The Royal African Society cordially invites you to attend our upcoming Africa Writes 2012 Lecture to be delivered by the brilliant Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie on Saturday 30th June, 6-9pm, at the Brunei Gallery Lecture Theatre, the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). 

Marking the 50th anniversary of the African Writers Series, Chimamanda, Africa’s foremost young novelist, will be giving tribute to the African women writers who have inspired her and speak about the African Writers Series books she read as a child.

Africa Writes is the RAS's inaugural African Literature and Book festival, scheduled to take place on Saturday 30^th June and Sunday 1^st July 2012 in the Brunei Gallery Building (SOAS) and Torrington Square.

Africa Writes aims to enhance coverage and discussion about African literature and writers in London - and the UK, by extension. Every year Africa Writes will showcase established and emerging literary talent from Africa and the Diaspora during a weekend-long series of events, including book launches, readings, panel discussions, children's workshops and other activities. The festival will also feature a two-day international book fair for publishers of African writing and an outdoor pan-African food market with dishes from around the continent.

Festival highlights for Africa Writes 2012 include: an audience with the 2012 Caine Prize Shortlisted writers (Saturday, 30th June, 3-4:30pm); interactive story-telling for children (Sunday, 1st July, 12-1pm); panel discussions on the current publishing landscape for contemporary African writing and the phenomenon of Writing  Away from Home, which affects so many African writers living in the Diaspora. The festival's closing event will be Word from Africa, part of Poetry Parnassus at the Southbank (Sunday, 1st July, 6-10pm).

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was born in Nigeria. She is the author of two novels, Half of a Yellow Sun, which won the Orange Prize and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, and Purple Hibiscus, which won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize and the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award. The Thing Around Your Neck, her collection of stories, was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best Book in Africa. She is the recipient of a 2008 MacArthur Foundation Fellowship. She was named one of the twenty most important fiction writers today under 40 years old by The New Yorker.

Other authors taking part in Africa Writes 2012 include: Ellen Banda-Aaku, Nuruddin Farah, Kojo Laing, Lily Mabura, Jack Mapanje, Obi Okigbo, Noo Saro-Wiwa, E. E. Sule, Goretti Kyomuhendo, the five shortlisted Caine Prize writers for 2012, namely Rotimi Babatunde, Billy Kahora, Stanley Kenani, Melissa Tandiwe Myambo, and Constance Myburgh.

Participating poets include: Modeste Hugues, Oxmo Pucion, Kety Nevyabandi Bikura, Shalija Patel, T.J. Dema, Paul Dakeyo, Bewketu Seyoum, Abdulahi Botaan Hassan 'Kurweyne', Warsan Shire, Sam Elmi, Elmi Ali, Inua Ellams,Yemisi Blake, Safia Elhillo, Mariama Khan, Togara Muzanenhamo, and Lemn Sissay.

About the RAS

The Royal African Society is Britain’s prime Africa organisation with more than a century of in-depth knowledge and experience of the continent and its peoples. We foster a better understanding of Africa in the UK and throughout the world, exploring the continent’s history, politics, culture, problems and potential. We disseminate knowledge and insight to make a positive difference to Africa’s development and celebrate the diversity and depth of African culture.

The RAS has a proven track record of producing a successful and relevant programme of events and meetings, which we are currently expanding to include more cultural activities. In November 2011 we held Film Africa - a 10-day film festival across cinemas in London. Film Africa screened more than fifty of the best African fiction and documentary films, featuring lively audience Q&A’s and panel discussions with leading African filmmakers. The festival also included a dynamic programme of cultural and music events: filmafrica.org.uk

About the African Writers Series

The African Writers Series was established in 1962 by Heinemann. For many years its name has been synonymous with excellence in African writing. Renowned authors such as Chinua Achebe, Ngugi Wa Thiong’o, Bessie Head and Dambudzo Marechera have had some of their best work published under this iconic name. When it first emerged, the African Writers series gave African writers of original fiction the chance to tell their own stories and to write back to the world. In May 2008 The AWS joined the Pearson family; Pearson has been committed to promoting the best in African publishing. As part of this commitment Pearson are publishing new editions of some of the most notable works in the series alongside completely new works.

For more information on the festival, please contact: Sheila Ruiz, Programme Co-ordinator for the Royal African Society, on ras_research@soas.ac.uk or 020 3073 8337.