New Daughters of Africa by Margaret Busby

New Daughters of Africa Reviews

• 
  Roman Clodia

  Racism does not look for nuance, only the audacity of our skin.
  
  I'd tell you who I am but you do not ask for my voice. You've already made up your mind, haven't you?

  
  This is an extraordinary and compelling anthology, and undoubtedly set to be one of my Books of 2023.
  
  Margaret Busby has pulled together an exceptional array of women writers with global antecedents and contemporary lives: they may all have originated in some way from somewhere in Africa but the sense of a diaspora, of intertwined ethnicities and continuing connections is alive and flourishing in the best of ways.
  
  It's striking how little fiction there is here: there is more poetry and a large emphasis on prose - memoirs, essays, journalism, meditations, bits of autobiography abound. It is also acutely noticeable how remarkable these women are: for their intelligence, compassion, emotional reach and grace. There is anger at times, but often channeled into resistance, hope and not just a desire for change but a positive engagement in making change happen. Many are activists at community, national and international levels, and it's striking how many are involved in literary industries as editors, writers, film- and documentary makers, literary judges, academics and teachers of creative writing where they are nurturing the next generations.
  
  Some of the names will be well known and recognised: most were unknown and revelations to me - so be aware your TBR list will explode as a result of reading this!
  
  Busby has made the decision to include a lot of writers with short samples of their work: each is headed by a mini-biography, fascinating in itself, followed by a short extract, usually no more that 4-5 pages. In that sense, this is a taster anthology and one packed with fresh women writers to trace and explore.
  
  One thing that is very noticeable is how much has changed and how little has changed across the extracts: issues of race, gender, prejudice, fear, violence and oppression do not go away - but these women speak out anyway, with humour, with resilience, with intention, and draw strength from each other. By the end, what I felt was a renewed sense of purpose, all wrapped up in that belief that literature itself can be an act of joint resistance.
• 
  Kinga

  How do you even review a book like this?
  
  With its over 200 contributors from all over the world, representing every genre of fiction, non-fiction, poetry and plays, it is even possible to sum it up coherently?
  Of course not, and trying to would do these authors a disservice, because while united by their ethnicity, their creative expression is a rainbow of ideas.
  
  It featured way too many fantastic pieces for me to even try to list them all, so please excuse this very limited selection I will focus on in my review. I mostly selected literary fictional pieces, as those are the easiest for me to review. However, this collection features a tremendous number of fantastic autobiographical entries that made me want to read more, and regret they weren’t excerpts from full-length memoirs. There were also fragments of books I have already read but it was a pleasure to re-read them.
  
  First of all, let me talk about two criminally underrated authors who are in my top 10 favourite authors and are featured in this collection:
  
  Esi Edugyan is a true marvel of fierce intelligence and unrestrained imagination and I recommend you read anything she writes – I believe she's incapable of producing a dud. In this anthology she shares some meditations on solitude and writing that are beautiful and inspiring.
  
  The other author whose praises I’m going to sing is Yvvette Edwards who masters complex emotions and can make you cry without emotionally manipulating you. I still remember reading her book at 5am on the train to the airport and crying my eyes out (it’s memorable as I don’t cry over books). Here she gives us a poignant story about grocery shopping and the Windrush scandal in one.
  
  Now, I’m not going to review the poetry in this collection, as I know precious little about poetry, but I need to mention Agnes Agboton whose poem Omega (translated from Spanish by Lawerence Schimel) completely undid me. I’ve read it at least 20 times and it is now one of my favourite poems
  (“I’m afraid that one day we might sink
  Into the sadness of a rainy afternoon […])
  
  Of course, a shoutout to Bernardine Evaristo, whom I discovered about five minutes before the world discovered her when she was shortlisted for (and eventually won) the Booker Prize. I’m a little peeved because there is a stupid side of me that likes to keep amazing authors all to herself, especially authors that grew up in the neighbourhood I now call home (shoutout to Woolwich, London).
  
  And since we are on Woolwich, let’s talk about Zoe Adjonyoh. She is a chef and writes mostly about food but in this collection she gives us ‘A Beautiful Story’ (and it just that, touching and beautiful) about meeting up with her father in Costa Café next to Woolwich DLR station – a place I pass twice a day (or I did, back when we were still able to leave the house). I now have bought her ‘Zoe’s Ghana Kitchen’ cookbook as well.
  
