Africa Unbound
Thursday 10 August 2006 21:30-22:15 (Radio 3)
On the eve of the announcement of the Caine Writing Prize winner, and as part of the Africa Lives on the BBC season, poet and playwright Gabriel Gbadamosi investigates the role of the book in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Talking to writers, publishers and readers he traces the history of book production and consumption from the 19th century to present day; from vanity publishing in dingy backrooms to short stories in cyber-space to the prize-winning literature of Soyinka, Ngugi Wa Thiongo and Ben Okri on sale internationally.
He talks to Cyprian Ekwensi at 84, one of Africa's oldest living writers, examines a new generation of young writers, like 28 year old Chimamanda Adichie, author of Purple Hibscus, who are reaching new readers, both within and outside Africa. Set against this is the hard economic and social reality of a continent where poverty, insecurity and escapism mean good fiction coming second to motivational books, Christian tracts, romances and thrillers.
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