African Writers Series colophon, which was intended to look like an Africanised version of Heinemann's windmill logo, as well as incorporating the letters A.W.
The African Writers Series (AWS) is a collection of books written by African novelists, poets and politicians. Published by Heinemann, 359 books appeared in the series between 1962 and 2003.[1]
1958 – William Heinemann publishes Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart. 2,000 hardcover copies were printed and sold at a price of 15 shillings. The book receives widespread acclaim.[2][3][4]
1959 – Alan Hill, head of Heinemann's educational department, visits West Africa. He finds that Achebe remains largely unknown in his home country of Nigeria due to the small print run and high price of his first novel.[4]
1960 – Heinemann Educational Books (HEB) is set up as a separate company run by Alan Hill with Tony Beal as his deputy, and begins to publicise Achebe in Africa. They start to receive manuscripts from other African authors. Alan Hill recruits Evan McKay Milne, known as Van Milne, a West Africa specialist. He becomes HEB's Overseas Director.[5][4][6][1]
1961 – Van Milne originates the idea of the African Writers Series. Hill explains that the plan was "to start a paperback series, confined to black African authors; the books were to be attractively designed with high quality production, and sold at a very cheap price—as low as 25p at the outset".[6][7]
1962 – Alan Hill, Tony Beal and Van Milne launch the African Writers Series with a paperback edition of Things Fall Apart, followed by Cyprian Ekwensi'sBurning Grass, and then Kenneth Kaunda's autobiography Zambia Shall Be Free. Chinua Achebe is appointed Editorial Advisor with a salary of £150 a year. This is increased to £250 in 1967.[5][4][1]
1963 – Van Milne leaves Heinemann and is replaced by Keith Sambrook.[5][8]
1964 – Sambrook is concerned that the early selections for the series will not reach the educational market, particularly after the inclusion of Zambia Shall Be Free. He begins collaborating with African and non-African academics to produce publications that would more clearly meet this aim. The first result is A Book of African Verse edited by Clive Wake and John Reed, teachers at the University College of Rhodesia.[8]
1965 – Aigboje Higo is appointed as manager of HEB Nigeria.[5]
1967 – James Currey is appointed to work with Keith Sambrook to develop the series.[5]
1970 – Henry Chakava is appointed as editor of HEB East Africa and becomes managing director in 1975.[5]
1972 – Chinua Achebe leaves his position following the publication of his short story collection Girls At War as the hundredth book in the series. Sambrook, Currey, Higo and Chakava take over editorial duties collectively with the support of Akin Thomas, editorial director of HEB Nigeria.[5][9]
1983 – Heinemann Group is taken over for the first time and goes through a series of takeovers in the coming years.[5]
1984 – James Currey steps down after new management reduces new publications to only one or two a year. Of the 270 titles in the series, 15 are put out of print.[5]
1986 – the series is relaunched by Vicky Unwin, who targets the western academic market due to the drop in spending in the African educational market.[10]
2002 – Only 70 of the more than 300 titles in the series remain in print.[5]
2003 – Heinemann announces no new titles will be added to the series. By 2008, only 64 titles remain in print.[5]
Content
The African Writers Series reissued paperback editions of works previously only available as more expensive hardbacks, translated books that had been published in other languages, and published the first works of unknown writers.
