Welcome to new members!!... and introduction... if you want

[Andrea]

Welcome to Mal, Lori and Hattie! I think you will enjoy this group as there is always some discussion going somewhere:). Don't feel guilty about following discussions if you haven't gotten to the book yet. I find the discussions of books I haven't read interesting too.

[Marieke]

Hattie wrote: "I'm a new member. I've started Monique And The Mango Rains by Monique Dembele. Glad to be here. I live in Southeastern Tn. with my husband. I am a grandmother. I love cats and dogs. At the moment I..."

Welcome Hattie! i think i recognize you from another group...World Lit? :)

[Marieke]

Andrea wrote: "Welcome to Mal, Lori and Hattie! I think you will enjoy this group as there is always some discussion going somewhere:). Don't feel guilty about following discussions if you haven't gotten to the ..."

yes! please don't hesitate to add to discussions even if you haven't had a chance to read the book yet. :)

[Jerry]

Hello!everyone I am new here.

[Marieke]

Hello and welcome Jerry! Sometimes we are a little quiet but we have great members and great books so I hope you will like it here.

[Jerry]

Thank you

[Gunia]

Hello! I'm from Spain and I'm glad I discovered this group.

[Marieke]

Welcome Brigida!

[Mary]

Brígida wrote: "Hello! I'm from Spain and I'm glad I discovered this group."
Hello Brigida, I as well live in Spain.
Welcome to the group.

[Andrea]

Welcome, Brigida and Jerry. Lots of great recommendations on this group.

[Andrew]

Hello, Africa readers. I’ve recently joined the group. Contemporary fiction set in Africa is on the rise, particularly that written by African authors, and the group is a good place to find their books. Although my roots are European, my own novels are set in Africa. The latest, Fortunate, is set in Zimbabwe. I have recently started a blog on the Goodreads site and hope that it entertains fellow readers. Andrew's blog

[Randy]

I'm new to the group. I'm American and haven't read any African literature yet so I'm looking forward to participating.

[Marieke]

Welcome Randy! I hope you end up liking African literature. Is there anything particular you are interested in? A place? A time? An event?

[Randy]

Modern Nigerian literature is what I have heard the most about but I'm hoping to get good recommendations from the group reads for books I've never heard of before.

[Marieke]

I love modern Nigerian literature. :)

We have two projects here right now...one is a years-long tour around the continent alphabetically. Right now we are visiting Mauritania. That project doesn't necessarily feature African writers. However we also have a contemporary literature project that we are exploring by genre...6 genres and a book per month this year. This month we are doing a free for all with short stories/poetry/plays but our discussion is in a lull. I think I'm going to start with the Caine Prize winner, and then I will read a few from my Granta Book of African Short Stories.

Poke around the group and let me know if anything is confusing. I hear it can be bewildering at first. :/

[Andrew]

Randy, as an introduction to great writing coming out of Zimbabwe I would recommend A Long Time Coming. These are accessible short stories from different writers.

[Randy]

Thanks Andrew

[Marieke]

Zimbabwe is definitely a country I want to read more from. :)

[Jon]

Hello,
I'm from togo, and shamefully I haven't read a lot of books about or from my continent (except achebe). Very glad I found this group. Never too late right ?

Cheers

[Marieke]

Never too late! And I think it's not unusual to have not read much from Africa. I hope you enjoy the experience of seeing (reading) how amazing your continent is. :)

Welcome aboard!

[Jon]

Thanks for the warm welcome marieke !

Cheers,

[Chinook]

I went to Togo on vacation 3 years ago. It was amazing!

[Marion]

Hi Everyone,
I've recently joined the group, having grown up in Zambia and spent part of my working life in Zimbabwe. I'm very much enjoying the breadth of book titles and the comments. I'm currently reading and enjoying Andrew's book Fortunate , set in Zimbabwe.
More feedback when I've finished it.
Best wishes,
Marion

[Jon]

Chinook wrote: "I went to Togo on vacation 3 years ago. It was amazing!"

I bet it was, I'm rediscovering it myself ;)

[Marieke]

Marion wrote: "Hi Everyone,
I've recently joined the group, having grown up in Zambia and spent part of my working life in Zimbabwe. I'm very much enjoying the breadth of book titles and the comments. I'm current..."

Welcome Marion!
I'm looking forward to getting to Andrew's writing myself. I am very interested in Zimbabwe. well, i'm interested in all of Africa, but Zimbabwe is one of those places i'm especially interested in. Sadly, it will be quite awhile before we reach it on our "Tour." :)

[Andrew]

A link for you, Randy, to another site that is dedicated to Africa reads including reviews https://www.africabookclub.com/

[Mary]

Andrew wrote: "A link for you, Randy, to another site that is dedicated to Africa reads including reviews https://www.africabookclub.com/"
Feel free to visit my blog dedicated to African Literature.

www.maryokekereviews.blogspot.com

Cheers.

[J.L.]

I must be a late developer - am coming to the end of Doris Lessing's The Golden Notebook. What a rollercoaster of a book! Well-written,too. (Not surprising, since she's a Nobel Laureate). I especially related to the parts on Rhodesia/Zimbabwe where she spent a portion of her youth. Some of the nuances appear, totally by chance, in my own book - what a wonderful feeling!

[A.J.]

Hi everyone! I'm new to the group as a reader and an author. My third novel, VUTO, takes place in Malawi and was inspired by my time there as a Peace Corps volunteer. I'm looking forward to reading more about other books throughout Africa!

