Migration Letters, M. Nzadi Keita
Beacon Press
2 April 2024
M. Nzadi Keita’s poetry collection explores Black history and identity in working-class Philadelphia from the 1960s to the present. Preorder.
Besaydoo, Yalie Saweda Kamara
Milkweed Editions
9 January 2024
Chosen for the 2023 Jake Adam York Prize by Amaud Jamaul Johnson, Besaydoo is a gracefully crafted ode celebrating the concept of home – encompassing place, people, body, and language. Kamara takes on the role of a griot. Buy.
A Brief Ship Story and Other Poems, Tares Oburumu
Mmụta Books
26 March 2024
This poetry collection explores the historical cycle of black people, particularly in Nigeria, addressing the enduring impact of forces that contributed to slavery and colonialism.
Nonfiction
An African History of Africa: From the Dawn of Civilization to Independence, Zainab Badawi
Penguin Books
18 April 2024
Conducting interviews in over 30 African countries — with historians, anthropologists, archaeologists, and local storytellers — Badawi uncovers hidden narratives, providing a comprehensive view of Africa’s role in the global story. Preorder.
An Imperfect Storm, Chikwe Ihekweazu and Vivian Ihekweazu
Masobe Books
30 April 2024
This book explores the human impact of COVID-19. It emphasizes humanity, familial strength, hope, resilience, and collective efforts. Preorder.
Can Feminism be African?, Minna Salami
William Collins
13 February 2024
This provocative book utilizes social commentary and critique to highlight how the patriarchy and cultural norms suppress the feminist spirit. Preorder.
Be a Revolution, Ijeoma Oluo
HarperCollins
30 January 2024
From the bestselling author of So You Want to Talk About Race, an examination of education, media, labor, health, housing, policing, and endeavors for intersectional racial equity. Preorder.
Revolutionary Acts: Love & Brotherhood in Black Gay Britain, Jason Okundaye
Faber & Faber
7 March 2024
The stories of seven older gay Black British men, spanning decades. It chronicles their struggles, political battles, and joyful celebrations, highlighting their resilience during the AIDS epidemic. Preorder.
Brutalism, Achille Mbembe
Duke University Press.
9 January 2024
Mbembe draws parallels between the architectural style and our current global situation: Afro-diasporic thought provides a unique perspective to counteract the totalizing influence of capitalism by fostering solidarity, repairing societal fractures, and nurturing a new planetary consciousness. Buy.
The Rebel’s Clinic: The Revolutionary Lives of Frantz Fanon, Adam Shatz
18 January 2024
Bloomsbury
A searing biography of the short and harrowing life of Frantz Fanon, and a brilliant exploration of his ideas. Preorder.
Where We Come From, Aniefok Ekpoudom
Faber and Faber
18 January, 2024
A social history of British rap and grime by one of the nation’s foremost cultural chroniclers. Preorder.
Fiction
The Road to the Country, Chigozie Obioma
Random House
4 June 2024
A young man seeks redemption in a country on fire. Obioma’s novel is an odyssey of love and courage set during the Biafran War. Preorder.
Little Rot, Akwaeke Emezi
Penguin Publishing Group
18 June 2024
Aima and Kalu are a longtime couple who have just split. When Kalu visits an exclusive sex party hosted by his best friend, Ahmed, he makes a decision that will plunge them all into chaos. Ola and Souraya, two Nigerian sex workers visiting from Kuala Lumpur, collide into the scene. Sucked into the city’s corrupt and glittering underworld, they’re all looking for a way out. Preorder.
Pharmakon, Teju Cole:
Mack
2 February 2024
Bringing together a sequence of disquieting photographs with a dozen original short stories, this is another surprising new work from the singular mind of the Open Country Mag cover star. Preorder.
Children of Anguish and Anarchy, Tomi Adeyemi
Macmilan
25 June 2024
Following Zélie’s victory at the royal palace, she’s unexpectedly captured and taken far from her homeland on a ship by warriors, the Skulls. The true captor, King Baldyr, seeks to harness Zélie’s power, prompting her, Amari, and Tzain to seek allies in unfamiliar territories. Preorder
Dakini Atoll, Nikhil Singh
Luna Press
August 2024
A fast-paced, tech-driven, metaphysical Cyberpunk third novel from Singh, with gritty storytelling in a speculative setting that spans across Johannesburg, New York, London, and Saudi Arabia. Preorder.
Only Big Bumbum Matters Tomorrow, Damilare Kuku
Harper Collins
18 July 2024
Damilare Kuku, who topped the inaugural The Rovingheights Best Seller List: Presented with Open Country Mag, brings her signature humor, boldness, and compassion to each member of this loveable but exasperating family, whose lives reveal the ways in which a woman’s physical appearance can dictate her life. Preorder.