The decision to reissue paperback editions of English-language hardbacks followed the early success of Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart and continued for many years. However, it became clear very quickly that there were not enough works in English, so translations began to be made from French of works by Ferdinand Oyono, Mongo Beti and others. This was followed by translations from Portuguese, Zulu, Swahili, Acholi, Sesotho, Afrikaans, Luganda, and Arabic.[13][14]
At the same time, they published new authors. This started with Ngũgĩ, who helped to expand the reach of the series into East Africa.[15]
This approach provided opportunities for authors from across most of Africa. More than 80 titles published in the series were by Nigerian writers, who were followed by South Africans, Kenyans, Ghanaians, and Zimbabweans. In the first two decades, nearly all were men and it was only in the 1990s that books by women began to appear regularly. Some exceptions to this are early books by Flora Nwapa and Buchi Emecheta.[1]
Novels would make up the bulk of the series, but it extended to poetry, anthologies, short stories, autobiographies, drama, non fiction, and oral traditions.[1]
Design
Between 1962 and 1986, all the books in the African Writers Series were colour-coded: orange for fiction, blue for non-fiction, and green for poetry and drama. While this highlighted the different genres, all books in the series during this period were numbered to give a clear indication that they belonged to a collection of works by African writers.[16]
Some evolution in cover design did take place during these years. Between 1962 and 1965 a heavy black band was featured at the top of the covers, with a black-and-white illustration below. The black was then replaced by a solid orange block. Later a colophon was added that was intended to look like an Africanised version of Heinemann's windmill logo. In 1971, George Hallett was employed to produce cover photography, which began to replace the use of illustrations.[17]
In 1986, the design was changed to appeal more in western markets. Orange was replaced by a white background with a boxed abstract image. In 1993, it was changed again to incorporate full-colour images.[16]
Reception
The African Writers Series includes five winners of the Nobel Prize for Literature: Wole Soyinka (1986), Naguib Mahfouz (1988), Nadine Gordimer (1991), Doris Lessing (2007), and Abdulrazak Gurnah (2021). Books in the series have also won the Commonwealth Prize, the NOMA Award for African Writing, the Caine Prize for African Writing, and Guardian Fiction Prize. In 2002, at a celebration of Africa's 100 Best Books of the Twentieth Century, Heinemann was given a prize, as 12 of the titles chosen were from the series.[18]
Bibliography
A definitive bibliography of the series was prepared by Nourdin Bejjit as part of his PhD research at the Open University and included in James Currey's book-length treatment of the series, with some additional information from Heinemann.[19]
Mission to Kala: a novel. Translated by Peter Green from the French novel Mission terminée (1957). US edition (New York, Macmillan) published as Mission Accomplished.
The Interpreters. With introduction and notes by Eldred Jones. London: Heinemann. (Originally published London: Deutsch, 1965.)
77
Beti, Mongo
1970
King Lazarus: a novel. Translated from the French Le roi miraculé (French version originally published Editions Buchet, 1958.)
78
Pieterse, Cosmo
1972
Short African plays. Including: "Ancestral Power" by Kofi Awoonor; "Magic Pool" by Kuldip Sondhi; "God's Deputy" by Sanya Dosunmu; "Resurrection" by Richard Rive; "Life Everlasting" by Pat Amadu Maddy; "Lament" by Kofi Awoonor; "Ballad of the Cells" by Cosmo Pieterse; "Overseas" by Mbella Sonne Dipoko; "This Time Tomorrow" by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o; "Episodes of an Easter Rising" by David Lytton
Ambiguous Adventure. Translated from the French by Katherine Woods. (This translation originally published New York: Walker, 1963. Translation of L'Aventure ambiguë. Paris: Julliard, 1962.)
120
Achebe, Chinua
1970
Beware, Soul Brother. Revised and enlarged edition. London: HEB.
Prose and Poetry. Selected and translated from French by John Reed and Clive Wake.
181
Beti, Mongo
1978
Perpetua and the Habit of Unhappiness. Translated by Clive Wake and John Reed from the French Perpétue et l'habitude du malheur (originally published Paris: Editions Buchet-Chastel, 1974).
Mhudi: an epic of South African native life a hundred years ago. (New York: Negro Univ. Press, 1970; Johannesburg: Quagga Press, Ad. Donker, 1975; London: Rex Collings, 1976; Washington, DC: Three Continents Press, 1978).
Facing Mount Kenya: the traditional life of the Gikuyu. With an introduction by B. Malinowski. (Originally published London: Secker and Warburg, 1938.)
Chaka: an historical romance. New translation by Daniel P. Kunene. Originally translated from the Sesuto by F. H. Dutton, London & New York: OUP, 1967.
