Voicing African Voices

Author

Harry O. Garuba

Born in 1958 in Akure, Nigeria, Harry O. Garuba, poet, literary critic, and distinguished professor, was the nominal leader the Thursday Group, an influential gathering of poets that emerged from the Poetry Club, University of Ibadan, during the 1980s and 90s. The poets, who were also fondly called the Thursday People, imposed stringent standards upon themselves in mastering their craft. Garuba and the rest of the group believed that poetry as an art form was meant to be lived and experienced in its entire range even if it entailed transcending the boundaries of sensibility, convention and nationality. Garuba eventually became a respected professor of literature and Africa studies at the University of Cape Town in South Africa where he passed in 2020.

African Studies Literature Poetry Social Sciences

Shadow and Dream

by Harry O. Garuba

Alive in Poetry Harry Garuba’s Shadow and Dream, a slim yet highly influential collection which immediately gained a cult following, has continued to elicit…

The mission of Langaa Research and Publishing Common Initiative Group (Langaa RPCIG) is to contribute to the cultural development and renaissance of Africa. This is achieved by conducting research, providing training in research and writing, and publishing and promoting African scholarship and creative writing. Langaa, not set up for monetary profit-making, is supported by founding members and other contributors, financial grants and efforts of volunteers. Langaa is physically located in Bamenda and Buea (Cameroon), although its members and volunteers operate from different parts of the world. So far, Langaa has published over 500 titles, mainly on Cameroon, but also on other African countries like Burkina Faso, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Zimbabwe and South Africa. Outstanding scholars and ordinary people familiar with the Cameroonian and African context provide editorial guidance. Each manuscript is systematically reviewed before a publication decision. Peer reviews, reader reports, and editorial changes are stored as evidence of the rigour of Langaa ’s processes.

Billan Omar, Doctoral Research Fellow at HUMA, University of Cape Town on Ringtone Stories: Voices from Bamenda’s Mobile Generation
Vito Laterza is Associate Professor in Global Development at the University of Agder, Norway, and a 2024-2025 Visiting Fellow at the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study. on Uitlanders in Stellenbosch: Identities, English, and Learning to Live Together
Professor Tinyiko Maluleke, Theologian, leading academic, Vice Chancellor and Principal, Tshwane University of Technology. on Uitlanders in Stellenbosch: Identities, English, and Learning to Live Together
Achirri Ismael, (PhD) Assistant Professor of Social Sciences and Policy Studies, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Massachusetts, USA. on Centres and Peripheries in Literatures: Interrogating Hegemonic Canonism
Viviane Koua, (PhD) Department of World Languages, Literatures & Cultures, Auburn University, Auburn AL. USA on Centres and Peripheries in Literatures: Interrogating Hegemonic Canonism