insert_link Africa Margaret Busby: how a pioneering Ghanaian publisher put African women’s writing on the map By Phillippa Yaa de Villiers, University of the Witwatersrand Published in 1992, Daughters of Africa is a groundbreaking volume of writing by women of African descent. It was followed by an expanded second edition, New Daughters of Africa, in 2019. The mind behind the books is pioneering Ghanaian-born publisher, writer and editor Margaret Busby. She became the first Black female publisher in the UK at 20 when […] todayApril 29, 2024 7
insert_link Africa Beyond images of war: Sammy Baloji’s work captures DR Congo’s vibrant arts and culture, challenging western views By Pierre-Philippe Fraiture, University of Warwick The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is all too often associated with violent conflict, at the expense of its positive aspects. Reports on this huge country, the second largest in Africa after Algeria, and nearly twice the size of South Africa, tend to overlook its intellectual and artistic vibrancy. My research has focused on this part of the continent. This […] todayApril 16, 2024 6
insert_link Lifestyle J.M. Coetzee’s provocative first book turns 50 this year – and his most controversial turns 25 Photo of J.M. Coetzee: Laterthanyouthink, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA Andrew van der Vlies, University of Adelaide J.M. Coetzee, one of the leading novelists of our age, turns 84 this year. Last year, he published The Pole and Other Stories, his 18th book (excluding volumes of criticism, commentary, letters and translations). Its flowering of mature style confirms that this writer remains at the top of his game. Coetzee celebrates another […] todayJanuary 26, 2024 8
insert_link Africa Weaver Press is closing – how one small, brave Zimbabwean publisher made a difference By Tinashe Mushakavanhu, University of Oxford With the news that it is to halt operations it’s a fitting time to take stock of Weaver Press in Zimbabwe. The publishing house started small in 1998 and remained small, co-managed by its two full time employees, the husband and wife team of Murray McCartney and Irene Staunton. At the same time as Weaver Press was celebrating its 25th anniversary, McCartney revealed […] todayJanuary 22, 2024 7
insert_link Opinion Pieces Literature inspired my medical career: Why the humanities are needed in health care Medicine is as much about the human experience as it is about biology. Jonathan Knowles/Stone via Getty Images Irène Mathieu, University of Virginia While there is a long history of doctor-poets – one giant of mid-20th-century poetry, William Carlos Williams, was famously also a pediatrician – few people seem to know this or understand the power of combining the humanities and medicine. As a published poet and scholar of the […] todayJanuary 10, 2024 8
Paying it forward: Kenyan coastal doctor Bashrahil Mohammed Mafudh has made it his life’s work to care for the most vulnerable in his community, at no cost.
