Co-Editor): Look Where You Have Gone to Sit
Hill, Raymond: Fein, the Jew in Bloodlines - Tales from the African Diaspora
Hughes, Langston: The Best of Simple
Jones, Larrysha: Black in Love in Bloodlines - Tales from the African Diaspora
Jones, Ronald T.: Skyboat Strangers in Bloodlines - Tales from the African Diaspora
Kerouac, Jack: On the Road
Lee, Harper: To Kill a Mockingbird
Mark, Eddie: The Other Wife of Cranston Livingston in Bloodlines - Tales from the African Diaspora
Mark Twain: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Meyer, Philipp: What do You do Out There, When You're Alone
Moore, Lorrie: The Best American Short Stories
Morgan, C.E.: Twins
Morrison, Toni: Beloved
Morrison, Toni: The Bluest Eye
Morrison, Toni: Home

Morrison, Toni: Song of Solomon
Morrison, Toni: Sula

Nin, Anais: Delta of Venus

Obama, Barack: Dreams from my Father
Packer, ZZ: Dayward
Pearl, Matthew: The Dante Club
Puzo, Mario: The Godfather
Salinger, J.D.: The Catcher in the Rye
Scibona, Salvatore: The Kid
Shteyngart, Gary: Lenny Hearts Eunice
Sterling, Dorothy: Freedom Train: The Story of Harriet Tubman
Trudeau, G. B.: That's Doctor Sinatra, You Little Bimbo!

Vonnegut, Kurt: Cat's Cradle
Williams, Tennessee: A Streetcar Named Desire

Australia
Carey, Peter: Oscar and Lucinda
DBC Pierre: Vernon God Little
Innes, C.L. and Chinua Achebe (Editors): Contemporary African Short Stories
Leonard, Fiona: The Chicken Thief
Zusak, Markus: The Book Thief

Austria
Musil, Robert: The Confusions of Young Torless

Britain

Austen, Jane: PersuasionAusten, Jane: Pride and Prejudice
Austen, Jane: Northanger Abbey

Bronte, Emily: Wuthering Heights

Byatt, A.S.: Possession
Faulks, Sebastian: Devil May Care
Golding, William: Lord of the Flies

Haddon, Mark: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
Hardy, Thomas: Jude the Obscure
Huxley, Aldous: Brave New World
Jenkins, Barbara: That Old Black Magic in Bloodlines - Tales from the African Diaspora
Maugham, W. Somerset: Theatre
McEwan, Ian: Amsterdam
McEwan, Ian: Atonement
McEwan, Ian: On Chesil Beach
McEwan, Ian: Saturday

Orwell, George: 1984
Orwell, George: Animal Farm

Ridley, Matt: The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves
Rooney, David: Kwame Nkrumah: Vision and Tragedy
Shelley, Mary: Frankenstein

Smith, Zadie: White Teeth
Watson, Winifred: Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
Woolf, Virginia: Mrs. Dalloway

Bulgaria
Canetti, Elias: Auto da Fe

Canada

Atwood, Margaret: Oryx and Crake
Atwood, Margaret: The Handmaid's Tale
Galchen, Rivka: The Entire Northern Side was Covered with Fire
Martel, Yann: Life of Pi
Ondaatje, Michael: The English Patient
Thomas, Catt: Such a Cold Country in Fathers & Daughters - an Anthology of Exploration

Chile
Bolano, Roberto: The Last Evenings on Earth

China
Sun Tzu: The Art of War

Cuba
Moore, Carlos: Fela, This Bitch of a Life

Germany

Kafka, Franz: The Castle
Kafka, Franz: The Trial

Greece
Sophocles: Oedipus Rex

India
Desai, Kiran: The Inheritance of Loss
Roy, Arundhati: The God of Small Things
Rushdie, Salman (also British): Fury
Rushdie, Salman (also British): Midnight's Children

Iran
Nafisi, Azar: Reading Lolita in Tehran

Italy
Levi, Primo: The Periodic Table

Lebanon
Taleb, Nassim Nicholas (also American): Antifragile: Things that Gain from Disorder
Taleb, Nassim Nicholas (also American): The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable

Norway
Ibsen, Henrik: An Enemy of the People

Portugal
Saramago, Jose: Blindness

Russia
Dostoevsky, Fyodor: Crime and Punishment
Dostoevsky, Fyodor: The Karamazov Brothers
Gogol, Nikolai V.: The Government Inspector
Tolstoy, Leo: War and Peace (Volume I, II, III & IV)
Tolstoy, Leo: Anna Karenina

Scotland
Smith, Alexander McCall: The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency 

Trinidad and Tobago
Naipaul, V.S. (also British): A Bend in the River

Naipaul, V.S. (also British): A House for Mr. Biswas