  I could go on forever – my copy is teeming with index flags, but I wouldn’t know where to stop. I really liked memoir pieces by Nana-Ama Danquah, Nah Dove and Lesley Lokko and I can see my Ghanaian bias is becoming more and more evident. But even though, for some reason I gravitate towards all things Ghanaian, I enjoyed how varied geographically this book was. Often anthologies of this type suffer from being US-centric (most things in the world seem to suffer from being US-centric), so it was really nice to see American authors making room for the rest of the world.
  
  I recommend this collection as a permanent addition to your book collection.
• 
  Mpho

  The kind that screams 'you have to read me' got it the very first time I discovered it . I need an extra star if not more to rate it.
  
  An anthology like no other from powerhouses around the world, a force of unflinching stories beginning with important entries from the 18th and 19th centuries, a reminder that we as the later generation stand tall because of those who have gone before.
  
  loved the way they delivered their essays and letters, Nana Asmau✊🏾, Sarah Parker on her letter to the daily News reacting to the movement against colored race in the US. Donu Kogbara on her harrowing tale of being kidnapped in Nigeria, Simi Bedford on being an African in boarding school in England, yoh its jam packed
  
  I was there through out the book, I walked through their journey with them, that I was compelled to find an answer to the question "what did it mean to be black women in my grandmother's time?" where custom, tradition, friendships, romance, sexuality, intersexual feminism, politics of gender, race, identity are explored in ways that are surprising, considered and heartrending. Taboo subjects are addressed head on, Familia dilemmas elicit fresh takes.
  
  The book reveals works in progress, identities in transition, shape-shifting sensibilities, a mesh up of expectations. I can go on forever, a must read, one of the best books I've ever read... I'll be reading it Again.
  
• 
  Jonathan

  As with any anthology, not everything will work for every reader, but there is a great deal of fantastic writing here. Highly recommended.
• 
  Kaytee Cobb

  2 contributors a day, about 10 pages. This took us 3 months and 13 days to read, but we DID IT! While not every contribution landed for me (that would be impossible) I'm still giving this 4.5 stars for the amazing depth and breadth. If I were editor, I'd change a few things about arrangement, but otherwise, excellent.
• 
  Jenni

  A phenomenal anthology. Quite an undertaking to read this cover to cover (given this collection is almost 1000 pages), but I would still say it's worth it. I had very few misses here--only one (out of 200) I remember not finishing because I really did not get on with the writing style. Most of the entries here are original works written for this anthology, which I do wish it had included more excerpts from novels, etc, but then again that would have been a publishing rights nightmare, so I understand. Even if you want this simply as a reference point, I still would highly recommend it!
• 
  KA Timbuktu

  Lockdown Bookshelf. Literary Pan-African intergenerational dialogue of gifted women of the continent & the diaspora over two centuries of writing. This was my lockdown escapade in 2020 & I devoured it within a month. It ticks all the boxes.
• 
  2TReads

  What a great book. This collection of works from all of these amazing, strong and influential women was so powerful and impactful. Letters, essays, poems, short stories, speeches from an inspirational collection of black women spanning generations covering everything from racism, sexualization, slavery and bondage, loss to love, sisterhood, hope, activism, belonging and discovery.
  
  These are stories of experiences and are drenched in rich thought and action leaving the reader feeling as involved and fulfilled in their trials and successes. We are taken on a journey through their lives, introduced to their influences and modes of thought; their suggestions, creations, debates, and work to further the social, political and economical equality for our people.
  
  Absolutely phenomenal(just like every woman represented in this collection). A must read.
• 
  Ella

  This isn't a book to read cover to cover - it's an eternal resource, and it's wonderful. People may wonder why read this one if you read the first? Taken together they are a set. The first was more of an introduction, with many women loads of us will have already known (if only in name) and this one goes wider and deeper. It's an incredible reference with women from all over the world represented. Organized and researched terrifically, the two sit side-by-side on my shelves. If I ever become a GR librarian, I will be adding a ton of these women to the dBase. Meanwhile, I have a TBR from this that will never end. I urge you to read BOTH of Margaret Busby's "Daughters of Africa" series. I can promise that you will learn a lot.
  
