SUNDIATA: AN EPIC OF OLD MALIByDjibril Tamsir Niane About the Author Djibril Tamsir Niane (born 9 January 1932) is a historian, playwright, and short story writer, born in Conakry, Guinea. His secondary education was in Senegal and his degree from the University of Bordeaux. He is an honorary professor of Howard University and the University of Tokyo. He is noted for introducing the Epic of Sundiata, about Sundiata Keita (ca 1217-1255), founder of the Mali Empire, to the Western world in 1960 by translating the story told to him by Djeli Mamoudou Kouyate, a griot or traditional oral historian. Djibril Tamsir Niane Plot SummaryThe epic of Sundiata is…
Author: Msomi Bora
A WALK IN THE NIGHT By Alex La Guma The story A Walk in the Night by Alex La Guma is based on the happenings in and around a squalid part of Cape Town, in South Africa, called District Six. The story begins with a stressed Michael Adonis, the central character of the story, loitering about the streets of the district. He has lost his job at the metal sheet factory because of an altercation he had with his white supervisor. Alex La Guma A WALK IN THE NIGHT By Alex La Guma Setting: South Africa PLOT SUMMARY One The…
THE OLD MAN AND THE MEDAL By Ferdinand Oyono The Old Man and the Medal is a 1956 post colonial novel by Cameroonian diplomat and writer Ferdinand Oyono. The novel was translated into English and republished in 1967 in the influential Heinemann African Writers Series. When reflecting on the novel, in Oyono’s obituary, The Guardian writer Shola Adenekan described the novel as “evoking the deep sense of disillusionment felt by those Africans who were committed to the west, yet rejected by their colonial masters.” Ferdinand Oyono THE OLD MAN AND THE MEDAL By Ferdinand Oyono Setting: Cameroon PLOT SUMMARY PART…
GIRLS AT WAR By Chinua Achebe Chinua Achebe’s short story “Girls at War” is a commentary on gender roles, reflecting the interpersonal struggles that arise when someone does and doesn’t meet the expectations placed on them by society. Girls at War takes place during the Nigerian War and the main character, Reginald, appears to be a kind of deliveryman, making sure supplies get to where they’re needed. Chinua Achebe GIRLS AT WAR Author: Chinua Achebe Setting: Nigeria PLOT – Straightforward narration. The story is told in a straightforward narration in which the author narrates the events occurring in the story…
THE CONCUBINE By Elechi Amadi The Concubine is the debut novel by Nigerian writer Elechi Amadi originally published in 1966 as part of the Heinemann African Writers Series. Set in a remote village in Eastern Nigeria, an area yet to be affected by European values and where society is orderly and predictable. The story concerns a woman “of great beauty and dignity” who inadvertently brings suffering and death to all her lovers. Elechi Amadi THE CONCUBINE By Elechi Amadi Setting: Nigeria THE TITLE OF THE NOVEL The Concubine by definition: is a woman who, in some societies, lives and has…
HOUSE BOY By Ferdinand Oyono Houseboy is a novel in the form of a diary written by Ferdinand Oyono, first published in 1956 by in French as Une vie de boy, and translated into English in 1966 by John Reed for Heinemann’s African Writers Series. The novel starts in Spanish Guinea with a Frenchman on vacation, who finds a man named Toundi, who has been injured and soon dies. The Frenchman finds his diary, which is called an “exercise book” by Toundi. The rest of the story consists of the diary (exercise book) that the Frenchman is supposedly reading. There…
A WREATH FOR FR MAYER By Severine N. Ndunguru The first of S. N. Ndunguru’s novels, A wreath for Fr Mayer is set mainly in a Tanzanian society. Yet while it is written in the small Mkongo village in Songea District, the novel reflects life in the African society in general. Some events occur in Europe, but they are all connected to the main events in the small village. Summary of the Story The story begins by explaining the spread of cholera and how the people of Mkongo relate with witchcraft then a carton of tetracycline is stolen and Kalistus is…
WEEP NOT CHILD By Ngugi wa Thiong’o Summary of the Novel Weep Not, Child was written by Ngugi wa Thiong’o while studying at at Leeds University in England in 1962. Weep Not, Child was the second novel Ngugi wrote, although it was published before his first, The River Between. It follows the tragic story of Njoroge, a young boy who seeks an education during the 1952-1960 Emergency in Kenya. This tumultuous time period saw the emergence of Kenyan revolutionary groups against the British colonists. Ngugi wa Thiong’o Weep Not Child centers around the interactions between British colonists in Kenya and the native people. This book takes place…
SPARED Author: Severine N. Ndunguru Setting: Tanzania and Sweden Publisher: Mkuki na Nyota Year: 2004 INTRODUCTION Spared is a thriller. The story unfolds as two Tanzanian officials, Tom and Chris, discuss about an approaching official mission to Sweden. While in Sweden, Tom hangs out with Linda, the daughter of a Swedish multi-millionaire. The two are abducted by the thugs, but later Tom is set free. To rescue Linda, Chris tries and pleases two sharp-shooters hidden in Abisko National Parkand in control of powerful telescopic rifles. The story reveals how Tanzanian officials betray the majority of Tanzanians by working for the interests of European imperialists; and use…
THE INTERVIEW BY PATRICK M. NGUGI SETTING – Nairobi city in KENYA PLOT SUMMARY CHAPTER ONE THE ACCIDENT Joe wakes up and prepares himself to go for an interview. He completed form four at Nairobi Central Academy but was not given the certificates since he had not cleared the 40000/= he owed the school as school fees. As a result he could neither get any job nor go to college. We are told that their parents were killed in ethnic cleansing thus Joe and his sisters were sheltered by their maternal uncle – Jotham. Joe leaves for the interview and…