[Andrea]

Welcome to all the new members! It's always exciting to see more people interested in lit from and about Africa. AJ is there a link for your book on Goodreads yet? You can set one up yourself, even if your book doesn't have an ISBN number. I set one up for my East African cookbook and I'm not anywhere close to appropriately computer literate:)

[Katy]

A.J. wrote: "Hi everyone! I'm new to the group as a reader and an author. My third novel, VUTO, takes place in Malawi and was inspired by my time there as a Peace Corps volunteer. I'm looking forward to reading..."

Welcome, A.J.! I think there are at least a couple of us RPCVs in this group. When and where were you in Malawi? I traveled there in April, 2000 (to climb Mt. Mulanje) while I was in PC in Zimbabwe. Beautiful country, I'd love to go back.

[Marieke]

AJ--welcome! I am sorry I missed your arrival. I'm not sure how that happened. :(

[Margitte]

J.L. wrote: "I must be a late developer - am coming to the end of Doris Lessing's The Golden Notebook. What a rollercoaster of a book! Well-written,too. (Not surprising, since she's a Nobel Laureate). I especia..."

Oh dear, I am afraid Doris Lessing caught me on the wrong foot, probably the wrong hormonal cocktail as well, lolol. I enjoyed some of her books, haven't read this one, so will consider it, but with an elongated barge pole, to be honest :-)) The reason is that I enjoy the African literature written by born-bred-and growing old sufferers a lot more. With limited funds I nowadays choose the young upcoming new African authors first. Thanks for the introduction. I also am a very late developer! I wasn't even born yet(not even remotely) when me Lessing wrote her first books. She was really remarkable for her times for sure.

PS. I just ordered The Golden Notebook! Thanks to your recommendation, J.L!

[Margitte]

Andrew wrote: "A link for you, Randy, to another site that is dedicated to Africa reads including reviews https://www.africabookclub.com/"

This also looks great, thanks for the link Andrew, and welcome to everyone. I am not a regular commentator/commentor(?), but I do enjoy this group tremendously.

[Muphyn]

Oh my gosh, so many new faces!!! I've been absent for so long, mostly due to work and lots of travel last year but also because I got married late last year and then moved some 2000 km (1200 miles?) north from Melbourne to Queensland. So excited to be back with you all though!! :)

So... a big, fat welcome from me to all our new members, I know Marieke would have done that already but just wanted to shout out as well. :) I can't quite believe how this group has grown in the last year!! Whoa... :D

Marieke has done a superb job setting things up for 2014, it's going to be a fun and fabulous year of reading at GAR! Looking forward to lots of interesting discussions with you all this year. :D

I'll jump right back on the Tour d'Afrique wagon so expect to see me around there - as well as joining in other discussions, of course.

Happy new year, everyone, and happy African reading!

[Katy]

Muphyn wrote: "Oh my gosh, so many new faces!!! I've been absent for so long, mostly due to work and lots of travel last year but also because I got married late last year and then moved some 2000 km (1200 miles?..."


Congratulations on your nuptials, Muphyn! Hope the move to Queensland went smoothly.

[Marieke]

Welcome back Muphyn!!!!

*happy dance*

[Muphyn]

Thanks, guys! :) (*happy wiggle* on my side, Marieke! ;) )

Yeah, the move to Queensland went sort of smooth... a few things broken, the truck arrived three days late to pick things up and then a day early to drop everything off but I guess all that is to be expected with an interstate move.

[Beverly]

Muphyn wrote: "Oh my gosh, so many new faces!!! I've been absent for so long, mostly due to work and lots of travel last year but also because I got married late last year and then moved some 2000 km (1200 miles?..."

Congrats on your nuptials!
2013 was a very busy and exciting year for you.
Welcome back!

[Melanie]

It has been nice to see you back in the threads, Muphyn! Welcome back! Congrats on your wedding and move :)

[Muphyn]

Aw, thanks Beverly and Melanie!! :)

[Muphyn]

Thanks, Hattie. :)

[Sheila]

Hi everyone. Back after my sojourn in Nigeria for the past year when I had a not so good internet connection from Nigeria and then travelling elsewhere in Africa, then back home to the UK to sell up and buy a new home and begin a retired and not working life! Now therefore with much more time to read!

This board reccomended Cassava Republic book shop in Abuja to me - that was a great recommendation, absolutely loved it! Big fan. Tx.

[Muphyn]

Welcome back, Sheila!! Enjoy your new found reading freedom! ;)

[Sheila]

Tx I am sure I will.

[Valerie]

Arabakhidi. Does anyone speak Soussou? I am Valerie and am most interested in West Africa, especially Guinée. I was there last year in Conakry, Kindia and Soro.

[Muphyn]

Welcome (officially) Valerie, ;)

uhm... no, I can't say that I do... :) But who knows, there are lots of members here and maybe one or a few of them do!

[Valerie]

Inuwali.

[Camille]

Hello :) just wanted to take the time to introduce myself in this panel. My name is Camille Khairallah & I recently started writing about Africa shortly after my return from a two-month volunteering period in Gulu, Uganda. I have finished writing my book and it is now available on kindle.
I traveled to Uganda to volunteer for two months through the Concordia Volunteer Abroad Program CVAP available to me through my University in Canada, in this book I provide the summary of my adventures working in a micro-finance project in Gulu, Uganda and how to prepare/live in such an environment comparing it to North America.

It would be amazing if you can promote/support my work

Thanks,

Camille

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00GF5226Y (Canadian Store)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GF5226Y (USA & Others)
https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B00GF5226Y (French Store)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00GF5226Y (UK Store)

[Muphyn]

Hi Camille,

Welcome to the group! There are lots of things happening in the group this year, so feel free to participate if and when a book or discussion takes your fancy. :)

You may also want to promote your book in the author thread. I can set up a thread for you or feel free to do it yourself.