award-winning - The African Mirror

Feb

2024

Books: folklore and fantasy combine in Langabi, a supernatural historical epic from Zimbabwe

IN 2023, award-winning Zimbabwean author Christopher Mlalazi published a new book, Langabi: Season of the Beast. He’s the author of novels like Running with Mother (2012), Dancing with Life: Tales from the Township (2012) and They are Coming (2014). His books grapple with diverse social and political issues in Zimbabwe. As a scholar of African literature, including speculative fiction, I have researched Mlalazi’s previous books, especially his depiction of the Gukurahundi Genocide in Zimbabwe. Langabi is a novel that draws on the storytelling of the Ndebele people to recount the tale of a young man who finds himself in a…

Mar

2023

By The African Mirror

Gloria Bosman was more than a South African jazz vocalist, she was a guiding light

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

THE immediate public reaction to the death of Gloria Bosman from a short respiratory illness on 14 March 2023 was shocked disbelief. The multiple award-winning South African jazz vocalist, composer and teacher was only 50. She had just launched a new album, Live, her first in a dozen years, and was on the eve of a promotional tour. Author GWEN ANSELL, Associate of the Gordon Institute for Business Science, University of Pretoria Warm tributes followed, from family, friends and industry colleagues, and from a whole generation of singers for whom – directly and indirectly – she had served as a…

Nov

2022

By The African Mirror

In conversation with award-winning Nigerian author and director of Ake festival Lola Shoneyin

LITERATURE

BONFACE ORUCHO, BIRD STORY AGENCY. AFRICA is ethnically and culturally diverse. The nature of art and literary works from the continent are equally varied. African writers like Chinua Achebe, Chimamanda Ngozi, Alain Mabanckou, and Bessie Head, among many others, have elevated African arts to the global space. Still, there is a need to sustain the momentum. Lola Shoneyin, a poet, novelist, publisher, bookseller and festival organiser, is one of the few dedicated to ensuring African literature and art get better recognition and appreciation. When the 48-year-old published her debut novel ‘The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives, in 2010, she…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

Ghanaian chef transforms nutrition

NEWS

PEARL AKANYA OFORI LOSING his mother at age 10 and his father just two years later, Ghanaian chef and food stylist, Elijah Amoo Addo knew it would take a miracle for him to fulfil his dream of becoming a medical doctor. As he would find out two decades later, that ‘dark moment’ in his life had a silver lining. “My parents were my backbone. Their death made my siblings and I feel that all hope was lost because we did not know who was going to finance our education,’’ he said. The only boy among four children, difficult living conditions…