Join us as we celebrate the publication of New Daughters of Africa, a major new anthology of writing by women of African descent, with a discussion between chef and writer Zoe Adjonyoh, award-winning author Patrice Lawrence, writer and activist Zita Holbourne, and poet and storyteller Jane Grell. Chairing the discussion will be the anthology's editor, Margaret Busby OBE.
Twenty-five years ago, Margaret Busby’s groundbreaking anthology Daughters of Africa illuminated the ‘silent, forgotten, underrated voices of black women’ (The Washington Post). Published to international acclaim, it was hailed as ‘an extraordinary body of achievement… a vital document of lost history’ (The Sunday Times).
New Daughters of Africa continues that mission for a new generation, bringing together a selection of overlooked artists of the past with fresh and vibrant voices that have emerged from across the globe in the past two decades, from Antigua to Zimbabwe and Angola to the USA. Key figures join popular contemporaries in paying tribute to the heritage that unites them. Each of the pieces in this remarkable collection demonstrates an uplifting sense of sisterhood, honours the strong links that endure from generation to generation, and addresses the common obstacles women writers of colour face as they negotiate issues of race, gender and class, and confront vital matters of independence, freedom and oppression.
Custom, tradition, friendships, sisterhood, romance, sexuality, intersectional feminism, the politics of gender, race, and identity—all and more are explored in this glorious collection of work from over 200 writers. New Daughters of Africa spans a wealth of genres—autobiography, memoir, oral history, letters, diaries, short stories, novels, poetry, drama, humour, politics, journalism, essays and speeches—to demonstrate the diversity and remarkable literary achievements of black women who remain under-represented, and whose works continue to be under-rated, in world culture today.
Featuring women across the diaspora, New Daughters of Africa illuminates the richness and cultural history of this original continent and its enduring influence, while reflecting our own lives and issues today. Bold and insightful, brilliant in its intimacy and universality, this essential volume honours the talents of African daughters and the inspiring legacy that connects them—and all of us.
Zoe Adjonyoh is a chef, writer, and founder of Hackney-based pop-up Zoe's Ghanaian Kitchen. Her food has been widely celebrated following kitchen residencies across London as well as in Berlin and New York, in 2017 she published her debut book of Ghanaian recipes via Mitchell Beazley, and in 2018 she won the Culinary Iconoclast Award.
Patrice Lawrence is an award-winning writer, whose debut YA novel, Orangeboy, won the Bookseller YA Prize and the Waterstones Prize for Older Children's Fiction, and was shortlisted for the Costa Children's Book Award and many regional awards. Her second book, Indigo Donut, was shortlisted for the Bookseller YA Prize, was Book of the Week in The Times, The Sunday Times and The Observer, and was one of The Times' top children's books in 2017.
Zita Holbourne is a writer, artist, and award-winning trade union, community and human rights campaigner and activist. She is the founder of the Roots, Culture and Identity arts collective which showcases the art of predominantly young black, Asian and migrant artists. She is also the Co-Founder and National Co-Chair of Black Activists Rising Against Cuts (BARAC).
Jane Grell is a poet and storyteller born in Delices, Dominica. She has worked extensively as both a teacher and professional storyteller to promote bilingual literacy through oral storytelling, and is also the author of several collections of poetry for children and adults.
Margaret Busby OBE is an award-winning writer, editor, critic, consultant, and broadcaster, who was also the UK's youngest and first black woman publisher when she co-founded Allison & Busby. In 1992 she compiled the groundbreaking anthology Daughters of Africa.
