Allah Is Not Obliged is Ahmadou Kourouma second novel and won the Prix Renaudot and The Prix Goncourt des Lyceens when it was published in 2000. It's the story of Birima, 12 years old , orphan searching for his aunt across African countries and forced to become a child soldier. 

Senegalese writer Marietou Ba Bileoma ( Ken Bugul is her Pen name) is our guest this weekend. She is the author of novel " The Abandoned Baobab " published in 1982 in French and translated in English in 1991. We are talking migrations and politics in Africa. She also receiced the Prix Renaudot for her novel " Riwan ou le chemin du sable".

Alain Mabanckou is a French-Congolese writer. He teaches French and Francophone Studies at UCLA .

Ferdinand Leopold Oyono is a Cameroonian writer, diplomat and actor. his acclaimed novel the Old Man and the Medal explores the conditions of Cameroonian people under colonialism. 

On this week episode, we are showcasing the masterpiece Things Fall Apart by Nigerian author Chinua Achebe. Considered to be the father of Africa Modern Literature , Chinua Achebe "Things Fall Apart" succeeded at articulating the anxieties of African people under precolonial and under colonial rule in the way no other novel as done it before him. 

Kenule Beeson "Ken" Saro-Wiwa  (October 11,1941-November 10,1995) was a Nigerian writer, television producer and environmental activist whose activism and courage lead to his execution in 1995 by Sani Abacha people. In this episode, we are reading from his second novel Sozaboy ( written in pidgin English) and talking about his legacy.

Buchi Emecheta , who died in at age 72, was a pioneer among female African writers, championing the rights of girls and women in her novels. In this episode, we follow her trajectory, her struggles and her everlasting love and devotion to change the condition of women in Africa and around the world.

Published Under the pseudonym Eza Boto, Cruel City is Mongo Beti first ever published novel.Born in 1932, Mongo Beti lived and worked in France where he found exile. Many of his books were banned by the French government due to his relationship with leaders of political oppositions in Cameroon .He died in 2001 in Cameroon where he finally returned in 1991 after more than 50 years of exile.

So Long A letter, Mariama Ba first published novel ( the first one by a woman in Africa and in French) is an autobiographical read as a " cry from the heart of the Senegalese women... But it is also a cry which can symbolize a cry of women everywhere "

Yambo Ouologuem is perhaps the most controversial African writer that ever existed. His critically acclaimed novel Bound To Violence published in 1968 won the Prix Renaudot in 1969, the first African writer to do so,then banned from shelves because of accusations of plagiarism.