A List of Books by Authors from Every African Country

Image by Uju Onyishi

At the beginning of 2020, I set myself a goal to read more books written by African authors. Researching books is part of the fun of being a bookworm, so with this reading goal in mind, I set out to compile a list of books written by African authors from every single African country.

This is by no means a comprehensive list. I just wanted to share some novels by African authors to hopefully inspire you to choose something from this list and give it a try.

Note that a country with no book listed does not mean that there are no authors from that country. Instead, it means that I could not find any novel written in or translated into English (compiling this list really made me wish I could speak French). Also, I have not included poems or plays on this list, so that also contributes to some countries having no books listed.

I have only included one novel by any particular author. Therefore, this list could be expanded significantly by digging deep into the collective work of a particular author.

I hope this is a useful resource for you. And let’s continue to diversify out bookshelves.

Central Africa

Angola

1. Rainy Season by José Eduardo Agualusa (translated by Daniedl Hahn)

2. Blue Dahlia, Black Gold by Daniel Metcalfe

3. The Return of the Water Spirit by Pepetela (translated by Luís R Mitras)

4. Good Morning Comrades by Ondjaki (translated by Stephen Henighan)

Cameroon

1. Mission to Kala by Beti Mongo (translated by Peter Green)

2. Houseboy by Oyono Ferdinand (translated by John Reed)

3. Dark Heart of the Night by Léonora Miano (translated by Tamsin Black)

4. Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue

Central African Republic

*

Chad

1. Told by Starlight in Chad by Joseph Brahim Seid (translated by Karen Haire Hoeing)

Republic of the Congo

1. Broken Glass by Alain Mabanckou (translated by Helen Stevenson)

2. Johnny Mad Dog by Emmanuel Boundzéki Dongala

Democratic Republic of the Congo

1. Before the Birth of the Moon by Valentin Y Mudimbe

2. Tram 83 by Fiston Mwanza Mujila (translated by Roland Glasser)

3. Life and a Half by Sony Labou Tansi (translated by Alison Dundy)

Equatorial Guinea

1. The Gurugu Pledge by Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel

Gabon

*

Sao Tome and Principe

*

East Africa

Burundi

1. Baho! By Roland Rugero (translated by Christopher Schaefer)

Comoros

*

Djibouti

1. In the United States of Africa by Abdourahman A. Waberi (translated by David Ball and Nicole Ball)

Eritrea

1. My Fathers’ Daughter by Hannah Pool

Ethiopia

1. The Afersata by Sahle Sellassie

2. The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears by Dinaw Mengestu

3. The Shadow King by Maaza Mengiste

Kenya

1. Petals of Blood by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o

2. Dust by Yvonne Adhiamb Owuor

3. Nairobi Heat by Mũkoma wa Ngũgĩ

4. The Last Villains of Molo by Kinyanjui Kombani

5. One Day I will Write About This Place by Binyavanga Wainaina

Madagascar

1. Return to the Enchanted Island by Johary Ravaloson (Translated by Allison M. Charette)

Malawi

1. No Easy Task by Kachingwe Aubrey

2. The Boy Who Harnessed Wind by Willaim Kamkwamba

3. I Will Try by Legson Kayira

Mauritius

1. Tropic of Violence by Nathacha Appanah (Transated by Geoffrey Strachan)

2. Eve Out of Her Ruins by Ananda Devi (translated by Jeffery Zuckerman)

Mozambique

1. Sleepwalking Land by Mia Couto (translated by David Brookshaw)

2. Dumba Nengue, Run for Your Life: Peasant Tales of Tragedy in Mozambique by Linda Magaia

Rwanda

1. Our Lady of the Nile by Scholastique Mukasonga

2. The Girl Who Smiled Beads by Clemantine Wamariya

3. Small Country by Gaël Faye (translated by Sarah Ardizzone)

Seychelles

*

Somalia

1. From a Crooked Rib by Nuruddin Farah

2. Infidel: My Life by Ayaan Hirsi Ali

3. Desert Flower by Waris Dirie (with Cathleen Miller)

Sudan

1. Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih

2. Lyric Alley by Leila Aboulela

3. Travelling with Djinns by Jamal Mahjoub

4. The Golden Scales by Parker Bilal (pen name of Jamal Mahjoub)

5. Tears of the Desert Halima Bashir

South Sudan

1. War Child: A Child Soldier’s Story by Emmanuel Jal

Tanzania

1. Gravel heart by Abdulrazak Gurnah

2. Parched Earth by Elieshi Lema

Uganda

1. Kintu by Jennifer Nansubuga

2. Tropical Fish: Tales from Entebbe by Doreen Baingana