  Gonna leave my notes from the month I spent reading this whenever I got a chance.
  December 28, 2019 – page 367
  34.75% "Again, not reading in order - just reading parts of this filled-to-the-brim reference because it's compelling and informative beyond belief."
  December 22, 2019 – page 55
  5.21% "This, as a companion to the older book, is a wonderful resource. So wonderful, in fact - that I applied to be a GR librarian b/c of the depth herein. I would like to share that with others. This has both newer additions and goes back further, deeper & wider than the first book. The two are great together. I'm thrilled to be able to stick my finger in & find an author I never knew or knew in name only. TBR galore!"
  December 22, 2019 – page 0
  0.0% "caused me to apply for GR librarian status - this, as a companion to the first book - goes deeper and is just thrilling to pick through. Obviously I'm not reading it cover to cover, but THIS IS A WONDERFUL RESOURCE!!!"
  August 19, 2019 – Shelved
• 
  Barnaby Haszard

  The mind-broadening potential of this book (and I assume its predecessor), especially for a white dude like me, makes it an Everest of reading. 200+ writers in all fields chart race, feminism, capitalism, globalism, slavery, literature, education, love and marriage, LGBTQI+ issues, and everything else, from a black female perspective. It's a lesson -- not just in the breadth of human experience in this most oppressed demographic, but in the wealth of great writing this loose transnational group has created. I can't recommend it highly enough.
• 
  Biblibio

  Absolutely essential and also one of the best designed/edited/presented anthologies I've ever had the pleasure of reading. I just wish international could have included a few more women writers from outside of English...
• 
  AnnaG

  Fascinating collection of writings from women of the African diaspora over the past 150 years. I thoroughly recommend the speech by Diane Abbott which was eye-opening for me.
• 
  Donubari J Kogbara

  Since I am one of the contributors, I am biased. But I love this book and salute the other Daughters of Africa whose wonderful words fill its pages.
• 
  Livey

  Talented writers
  
  The cover is gorgeous. 
   
  
  The common themes I read about were tradition, violence, romance, sexuality, race and identity and are all explored in ways
  that are direct, surprising, sweet, angry and joyful.  since there are over 200 stories, I have listed the ones that I liked below. Spoiler alert*
  1940s - -Barbara Jenkins - A Perfect Stranger - This was a beautiful romance story about a 70-year-old gentleman who is remembering when he met his wife at age 21. In current time he is traveling with his son, and they run into someone his wife knew from Trinidad.  This man who knew his wife before he did marvels at how much the son is a dead ringer for his father. The story then flips to the wife telling her perspective about being with that Trinidadian man and the argument she had with those friends.  She is furious with them and leaves in tears.  As she sits on a park bench, a man approaches her with a handkerchief - that man is her future husband.  She passes many years later. The husband now thinks back to their meeting 50 years earlier due to a comment the Trinidadian made; which was to the tune of If she hadn’t met you, your son could have been my son.  Etc.  Ends so abruptly though which is why I don’t like short stories.
  GOG read stuff from her in Pepperpot: Best New Stories from the Caribbean (New York and Leeds: Peekash Press, 2014), and I was frustrated by how abruptly the short stories ended in that book also.
  The 1940s - Verna Wilkins, founder of the children’s imprint Tamarind Books, explains in her essay that she began hands-on work creating books in diverse classrooms in the belief that the process must start with children: “They should see themselves as the authors, editors, designers, illustrators and publishers of the future.”
  
  1970s - Rosamond S King poem this is for the ladies -This was deep, I looked up the case of the police officer who received 268 years for rape, sodemy and a myriad of other charges against African American women he stopped and brutalized. Convicted of 18 counts against 8 women although there were more Daniel Ken Holtzclaw (born December 10, 1986) is a former Oklahoma City Police Department patrol officer who was convicted in December 2015 of multiple counts of rape, sexual battery, forcible oral sodomy, and other sexual charges.
  The hotbox I didn’t understand was she talking about lust or a crime against humanity during slavery of slowing cooking black folks?
   
  1970s - Beatrice Lamwaka.-  Missing letter of the alphabet. This is a story about a woman on her wedding night lamenting her husband Michael walking out because he found out she was circumcised and didn’t have a clitoris. She had it removed at age 12 because she was brainwashed. His tribe doesn’t do this act on young women to keep them chaise. In the end he comes back. But she sweated it out thinking he wasn’t coming back.  No sexual pleasure for her. 
   
