Books & Rhymes: The Podcast Books & Rhymes

We conclude our conversation with renowned Ugandan author, Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi in which she reflects on migrant narratives in her collection of short stories, Manchester Happened (published in the USA as Let’s Tell This Story Properly), we explore the ways in which Sweet Mother by Nico Mbaga contribute to conversations on the treatment of indigenous Ugandan feminism in relation to western feminism in the novel, The First Woman (published in the USA as A Girl Is A Body of Water), and we also draw explicit parallels between Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and Makumbi’s Kintu.
Listen to Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi’s curated playlist on Spotify, and Deezer.
 
Follow @booksandrhymes on Twitter and Instagram to stay informed on the latest news on classic and contemporary books by writers of African descent. We would love it if you share your thoughts & tag us in your social media posts of this episode.
 
The song you heard in the intro and outro of this podcast is titled: Reset by Meakoom (Meakoom) link to her music is available on Bandcamp
 
Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi's Bibliography:
 
-     Kintu
-     Manchester Happened (Published as Let's Tell This Story Properly in the USA)
-     The First Woman - (Published as A Girl Is a Body of Water in the USA)

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What power do editors have in steering a writer’s career? What are the real value of winning literary prizes such as the Kwani! manuscript project? What challenges do African writers encounter when attempting to publish literary fiction that exclude the white gaze?
 
Our guest Jennifer Nansubuga Mamukbi, award winning author whose novels include Kintu (pronounced ChinTu), The First Woman (published as A Girl Is A Body of Water in the USA), and the short Story collection, Manchester Happened (published as Let’s Tell This Story Properly in the USA) situate Ugandan mythology in the fictional narrative of historical and contemporary Ugandan experiences.
 
We use the music of Miriam Makeba, Queen, Eddy Kenzo, Tracy Chapman, Krizbeatz x Teni and more to explore Makumbi’s experience of being published, the real value of winning the Kwani! manuscript project & how it defined her writing career, why writers must to invest in good editors, and we also discuss her response to that introductory essay to the USA edition of Kintu.
 
 Listen to Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi’s curated playlist on Spotify, and Deezer.
 
Follow @booksandrhymes on Twitter and Instagram to stay informed on the latest news on classic and contemporary books by writers of African descent. We would love it if you share your thoughts & tag us in your social media posts of this episode.
 
The song you heard in the intro and outro of this podcast is titled: Reset by Meakoom (Meakoom) link to her music is available on Bandcamp
 
Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi's Bibliography:
 
-     Kintu
-     Manchester Happened (Published as Let's Tell This Story Properly in the USA)
-     The First Woman - (Published as A Girl Is a Body of Water in the USA)
 
Books discussed and referenced in this episode:
 
-     Like A Mule Bringing Ice Cream to The Sun – Sarah Ladipo Manyika
-     The Famished Road – Ben Okri
-     God's Bits of Wood - Sembene Ousmane
-     Lives of Great Men - Chike Frankie Edozien
 

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What is psychogeography? How does architecture affect our emotional, mental, and psychological wellbeing? Caleb Femi, a poet, educator, and multidisciplinary artist whose debut collection of poetry, Poor, celebrate and interrogate youth culture and masculinity, while the articulating the complex lived experiences of working class migrant communities in the UK join us in conversation. We use the music of Burna Boy, J-Hus, Wizkid, Giggs, Sunny Ade, and more to explore the problematic relationship between architecture and social stratification, the importance of finding and reading resonant poetry, the conversational between poetry and photography, and the philosophy that undergirds his work.
**win signed copies** of Caleb Femi's debut collection of poetry, Poor, by subscribing to our mailing list here --> http://eepurl.com/gr0kD5. The winner will be selected from our list of subscribers and announced on Monday 16th of November.
 
Listen to Caleb Femi’s curated playlist on Spotify, and Deezer. For more information on Caleb Femi’s work, follow him on twitter and Instagram.
 
I am pleased to announce an international giveaway of two signed copies of Caleb Femi’s collection of poetry, Poor, in collaboration with Ed Public Relations. The giveaway ends on Monday 16th of November. For a chance to win one signed copy of the book, simply subscribe to the mailing list via link in the episode description. The winner will be seleted from our list of subscribers.
 
For a chance to win the second signed copy, follow us on Twitter and Instagram @booksandrhymes, entry details will be posted.
 
The song you heard in the intro and outro of this podcast is titled: Reset by Meakoom (Meakoom) link to her music is available on Bandcamp
Books discussed and referenced in this episode:
 
-     Citizen – Claudia Rankine
-     Salt – Nayyirah Waheed
-     The Light Song of Light – Kei Miller 
-     Teaching My Mother How To Give Birth – Warsane Shire
-     Surge – Jay Bernard
-     The Perseverance – Raymond Antrobus
-     My Darling From the Lions – Rachel Long
-     Some Bright Elegance– Kayo Chingonyi

