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A review by kaarna
The Granta Book of the African Short Story by Helon Habila
4.0
I'm really hesitant on whether to give this anthology 3 or 4 stars. It's always hard when there are so many authors in one book - I like some of them more than others, and I can't figure out a fair average.
The book introduces over 20 modern African writers. The editor calls them the 'post-nationalist' generation, with respect and warmth. The introduction is a good place to start this book, it gives you a lot of good background information on how and why the writers and stories were selected and arranged. Because let's be honest - it's quite an impossible task to collect all the best short stories of an entire continent.
One story that stays with me even though it was at the very beginning of the book, is Olufemi Terry's "Stickfighting Days". It is brutal, violent, and told in a very every day kind of language and style. It came to life even more when I realized how young the characters are.
On the whole, there were many stories with women as the main character, and with "women's stories" as the focus. Stories of unhappy marriages, stories of pregnancy, stories of sex work. (I'm not saying these are women-only subjects, just culturally more connected to women or literature by women. Please tell me if my text or preconceptions here are sexist, transphobic, or something else like that.) There were also stories with children as the main character, which somehow surprised me. Of course, there were may stories with young men as the main character, and also some with older men.
However, all the characters seemed to be straight and cisgender. Is there a hidden queer African writing that has not made itself to this anthology? I refuse to believe there are not writing queer Africans, and why would they only write straight cis people. The result would probably be the same if "The Granta Book of the European Short Story" were made (or is there one?), I guess. Still, I wanted to see my own people there, in this (to me) foreign continent.
Recommended to people who want a (relatively) quick look at the most important (?) African writers of today. The book doesn't say which country they are from, so if your interest is to read from a specific country, you have to do some googling. Some really amazing stories, some that felt a bit like exercises from a writing class, but all in all a good read and very well worth the time.
The book introduces over 20 modern African writers. The editor calls them the 'post-nationalist' generation, with respect and warmth. The introduction is a good place to start this book, it gives you a lot of good background information on how and why the writers and stories were selected and arranged. Because let's be honest - it's quite an impossible task to collect all the best short stories of an entire continent.
One story that stays with me even though it was at the very beginning of the book, is Olufemi Terry's "Stickfighting Days". It is brutal, violent, and told in a very every day kind of language and style. It came to life even more when I realized how young the characters are.
On the whole, there were many stories with women as the main character, and with "women's stories" as the focus. Stories of unhappy marriages, stories of pregnancy, stories of sex work. (I'm not saying these are women-only subjects, just culturally more connected to women or literature by women. Please tell me if my text or preconceptions here are sexist, transphobic, or something else like that.) There were also stories with children as the main character, which somehow surprised me. Of course, there were may stories with young men as the main character, and also some with older men.
However, all the characters seemed to be straight and cisgender. Is there a hidden queer African writing that has not made itself to this anthology? I refuse to believe there are not writing queer Africans, and why would they only write straight cis people. The result would probably be the same if "The Granta Book of the European Short Story" were made (or is there one?), I guess. Still, I wanted to see my own people there, in this (to me) foreign continent.
Recommended to people who want a (relatively) quick look at the most important (?) African writers of today. The book doesn't say which country they are from, so if your interest is to read from a specific country, you have to do some googling. Some really amazing stories, some that felt a bit like exercises from a writing class, but all in all a good read and very well worth the time.