  1970 - Nnedi Okorafor - Zula of the Fourth Grade Playground - Zula was the Grace Jones character in Conan the Destroyer; her story was about a fight she had on the playground with a group of racist white male classmates.
  
  1960s Sade Adeniran The Day I Died
  This poor girl is describing the two years before her death after being kidnapped from school, beaten, raped and wife’s up until she had 2 miscarriages becomes divorced and used by the rest of the army including those men who have wives. She writes this letter hoping her family will know the agony of her iLife and understand her decision to take her life.
  
  1960s Nalo Hopkinson - Snow Day After a night of snow fall she goes out to clean the driveway and wishing she’d come out the night before encounters a talking raccoon who has been desperately trying to open the garbage. He saves her life when a car rides up to her porch with a man and his teenaged daughter who tell her something is up in all neighborhoods as she is now hearing birds and other talking animals all asking her to open the garbage so they can eat. Then after a bear knocks the garbage open her neighbors come out the animals start eating her garbage. Granny Nichols who lives across the street coming out with her talking bird and they seem to know what is going on as they state they are ready when rotten orange looking space ships arrive above in and land. An African woman with many animals exit one of the ships. One of the animals want to know they want a ride so she and the man jump in the ship he promises to come back. The teen aged girl and the bird stay -
• 
  Devon H

  1000 pages will be a piece of cake, I thought to myself. It's nothing I haven't done before. This book is unlike anything I've ever read. Busby rounded up over 200 authors who contributed works for this book, ranging from poetry to nonfiction. There are short stories, there are essays, there are small sections of full length books, there are excerpts from plays, there are excerpts from letters and speeches. Some of the works have been published for decades, some were written specifically for this book. So now that I've read this book cover to cover, I feel it is more of an accomplishment than any book I've read thus far.
  
  I'm proud for having read this book, but more than that I'm so grateful this book exists. Never have I gotten the message so strongly, so clearly, that groups of people are not one thing. There is no universal experience for anyone, not black people, not women, not Asian folks, nobody. It's one thing to know that and understand why, and quite another to experience the rapid back to back of over 200 authors showing you how drastically different all of their identities, perspectives, and experiences are. In fact, one of the few things they do seem to have in common is that they have likely all faced race discrimination. Many of them have faced many other kinds of discrimination as well, and stereotyping galore. Many of them write about these instances, but many of them also write about many other things.
  
  There are odes to family members, to lands, to childhoods. There are poems about love, racism, compassion. There are memoirs. There are fantasies, dystopian stories, historical fiction. There is so much and it is beautiful.
  
  I found so many new authors whose pieces I fell in love with. I'm so excited to read their books and continue discovering new words. This is one of the reason books exist; to provide scope for the imagination, new information, and exposure to a multitude of experiences and perspectives that fall in line with and differ from one's own. Never have I read a book that delivers these experiences so wonderfully effortfully. It took me months, but I'm so glad to have read this.
• 
  Ada

  ***WHY DO I WANT TO READ THIS***
  I got sucked in by the title. The weird thing is I sorta realised I'm actually of African descent. Which is undeniable when I look in the mirror or at my family. I have no idea which part of it but still ... So I'm curious how other women see themselves or if they even think about it.
  
  It's probably really obvious I haven't read the blurb. And I don't want to. Let's be surprised
• 
  Angela

  Every female should have this book
  
  Absolutely love this book. It’s filled with so many short stories and poems all written by African American women. The cover is beautiful. The stories are compelling.
• 
  Chris Farmer

  A great collection of black women's poetry, fiction, prose, and essays from Africa, Europe, and North America. I have found many authors I already loved, and many others whom I will begin reading now. Excellent collection.
• 
  Paballo Khasi

  It's an exceptional book
• 
  Rama

  A great introduction to the work of many black women! A must read for anyone who wants to read more African literature
• 
  ಥ_ಥ

  I'm not sure what to say except it was an experience. Around 200 entries from different women. There are a lot of gems in this collection.
• 
  Tutankhamun18

  Great way to discover authors and wonderful words, stories and imagery.
• 
  Ms. Arca

  !!!! This anthology. Birthday wishlist ASAP.