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Award-winning author, Ghanaian author, Ayesha Harruna Attah takes us on a sonic journey using the the music of Mayra Andrade, Les Nubian, Sampa The Great, Nina Simone, Salif Keita and so much more to discuss the phenomena of being ‘possessed’ by a character, the perceived intuitive freedom that MFA courses offer writers, the realities of accessing the world of poublishing as an African writer living on the continent, and the joys of working closely with Ayi Kwei Armah in discovering and translating a 3000 year old Hieroglyphic Egyptian love story into multiple african languages. Visit AyeshaAttah.com ot learn more about her work.
Listen to Ayesha’s curated playlist on Spotify, Deezer and YouTube
Continue the conversation by posting your thoughts on this episode on Twitter and Instagram and using the hashtag #BooksAndRhymes
Ayesha Harruna Attah’s bibliography
 
-     Saturday Shadows (Per Ankh Publisher)
-     Harmattan rain
-     The Hundred Wells of Salaga
-     The Deep Blue between
Books published as part of project that translates Hieroglyphics to multiple African languages:
-     Sanhat
-     Smi n skhty pn: Multilingual Translation of a 4000 year old African Love Story (also known as The eloquent peasant) translated by Ayi Kwei Armah, Ayeesha Harruna Attah et al.
-     Skhmkht Ea: On Love Sublime- A Multilingual Translation of an African Love Poem.
-     The instructions of Ptahhotep
Books discussed and referenced in this episode:
 
-     One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel Garcia Marquez
-     Daughters of Africa – Margaret Busby
-     New Daughters of Africa – Margaret Busby
-     The Eloquence of the Scribes: A memoir on the sources and resources of African Literature - Ayi Kwei Armah
-     Two Sisters – Ama Ata Aidoo
-     Woman who runs with the wolves: Myth and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype – Clarissa Pinkola Estes
-     Bird by Bird – Anne Lamont.

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British-Caribbean author, Sareeta Domingo use the music of ESKA, Prince, Erykah Badu, Neneh Cherry and more to unpick her third novel, If I Don't Have You, we explore her non-traditional route to publishing, crafting & writing romance stories as an act of resistance, her mission to write ambitious Black women with care. We also discuss the merits of being published by either independent or one of the larger publishing houses. If I Don't Have You, is published as part Jacaranda Books and Arts #Twentyin2020 project.
Listen to Sareeta Domingo’s specially curated playlist for Books & Rhymes: The Podcast on Spotify and Deezer.
Continue the conversation by sharing your thoughts on this episode across social media. Follow @booksandrhymes on Twitter and Instagram.
Titles Authored or Edited by Sareeta Domingo
 
-      If I don’t Have you
-      Who’s Loving You
-      The Nearness of you
-      Love, Secret Santa
 
Titles (and Poem) Referenced in the discussion:
 
-      The Ballad of J. Alfred Prufrock (a poem) – T. S. Elliott
-      The outsiders - SE Hinton
-      Beloved - Toni Morrison
-      Little fires everywhere – Celeste Ng
-      The sky is everywhere -
-      Ordinary people – Diana Evans
-      My Sister The Serial Killer – Oyinkan Braithwaite
-      Stay with me – Ayobami Adebayo
-      Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives – Lola Shoneyin
-      Behold The Dreamers – Mbolo Mbue
-      The Terrible - Yrsa Daley Ward
-      Simone is Still Single – Lisa Bent
-      Bad Love – Maame Blue
 
Recommended Romance authors:
 
-      Alyssa Cole
-      Talia Hibbert
 
Songs Referenced in the discussion:
 
-      Gatekeeper – ESKA
-      The Ballad of Dorothy Parker – Prince
-      Love Has fallen on Me – Chaka Khan
-      The Nearness of You – Ella Fitgerald
-      If I Don’t Have You – Gregory Isaac
-      If I Don’t Have You (cover)– Sareeta Domingo
-      Who’s Loving You – Jackson 5
-      Orange Moon – Erykah...

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Do writers of African descent have the freedom to write whimsical and quirky stories? How can readers support the works of under-discussed writers during COVID-19 global pandemic?
 
We discuss these topics and more with Tola Rotimi Abraham, whose debut novel, Black Sunday (a coming of age novel set in Lagos, Nigeria, which tells the story of a fractured family coming to terms with an unexpected loss) has been shortlisted for the 2020 Kirkus Prize for Fiction. We use the music of Adekunle Gold, Teni The Entertainer, Shoma Madjozi and more to discuss consent in hyper-patriarchal societies, the inevitable emotional weight of (re)writing and editing traumatic scenes, & linguistic misnomers in the depiction of localised customs in literature published in the West. Listen Tola Abraham’s specially curated playlist Spotify, Deezer and YouTube. Listen to a playlist if sings curated by Tola Rotimi Abraham on Spotify, Deezer and YouTube.
Continue the conversation by posting your thoughts on this episode on Twitter and Instagram by tagging us #BooksAndRhymes
 
The song you heard in the intro and outro of this podcast is titled: Reset by Meakoom (Meakoom) link to her music is available on Bandcamp
 
Purchase Tola Rotimi Abraham’s unforgettable novel Black Sunday online and in your local bookstore. 
Authors & Books referenced:
 
-     We Need New Names - Noviolet Bulawayo
-     Helen Oyeyemi
-     Tade Thompson
-     Nnedi Okorafor
-     The Vanishing Half - Brit Bennett
 
Songs Referenced:
 
-     John Cena – Sho Madjozi
-     Surrender – Natalie Taylor
-     Ire – Adekunle Gold.
-     Teni – Uyo Meyo
-     Brown Skin Girl - Beyonce

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