ILLUSTRATION BY CLIFFORD HARPER

The Granta Book of the African Short Story edited by Helon Habila – review

A landmark collection that celebrates a strong decade of African writing

Bernardine Evaristo
Thu 10 Nov 2011 09.00 GMT

The 29 writers in this anthology are drawn from 20 African countries, with a preference for newer, younger, contemporary voices over earlier generations. In his insightful introduction, editor and acclaimed novelist Helon Habila rightfully bemoans the way commentators talk about African literature as if it began and ended with Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart, published in 1958. He's got a point, but until 2000, when the Caine prize for African writing was initiated, the situation was indeed dire – domestic publishing industries were almost extinct and with few exceptions, such as Ben Okri, there was little international interest in African writers. India was cool. Africa wasn't.