Egyptian One-act Plays. Selected and translated from the Arabic by Denys Johnson-Davies. Includes The interrogation by Farid Kamil, The Trap by Alfred Farag, Marital bliss by Abdel-Moneim Selim, The Wheat Well by Ali Salem, and The Donkey Market by Tewfik al-Hakim.
Stories from central and southern Africa. Includes "Beggar my neighbour" by Dan Jacobson, "Kwashiorkor" by Can Themba, "About a girl who met a dimo" by Susheela Curtis, "Hajji Musa and the Hindu fire-walker" by Ahmed Essop, "The sisters" by Pauline Smith, "Tselane and the giant" by B. L. Leshoai, "Johannesburg, Johannesburg" by Nathaniel Nakasa, "Coming of the dry season" by Charles Mungoshi, "A soldier's embrace" by Nadine Gordimer, "Witchcraft" by Bessie Head, "The old woman" by Luis B. Honwana, "Dopper and Papist" by Herman C. Bosman, "The dishonest chief" by Ellis Singano and A. A. Roscoe, "The Soweto bride" by Mbulelo Mzamane, "A sunrise on the veld" by Doris Lessing, "The soldier without an ear" by Paul Zeleza, "Riva" by Richard Rive, "Sunlight in Trebizond Street" by Alan Paton, "The Christmas reunion" by Dambudzo Marechera, "The king of the waters" by A. C. Jordan, "Power" by Jack Cope, and "In corner B" by Es'kia (Zeke) Mphahlele.
And Night Fell: Memoirs of a Political Prisoner in South Africa. (Originally published London: Allison & Busby, 1983.)
259
NEVER PUBLISHED
"A volume called This is the Time was advertised as No. 259, but no such volume exists in any of the library catalogues we consulted. Research in the AWS archive at Reading University reveals that this was a projected anthology of Central and Southern African poetry, which was instead published as When My Brothers Come Home: Poems from Central and Southern Africa, edited by Frank M. Chipasula (Middleton, Conn.: Wesleyan University Press, 1985)."[20]
260
NEVER PUBLISHED
"Kofi Awoonor's Until the Morning After: Collected Poems 1963-1985 was to have been AWS number 260, but was apparently withdrawn by the author and instead published by Greenfield Review Press, New York, in 1987."[20]
Song of Lawino: &, Song of Ocol. Translated from the Acholi by Okot p'Bitek. Introduction by G. A. Heron; illustrations by Frank Horle. London: Heinemann.
African Short Stories. Includes "The false prophet" by Sembene Ousmane, "Certain winds from the south" by Ama Ata Aidoo, "The apprentice" by Odun Balogun, "The will of Allah" by David Owoyele, "Civil peace" by Chinua Achebe, "The gentlemen of the jungle" by Jomo Kenyatta, "The green leaves" by Grace Ogot, "Bossy" by Abdulrazak Gurnah, "The spider's web" by Leonard Kibera, "Minutes of glory" by Ngugi wa Thiong'o, "An incident in the Ghobashi household" by Alifa Rifaat, "A handful of dates" by Tayeb Salih, "A conversation from the third floor" by Mohamed El-Bisatie, "Papa, snake & I" by B. L. Honwana, "The bridegroom" by Nadine Gordimer, "The betrayal" by Ahmed Essop, "Protista" by Dambudzo Marechera, "The coffee-cart girl" by Ezekiel Mphahlele, "Snapshots of a wedding" by Bessie Head, and "Reflections in a cell" by Mafika Gwala.
