World Book Day 2021: 30 African Contemporary Writers Share Their Favorite Books
It was World Book Day as well as our first anniversary on Friday, 23rd April and to celebrate it, we sought book recommendations from 30 African contemporary writers.
Writers are some of the best readers. This is because it isn’t just reading for entertainment for them, it is as Faulkner aptly puts it, “…like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master,” so while the average reader may just be reading for fun, the writer-reader has a deeper motive. They want to learn or unlearn; they want to discover or recover; they want to find or see themselves. So it is more than just words, it has become a manual.
Now this doesn’t mean that every book a writer reads is seen as a tool of learning. Writers too can simply read for fun. So an oversimplified cliche story can be as appealing to a writer as that story whose prose/writing is crisp. They are humans first after all and a story can just resonate without it having any unique quality. But since a writer looks at a book from a higher place of authority, their opinions over books tend to be more trusted than those held by an average reader.
It is for this reason too that one can dare say writers make the best book recommendations and for World Book Day, 2021, we asked 30 young African writers writing Today to share with us five books that have either shaped their writings or they love generally.
Stay tuned to this blog as we gradually take you through their book list.
- World Book Day Recommendations: ‘Five Books I Love’ — Echezonachukwu Nduka
- World Book Day Recommendations: ‘Five Books I Love’ — Sihle Ntuli
- World Book Day Recommendations: ‘Five Books that Shaped my Writing’ — Hymar David
- World Book Day Recommendations: ‘Five Books I Love’ — Hauwa Shaffii Nuhu
- World Book Day Recommendations: Chika Unigwe Recommends Five Books
- World Book Day Recommendations: Rémy Ngamije Recommends Five Short Stories
- World Book Day Recommendations: ‘Five Books that Shaped my Writing’ — Sibongile Fisher
- World Book Day Recommendations: ‘Five Books I Love’ — Rasaq Malik Gbolahan
- World Book Day Recommendations: Bura-Bari Nwilo Recommends Six Books
- World Book Day Recommendations: ‘Five Books I Love’ — Jaachi Anyatonwu
- World Book Day Recommendations: ‘Five Books I Love’ — Praise Oswaru
- World Book Day Recommendations: ‘Five Books I Love’ — Chukwuebuka Ibeh
- World Book Day Recommendations: ‘Five Books I Love’ — Michael Akuchie
- World Book Day Recommendations: ‘Five Books I Love’ — Femi Morgan
- World Book Day Recommendations: ‘5 Books I Am Most Grateful For’ — Olakunle Ologunro
- World Book Day Recommendations: ‘Five Books I Love’ — Ernest O. Ògúnyẹmí
- World Book Day Recommendations: ‘Five Books That Have Influenced My Craft’ — Jerry Chiemeke