The Eternal Ones, Namina Forna
Random House
13 February 2024
In order to kill the gods, whose ravenous competition for power is bleeding Otera dry, Deka must uncover the source of her divinity. But with her mortal body on the verge of ruin, she is running out of time—to save herself and an empire that’s tearing itself apart at its seams. Preorder.
Penguin Books
22 February 2024
Banished to a Christian boarding school and utterly alienated from the people he loves, Obiefuna begins a journey of self-discovery and blossoming desire, while his mother Uzoamaka grapples to hold onto her favorite son, her truest friend. An elegant and moving story of love and loneliness. Preorder.
My Parents’ Marriage, Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond
Amistad
9 July 2024
Determined to avoid the pain and instability of her parents’ turbulent, confusing marriage, Kokui marries a man far different from her loving, philandering, self-made father — and tries to be a different kind of wife from her mother. Preorder.
Parasol Against the Axe, Helen Oyeyemi
Penguin Publishing Group
5 March 2024
Between Friends & Lovers, Shirlene Obuobi
Harper Collins
The Incredible Dreams of Garba Dakaskus, Umar Abubakar Sidi
Masobe Books
29 August 2024
A metaphysical murder mystery where the murder and the murderer cannot be ascertained or said to exist. The narrator’s journey is delicately interwoven with innumerable characters and stories from across time and place, on an existential search for the meaning of life. Preorder.
We Were Girls Once, Aiwanose Odafen
Simon and Schuster
25 April 2024
In the bustling world of a successful London lawyer named Ego, her achievements can’t overshadow the loneliness and sense of being an outsider. Seeking a connection to Nigeria, she immerses herself in a secret online life. Zina, aspiring to escape her true self, finds solace in acting at the expense of family ties. Meanwhile, Eriife transforms from a practicing doctor to a politician’s ideal wife. As Ego returns home, the lives of these three women intertwine amid Nigeria’s political turmoil. Preorder.
Pride and Joy, Louisa Onomé
Simon & Schuster
12 March 2024
Recently divorced, a life coach whose phone won’t stop ringing, and ever the dutiful Nigerian daughter, Joy has planned every aspect of her mother’s 70th birthday when her mother dies suddenly. Desperate to believe that they’re about to witness a miracle, the family overhauls their birthday plans to welcome the Nigerian Canadian community, effectively spreading the word that Mama Mary is coming back. But skeptical Joy is struggling with not allowing herself to mourn just yet. Preorder.
And So I Roar, Abi Daré
Penguin Publishing Group
5 August 2024
When Tia accidentally overhears a conversation between her mother—terminally ill and lying in a hospital bed in Port Harcourt, Nigeria—and her aunt, the repercussions will send her on a desperate quest to uncover a secret her mother has been hiding for nearly two decades. Preorder.
Lost Ark Dreaming, Suyi Davies Okungbowa
Tor Publishing Group
21 May 2024
Decades after the perilous rise of the Atlantic Ocean, survivors off the West African coast inhabit partially submerged towers, originally designed as a playground for the wealthy. Social hierarchy prevails with the affluent at the towering zenith and others confined to dark, submerged depths. Amidst this, three lives emerge: Yekini, a mid-level analyst; Tuoyo, a grieving undersea mechanic; and Ngozi, a self-centered bureaucrat. To forge a livable future for all, they must unite. Preorder.
Where Sleeping Girls Lie, Faridah Abike-Iyimide
Feiwel & Friends
19 March 2024
A young adult mystery about Sade Hussein, a new girl at the prestigious Alfred Noble Academy, who discovers dark secrets when her roommate disappears without a trace. Preorder.
Ghostroots, Pemi Aguda
WW Norton
7 May 2024
A 12-story collection that opens with a chilling tale in Lagos, exploring the eerie legacy of a woman resembling her malevolent grandmother. Set against a spectral cityscape, everyday events like childbirth and market visits carry an air of supernatural menace. Stories like “Breastmilk” and “24, Alhaji Williams Street” unfold with preternatural twists, while “The Hollow” introduces an architect stumbling upon a vengeful house. Aguda blends the ordinary with the supernatural. Preorder.
Water Baby, Chioma Okereke
Quercus
11 April 2024
In Makoko, the floating slum off mainland Lagos, 19-year-old Baby yearns for an existence where she can escape the future her father has planned for her. She joins a newly launched drone-mapping project. When a video of her at work goes viral and Baby finds herself with options she could never have imagined, will life beyond the lagoon be everything she’s dreamed of? Pre-order.