Coming Home and Other Stories, includes "Coming Home", "Something in the Air", "The Necklace", "Cardboard Mansions", "Ntombi", "iGoldi", "The Worlds According to Mrs Angela Ramsbotham", "Seeds of Discontent", "The Woman in Green"
The Fate of Vultures, contributions by Afam Akeh, Gichora Mwangi, Ama Asantewa Ababio, Alex Agyei-Agyiri, Funso Aiyejina, Richard Afari Baafour, Biyi Bandele-Thomas, Philip Bateman, Charles Agboola Bodunde, John Murray Coates, James Putsch Commey, Jonathan Cumming, Achmat Dangor, Kofi Dondo, Patrick Ebewo, Godwin Ede, Ezenwa-Ohaeto, Bode-Law Faleyimu, Francis Faller, Femi Fatoba, Henry Garuba, Arthur K. de Graft-Rosenior, Martin Gwete, Chenjerai Hove, Esiaba Irobi, Frederick Bobor James, Beverley Jansen, Wumi Kaji, Ken N. Kamoche, Lawrence Karanja, Kolosa Kargbo, Boyo Lawal, Masango Lisongwe, Don Mattera, Zondi Mbano, Bennet Leboni, Buti Moleko, Lupenga Mphande, Edison Mpina, Fekessa Mwada, Crispin Namane, Valerie Nkomeshya, Pheroze Nowrojee, Silas Obadiah, Walter Odame, Tanure Ojaide, Felicity Atuki Okoth, Isi Omoifo, Thembile ka Pepeteka, Sobhna Keshval Poona, Kofi Sam, Gloria Sandak-Lewin, Erasmus Elikplim Forster Senaye, Sam Ukal, Michael Andrew Wakabi, Timothy Wangusa, Willie T. Zingani
The Heinemann Book of African Poetry in English, contributions by Dennis Brutus, Marjorie Oludhe Macgoye, Christopher Okigbo, Lenrie Peters, Wole Soyinka, Kofi Awoonor, JP Clark Bekederemo, Syl Cheney-Coker, Arthur Nortje, Steve Chimombo, Jack Mapanje, Kojo Laing, Niyi Osundare, Tanure Ojaide, Musaemura Zimunya, Lupenga Mphande, Frank Chipasula, Molara Ogundipe-Leslie, Odia Ofeimun, Catherine Obianuju Acholonu, Chenjerai Hove, Gabriel Gbadamosi
Uhuru Street & other Stories, includes "In the Quiet of a Sunday Afternoon", "Ali", "Alzira", "The Beggar", "For a Shilling", "The Relief from Drill", "The Driver", "English Lessons", "The Sounds of the Night", "Leaving", "Breaking Loose", "What Good Times We Had", "Ebrahim and the Businessman", "The London-returned", "Refugee", "All Worlds are Possible Now".
The Case of the Socialist Witchdoctor and other stories includes "By Way of a Prologue", "The Case of the Illiterate Saboteur", "The Case of the Valliant Torturer", "The Case of the Criminal Thought", "The Case of the Queue Breaker", "The Case of the Treacherous Alphabet", "The Case of the Professor of Insanity", "The Case of the Closet Racist", "The Case of the Presumptuous Novelist", "The Case of the Prison-Mongerer", "The Case of the Incurable Hedonist", "Vendetta", "Betrayal", "It happened in Russia", "Death of a Renegade", "Tales of the Highway Fire", "The Professional", "The Zar Who Liked Human Liver", "In 'The Bar of No Surprises'", "Ten on the Terror Scale", "The Waldiba Story", "Madman, Killer, Saint, You".
Jesus is Indian and other stories, including "High Heel", "Jesus is Indian", "Poppy", "A Bag of Sweets", "A Well-Loved Woman", "Nana and Devi", "Sunflowers", "Two Women", "Innocents", "The Seed", "Jellymouse", "Maths", "The Story Teller", "And They Christened It Indenture"
The Cardinals with Meditations and other stories, including "Earth and Everything", "Africa", "My Home", "A Personal View of the Survival of the Unfittest", "Where is the Hour of the Beautiful Dancing of the Birds in the Sun-Wind?", "Poor man", "Earth Love".
