| Stran v tématu: [1 2] > | Poll: Have you ever read any books or writings by African authors? Autor vlákna: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Have you ever read any books or writings by African authors?".
View the poll results »
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I have great interest in everything related to Africa as I lived and worked in Angola for a while (before and after the Angolan independence). I have read some lusophone African writers: Mia Couto (Mozmbique), Luandino Vieira (Angola), Germano Almeida (Cape Verde), José Eduardo Agualusa (Angola), Paulina Chiziane (Mozambique). I read recently an interview given by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie to ‘Nouvel Obs’ and I became very interested in reading her books.
| | | | Dan Lucas 
Velká Británie
Local time: 04:05
Člen (2014)
japonština -> angličtina
A small number from the usual canon - Athol Fugard, Alan Paton, Chinua Achebe, J. M. Coetzee, etc. No Nadine Gordimer, surprisingly.
Ryszard Kapuscinski is also strongly associated in my mind with Africa, although of course he is not African.
Nothing recent, as you can see...
Dan
| | | | Jorge Payan
Kolumbie
Člen (2002)
němčina -> španělština
+ ...
| South African? | Mar 30, 2025 |
If Tolkien counts as such: yes, I did.
[Edited at 2025-03-30 15:19 GMT]
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Dan Lucas
Velká Británie
Local time: 04:05
Člen (2014)
japonština -> angličtina
| The Grass Is Singing | Mar 30, 2025 |
Jorge Payan wrote:
If Tolkien counts as such: yes, I did.
Doris Lessing, maybe?
| | | | Baran Keki
Turecko
Local time: 06:05
Člen
angličtina -> turečtina
| Not White 'Privileged?' South Africans | Mar 30, 2025 |
Dan Lucas wrote:
A small number from the usual canon - Athol Fugard, Alan Paton, Chinua Achebe, J. M. Coetzee, etc. No Nadine Gordimer, surprisingly.
Ryszard Kapuscinski is also strongly associated in my mind with Africa, although of course he is not African.
Nothing recent, as you can see...
Dan
The majority of the writers you've listed appear to be white and South African/Rhodesian, and have written in English, not in some exotic African language.
I believe the question intends to find out whether we've read any translation from a black African writer who wrote in their native language.
Personally, I've never read anything from Paton or Coetzee, but I wouldn't expect them to be any different from Steinbeck or some Aussie writer...
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Plenty, but I'm cheating because I'm Ghanaian. I was particularly partial to a series of young adult books called "Pacesetters" from the African Writers' Series (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacesetter_Novels) which we all hungrily devoured. As an adult I don't read as much as I did when I was younger, but I did go to the bookstore not long ago where I saw plenty of titles. So many books... See more Plenty, but I'm cheating because I'm Ghanaian. I was particularly partial to a series of young adult books called "Pacesetters" from the African Writers' Series (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacesetter_Novels) which we all hungrily devoured. As an adult I don't read as much as I did when I was younger, but I did go to the bookstore not long ago where I saw plenty of titles. So many books, so little time, so many competing affections. ▲ Collapse
| | | | neilmac
Španělsko
Local time: 05:05
španělština -> angličtina
+ ...
The only book I recall ever reading by an African author was Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. It was a very long time ago and I don't remember anything about it.
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Daniel Frisano
Itálie
Local time: 05:05
Člen (2008)
angličtina -> italština
+ ...
| Probably only one end to end | Mar 31, 2025 |
"Chaka" by Thomas Mofolo, decades ago.
I must have quickly browsed Augustine at some point.
Also something about Wilbur Smith (if whites count), but I was done by page 3.
[Edited at 2025-03-31 11:25 GMT]
| | | | Denis Fesik
Local time: 06:05
angličtina -> ruština
+ ...
| I grew up in the Soviet Union | Mar 31, 2025 |
(Although most of the time I remember dates back to the perestroika). We had chrestomathies coming from all republics of the Union, from Vietnam, Cuba, China, Western, Eastern, Southern, Central, and Northern Africa, poets of Africa, etc., etc. The Soviet Union knew how to do friendship of peoples. We have a shirt made of heavy silk with beautiful embroidery, a national garment of Sierra Leone given to my father by his coursemate. He once met a guy wearing a similar shirt and made friends with h... See more (Although most of the time I remember dates back to the perestroika). We had chrestomathies coming from all republics of the Union, from Vietnam, Cuba, China, Western, Eastern, Southern, Central, and Northern Africa, poets of Africa, etc., etc. The Soviet Union knew how to do friendship of peoples. We have a shirt made of heavy silk with beautiful embroidery, a national garment of Sierra Leone given to my father by his coursemate. He once met a guy wearing a similar shirt and made friends with him in an instance by telling where he was from ▲ Collapse
| | | | Siobhán Fulton
Spojené státy americké
Local time: 23:05
němčina -> angličtina
| "An African in Greenland" | Mar 31, 2025 |
By Tété-Michel Kpomassie, a Togolese author. It was originally written in French, but was available only in English in the US. I like "fish out of water" stories. A good read.
| | | | Lingua 5B
Bosna a Hercegovina
Local time: 05:05
angličtina -> francouzština
+ ...
| Not many I’m afraid | Mar 31, 2025 |
I read Born a Crime by Trevor Noah, awesome book and captivating writing style.
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Gerard Barry
Německo
Local time: 05:05
němčina -> angličtina
Baran Keki wrote:
Dan Lucas wrote:
A small number from the usual canon - Athol Fugard, Alan Paton, Chinua Achebe, J. M. Coetzee, etc. No Nadine Gordimer, surprisingly.
Ryszard Kapuscinski is also strongly associated in my mind with Africa, although of course he is not African.
Nothing recent, as you can see...
Dan
The majority of the writers you've listed appear to be white and South African/Rhodesian, and have written in English, not in some exotic African language.
I believe the question intends to find out whether we've read any translation from a black African writer who wrote in their native language.
Personally, I've never read anything from Paton or Coetzee, but I wouldn't expect them to be any different from Steinbeck or some Aussie writer...
Interesting how you assume that a) all white South Africans or Zimbabweans are privileged and b) that being white means someone can't be properly African. If someone said that a black British or French writer wasn't properly European, they'd be accused of racism pretty fast.
| | | | Baran Keki
Turecko
Local time: 06:05
Člen
angličtina -> turečtina
Gerard Barry wrote:
Interesting how you assume that a) all white South Africans or Zimbabweans are privileged and b) that being white means someone can't be properly African. If someone said that a black British or French writer wasn't properly European, they'd be accused of racism pretty fast.
I knew you'd rear your ugly head soon enough... Take your fucking politics somewhere else.
| | | | Dan Lucas
Velká Británie
Local time: 04:05
Člen (2014)
japonština -> angličtina
Kuochoe Nikoi-Kotei wrote:
So many books, so little time, so many competing affections.
Ars longa vita brevis...
Dan
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