My guest on this episode is Christian Adofo, author of A Quick Ting on Afrobeats published by Jacaranda Books. During our conversation, we discuss the writing and publishing of the book, the social and cultural development of Afrobeats and how it has provided new expressions of Black History and Pride.

Christian Adofo is a writer, journalist and curator, with a passion for writing about the intersection of heritage and identity in music. His writing has appeared in The Guardian, OkayAfrica and Straight No Chaser. He has also appeared as a guest and host on BBC Radio, Worldwide FM and NTS Radio, discussing Black Identity and its impact on culture in the UK and abroad.

My guest on this episode is Aiwanose Odafen, the author of Tomorrow I Become A Woman. 

Our conversation covers the publishing deal, the writing process, the inspiration for the book and what it means to be a woman.

Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Aiwanose Odafen is an MFA fiction student at the Iowa Writer's Workshop. She has contributed to published non-fiction works and participated in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus Trust Writing Workshop. She was longlisted for the 2020 Commonwealth Writers Short Story Prize. 

Tomorrow I Become a Woman, her first novel, was published by Scribner UK, an imprint of Simon & Schuster UK, in 2022.

A discussion about Black History Month, colourism and racism in books, the importance of reading Black authors, and book recommendations are featured in this episode.

Guest: Alexis Milton is a bookstagrammer, a book tuber, a book blogger and a book toker that highlights black individuals, events and books she classifies as “Unsung Blacks”.

Book Recommendations

The Mis-Education of the Negro by Carter G. Woodson

Infants of the Spring by Wallace Thurman

The Streets by Ann Petry

Praise Sing for the Butterflies by Bernice L. McFadden

Yellow Wife by Sadeqa Johnson

Host Abena interviews poet Victoria Adukwei Bulley about her book Quiet.

Victoria Adukwei Bulley is a Poet, writer, and artist. An alumna of Barbican Young Poets and recipient of an Eric Gregory Award. She has held residencies in the US, Brazil, and the V&A Museum in London. Her debut collection Girl B was published by the African Poetry Book Fund in 2017. She is a filmmaker and the director of the film Mother Tongues. Her newest collection Quiet was published by Faber in 2022.

Host, Abena speaks with author, Bisi Adjapon about her new book Daughter in Exile in this episode.

Bisi Adjapon is the author of The Teller of Secrets, titled initially Of Women and Frogs. Bisi has written for and been featured in many publications including McSweeney’s Quarterly Washington Times, Washington Post, Aljazeera, and New York Times.

Her new novel is a gut-wrenching, yet heartwarming, story about a young Ghanaian woman’s struggle to make a life in the US, and the challenges she must overcome. Daughter in Exile is a hope-filled story about a mother's love, resilience, and unyielding strength.

Happy New Year. In this episode, host Abena discusses her Bookish In&Outs along with anticipated books of 2023. Enjoy!

This month's episode features Abena Maryann, Bene and Jeifa discussing 2022 in reading.

In addition to discussing their reading goals, they also discussed some of their favorite books.

In this episode, host Abena Maryan and her guests share their experiences at the 6th edition of Pa Gya! A Literary Festival in Accra.

Pa Gya! A Literary Festival in Accra is a three-day literary arts festival featuring activities such as readings, panel discussions, performances, book launches and sales, literary prize awards and many more. Over the years, the festival has grown to include art talks, art and literary exhibitions, film screenings and many more. The festival also offers booksellers, publishers, and independent authors to showcase and sell their books.

Guests:

Elizabeth Johnson – Festival Manager of Pa Gya! A Literary Festival in Accra

Jeffrey Atuobi – Researcher and Moderator

Nasiba – A Book Reviewer 

In this episode, host Abena Maryan talks with guest Mamle Wolo about her book "The Kaya Girl" published by Little Brown and Company. She also talks about writing, publishing, and Pa Gya - a literary festival in Accra, Ghana. Mamle Wolo is an award-winning Ghanaian-German author who studied at the University of Cambridge and Lancaster University in the UK and is an Honorary Fellow in Writing of the University of Iowa. She is one of directors of the Writers Project of Ghana (WPG). She writes fiction, poetry, and screenplays. 

In this episode, I talk to my guest Aekua about reading, why reading is important, life as a mother and a reader and book clubs in Ghana.

Aekua Bobson is the co-founder of five book clubs catering to niche readers. The mom's book clubs Beautifully Booked and Eccentric and Sassy are open to all mothers, while The Book Addict and Black Lit are open to all women. She also manages Vine and Verse.