Talking With African Writers

Fifteen writors Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa and Zimbabwe talk about their own work and about writing in general. Literary institutions, language policies, the development of written and oral culture, the social and political problems of post-colonial Africa are among the subjects discussed in these lively interviews. Childlhood memories provide enrichment. Equally revealing are the accounts ot the formal and linguistic strategies adopted by the author or of their relationships with other literatures and cultures. Editing has been kept to a minimum so as to reflect the authors individuel styles and to maintain the flavour of the original conversations. The writers " talking " is often about the need to recover the direct and dynamic qualifies of oral communication. The interviews reflect the subtle balance the genre itself imposes between monologue and dialogue, between orality and writing, and between critical essay and autobiographical statement. Each interview has a brief biographical introduction and selected bibliography of the author's work.