Africa

  • The past and the present side by side: a conversation with Peter Kimani

    I am contesting the validity of history as we know it, because what is recorded is never told from the perspective of the victim, it is always the victor.

  • From Afrikaans to English: on writing and translating 'The Alphabet of Birds'

    S J Naudé writes about the experience of translating your own short story collection

  • From Afrikaans to English: on writing and translating ‘The Alphabet of Birds’

    S J Naudé writes about the experience of translating your own short story collection

  • Rain and Bamboo

    Juan Tomas Avila Laurel writes from Equatorial Guinea about local literature and languages of faraway places

  • Yule love these books in translation 2014

    Roasting chestnuts on an open fire, taking the first whiff of mulled wine, and cracking open a great work of literature in translation: find your stocking-filler or winter-cheerer with these recommendations

  • To speak or not to speak, that is the question

    Boualem Sansal charts the history of Algeria and how it ties into the history of free expression in his country

  • A Golden Age for the African Short Story

    On 14 July 2014, Okwiri Oduor became the 15th winner of the Caine Prize for African Writing, for her short story ‘My Father’s Head’, making her the third Kenyan winner of the Prize

  • The translator as literary activist

    Jethro Soutar writes for PEN Atlas on the urgent case of Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel, the PEN-award-winning author whom he translates and is now trying to help protect, as Juan faces persecution from the regime in Equitorial Guinea

  • Publishers’ highlights in 2014: part 1

    This week PEN Atlas asks UK publishers about the translated books they are excited about publishing in 2014 – an intriguing list of books to look forward to this year, so clear your bookshelves! Publishers include Pushkin Press, Peirene, Doubleday, Istros Books and more…

  • Publishers' highlights in 2014: part 1

    This week PEN Atlas asks UK publishers about the translated books they are excited about publishing in 2014 – an intriguing list of books to look forward to this year, so clear your bookshelves! Publishers include Pushkin Press, Peirene, Doubleday, Istros Books and more…

  • The Achebe I Knew

    Ahead of the Africa Writes festival 2013 (5-7 July) PEN Atlas hears from African writer Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o on his friend and mentor Chinua Achebe.

  • Turning up the volume

    Yasmine El Rashidi, contributor to the PEN-award-winning title Writing Revolution: The Voices from Tunis to Damascus, tells PEN Atlas about growing up learning English: exile and community, being alienated and finding her voice

  • Stolen Eyes

    In advance of his UK tour this week, acclaimed writer and painter Mahi Binebine treats PEN Atlas readers to a short story

  • Translation, Revolution, and Pedagogy

    Following her appearance at the Literary Translation Centre for London Book Fair 2013, Samia Mehrez writes about working collaboratively on the book Translating Egypt’s Revolution: The Language of Tahrir, which uses multiple perspectives to translate the linguistic and cultural meanings of the momentous events in her country