3. The Invisible Weevil by Mary Karooro Okurut

4. Abyssinian Chronicles by Moss Isegawa

Zambia

1. A Cowrie of Hope by Binwell Sinyagwe

2. The Old Drift by Namwali Serpell

3. Patchwork by Ellen Banda-Aaku

4. A Hand to Hold by Mali Kambandu

Zimbabwe

1. The Theory of Flight by Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu

2. The Gold Diggers by Sue Nyathi

3. Nervous Conditions Tsitsi Dangarembga

4. The Book of Memory by Petina Gappah

5. The Maestro, The Magistrate and The Mathematician by Tendai Huchu

North Africa

Algeria

1. In the Name of God by Yasmina Khadra (translated by Linda Black)

2. Nedjma by Keteb Yacine (translated by Richard Howard)

3. Far from Medina by Assia Djebar (translated by Dorothy S. Blair)

4. What the Day Owes the Night by Yasmina Khadra (translated by Frank Wynne)

Egypt

1. Women at Point Zero by Nawal El Saadawi (translated by Sherif Hetata)

2. Utopia by Ahmed Khaled Towfik (translated by Chip Rossetti)

3. The Open Door by Latifa al-Zayyat (translated by Marilyn Booth)

4. The Queue by Basma Abdel Aziz

Libya

1. Gold Dust by Ibrahim Al-Koni (translated by Elliott Colla)

2. In the Country of Men by Hisham Matar

Morocco

1. My Tormenter by Bensalem Himmich

2. The Game of Forgetting by Mohammed Berrada (translated by Issa J. Boullata)

3. Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits by Laila Lalami

4. The Happy Marriage by Tahar Ben Jelloun (translated by André Naffis-Sahely)

5. Whitefly by Abdelilah Hamdouchi (translated by Jonathan Smolin)

Tunisia

1. The Scents of Marie-Claire by Habib Selmi

2. The Pillar of Salt by Albert Memmi (translated by Edouard Roditi)

Western Sahara

*

South Africa

Botswana

1. A Question of Power by Bessie Head

Eswatini

1. Weeding the Flower Beds by Sarah Mkhonza

Lesotho

1. Chaka by Thomos Mofolo

Namibia

1. The Purple Violet of Oshaantu by Neshani Andreas

2. Undisciplined Heart by Jane Katjavivi

South Africa

1. Born A Crime by Trevor Noah

2. If you want to make God laugh by Bianca Marais

3. Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee

4. Mine Boy by Peter Abrahams

5. The Intruder by Mohale Mashigo

6. Rachel’s Blue by Zakes Mda

West Africa

Benin

1. Snares Without End by Olympe Bhely-Quenum (translated by Dorothy S. Blair)

Burkina Faso

*

Cape Verde

1. The Last Will & Testament of Senhor da Silva Araújo by Germano Almeida (translated by Sheila Faria Glaser)

Ivory Coast

1. The Blind Kingdom by Véronique Tadjo (translated by Janis Mayes)

2. Allah is Not Obliged by Ahmadou Kourouma (translated by Frank Wynne)

Gambia

1. The Second Round by Lenrie Peter

2. Alhaji by Ebou Dibba

3. The Sun Will Soon Shine by Sally Singhateh

Ghana

1. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

2. Ghana Must Go by Taiye Selasi

3. The Housemaid by Amma Darko

4. The Beautiful Ones Are Not Yet Born by Ayi Kwei Armah

Guinea

1. The Dark Child by Camara Laye (translated by Ernest Jones and James Kirkup)

2. Wirriyamu by Williams Sassine (translated by Clive Wake and John K. Reed)

Guinea-Bissau

*

Liberia

1. The House on Sugar Beach by Helene Cooper

2. She Would be King by Wayetu Moore

3. Djinn by Sang Kromah

4. Boy Interrupted by Saah Millimono

5. The Lazarus Effect by H. J. Golakai

Mali

1. Bound to Violence by Yambo Ouologuem (translated by Ralph Manheim)

Mauritania

1. Guatánamo Diary by Mohamedo Ould Slahi

Niger

*

Nigeria

1. There Was A Country by Chinuae Achebe

2. Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

3. The Joys of Motherhood by Buchi Emecheta

4. Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo

5. Under the Udala Tree by Chinelo Okparanta

6. Be(com)ing Nigerian by Elnathan John

7. Efuru by Flora Nwapa

8. And After Many Days by Jowhor Ile

Senegal

1. So Long A Letter by Mariama Bâ (translated by Modupe Bode-Thomas)

2. God’s Bits of Wood by Ousmane Sembène (translated by Francis Price)

3. The Belly of the Atlantic by Fatou Diome (translated by Lulu Norman and Ros Schwartz)

4. Ambiguous Adventure by Cheikh Hamidou Kane (translated by Katherine Woods)

Sierra Leone

1. A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah

2. The Last Harmattan of Alusine Dunbar by Syl Cheney-Coker

Togo

1. An African in Greenland by Tété-Michel Kpomassie (translated by James Kirkup)

2. Do They Hear You When You Cry? By Fauziya Kassindja

Is there any novel in the list you hope to read? Let me know!