Colour Me Blue, includes "Telling Stories", "Rendering up the Glebe", "Hello, Goodbye", "Jomo", "Five to One", "Motho Fela", "The Road Ahead", "Bahmumagading", "In Confinement", "Hide Them Under The Bed", "The Battle of Jericho", "Colour Me Blue", "Mare", "Smile of Fortune", "Another Little Peace of our Hearts", "Dread", "The Birds in her Garden", "Revenge is Sweet".
Can We Talk and Other Stories, including "Hoffman Street", "The Man Who Hanged Himself", "Going to See Mr B.V.", "Among the Dead", "Brothers and Sisters", "Snow", "The Waterfall", "Play Your Cards", "Strays", "Bramson", "Can We Talk".
unnumbered
Tadjo, Veronique
2001
As the Crow Flies
unnumbered
Tadjo, Veronique
2002
The Shadow of Imana: Travels in the Heart of Rwanda
unnumbered
Aidoo, Ama Ata
2002
The Girl Who Can and Other Stories, including "Her Hair Politics – a very short story", "Choosing – a moral of the world of work", "The Girls WHO Can", "Comparisons or Who Said a Bird Cannot Aather a Crab?", "Nutty", "She-Who-Would-Be-King (with apology to Rudyard Kipling", "Heavy Moments", "Some Global News - A short-four-voice report", "About the Wedding Feast", "Lice", "Payments", "Male-ing Names in the Sun", "Newly-Opened Doors", "Nowhere Cool".
unnumbered
Mapanje, Jack (ed)
2002
Gathering Seaweed: African Prison Writing, including contributions from Kenneth D. Kaunda, Agostinho Neto, Oginga Odinga, Kwame Nkrumah, Jomo Kenyatta, Eddison J. Zvibogo, Felix Mnthali, Steve Biko, Jeremy Cronin, Moncef Marzouki, Ken Saro-Wiwa, Joseph Mwangi Kariuki, Sam Mpasu, Yves Emmanuel Dogbe, Kwame Safo-Adu, Albie Sachs, Dennis Brutus, Jose Craveirinha, Ahmed Fouad Negm, Wole Soyinka, Kofi Awoonor, Ingopapele Madingoane, Fatima Meer, Edison Mpina, Ogaga Ifowodo, Leila Djabali, Obafemi Owolowo, Molefe Pheto, Tshenuwani Simon Farisani, Abdellatif Laabi, Syl Cheney-Coker, Koigi wa Wamwere, Maina wa Kinyatti, Jack Mapanje, Muhammad Afifi Matar, Tahar Djaout, Nelson Mandela, António Jacinto, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, Breyten Breytenbach, Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Caesarina Kona Makhoere, Kunle Ajibade, Tandundu E. A. Bisikisi, Pitika Ntuli, Jaki Seroke, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, Christine Anyanwu, Mzwakhe Mbuli
In 2005 Chadwyck-Healey Literature Collection began to digitise the series, which was completed in 2009.[citation needed]
It was then relaunched by Pearson Education in 2011, which began reissuing titles from the original list as 'Classics' and a number of new works.[22][23][24]
New titles included:
The Purple Violet of Oshaantu by Neshani Andreas (2011)
Woman of the Aeroplanes by B. Kojo Laing (2011)
Search Sweet Country by B. Kojo Laing (2011)
The Lovers by Bessie Head (2011)
How Shall We Kill the Bishop and other stories by Lily Mabura (2012)
The Grub Hunter by Amir Tag Elsir (2012)
Sterile Sky by E. E. Sule (2012)
Mindblast by Dambudzo Marechera (2015)
In 2018 Pearson signed a digital license agreement for the series with Digitalback Book.[25]
In December 2021, Abibiman Publishing and the James Currey Society in Oxford announced that the series would be relaunched again. The new series will be edited by the James Currey Fellow at Oxford University, Stephen Embleton. Embleton stated: "Our mandate is clear and threefold: build on the legacy of the original African Writers Series, actively seek works written in African languages, and have the writers of this Continent at the helm."[26]
^James., Currey (2008). Africa writes back : the African writers series & the launch of African literature. Oxford: James Currey. ISBN9780821418437. OCLC230198710.