Broken: Not A Halal Love Story, Fatima Bala
Masobe Books
18 July 2024
Fa’iza Mohammed, raised to be an obedient daughter, experiences a life-altering shift when she goes to university in Canada. Ahmad Babangida, a rebellious first-born son of an ambassador, unexpectedly meets Fa’iza, triggering a powerful and indescribable connection. They strive to nurture their love within the confines of tradition. Preorder.
Like Water Like Sea, Olumide Popoola
Cassava Republic Press
28 May 2024
An immersive story of self-discovery, resilience, and the unifying power of love. It follows Nia, a queer, bi/pansexual naturopath in London, as her life unfolds across three pivotal moments, spanning from her 28th year to a life-altering realisation at the age of 50. At the heart of this gripping narrative lies Nia’s profound encounter with grief. Preorder.
Someone Like Us, Dinaw Mengestu
Hodder & Stoughton
30 July 2024
After abandoning his once-promising career as a journalist for a new life in Paris, Mamush meets Hannah — a photographer whose way of seeing the world shows him the possibility of finding not only love but family. Now, five years later, with his marriage to Hannah on the verge of collapse, he returns to the close-knit immigrant Ethiopian community of Washington, DC, that defined his childhood. At its center is Mamush’s stoic, implacable mother, and Samuel, the larger-than-life father figure whose ceaseless charm and humor have always served as a cover for a harder, more troubling truth. Preorder.
The Weavers of Alamaxa, Hadeer Elsbai
Harper Voyager
19 March 2024
Two incredible women are all that stands before an entire army. But they’ve fought against power before and won. This time, though, it’s no longer about rhetoric. This time it’s about magic and blood. Preorder.
These Letters End in Tears, Musih Tedji Xaviere
Catapult
12 March 2024
Set in Cameroon, a country where being gay is punishable by law, this is a heart-wrenching love story between a Christian girl with a rebellious heart and a Muslim girl leading a double life. Preorder.
Loss Is an Aftertaste of Memories, Michael Chiedoziem Chukwudera
Mmụta Books
26 March 2024
A coming-of-age novel following a young man as he reflects on childhood and adolescence: his dreams to play football, falling in love, heartbreaks, and grieving.
The Truth of Aleke, Moses Ose Utomi
Tordotcom
5 March 2024
17-year-old Osi is a Junior Peacekeeper in the City. When the mysterious leader of the Cult, known only as the Aleke, commits a massacre in the capitol and steals the sacred God’s Eyes, Osi steps forward to valiantly defend his home.
The Road to the Salt Sea, Samuel Kolawole
2 July 2024
Harper Collins
A story of family, fate, religion, survival, the failures of the Nigerian class system, and what often happens to those who seek their fortunes elsewhere. Preorder.
No Pink in a Rainbow, Angel Patricks Amegbe
Masobe Books
19 August 2024
A man in the Netherlands sends a message to a beautiful woman on Facebook. An unlikely connection grows between Jan, an engineer who lived alone in Geet, and Naomi, an only child who had been raised by her grandmother in Abuja — a unique love they believed could never be extinguished. Make enquiries here.
The Liquid Eye of A Moon, Uchenna Awoke
25 June 2024
Catapult
15-year-old Dimkpa dreams of a better life when his father’s village headship is denied. Determined to shape his destiny, he embarks on a journey to Lagos, and learns that money isn’t easily earned and that superstitions run deep. Preorder.
Masquerade, O. O Sangoyomi
Forge Books
2 July 2024
Set in a reimagined 15th century West Africa, an exploration of the true cost of one woman’s fight for freedom and self-discovery. Preorder.
Crooked Seeds, Karen Jennings
Penguin Random House
16 April 2024
In spare prose, Jennings weaves a singularly powerful novel about post-apartheid South Africa. It is an unforgettable, propulsive story of fractured families, collective guilt, the ways we become trapped in prisons of our own making, and how we can begin to break free. Preorder.
Someone Birthed Them Broken, Ama Asantewa Diaka
Harper Collins
2 April 2024
In this collection of short fiction, Diaka creates a portrait of young Ghanaians in friendship, passion, hope, and heartache. They include men like Opoku Sr., straining under the burden of caring for his eight younger siblings and the child whose mother ran off. When his new girlfriend tells him she’s pregnant, he knows he has nothing left to give. Preorder.
Born in a House of Glass, Chinenye Emezie
Dundurn Press
13 August 2024
Udonwa’s family is at war — a war of relationships, playing out under the tyranny of a monster dad. Her father, Reverend Leonard Ilechukwu, favors her but beats his wife and his other children. When her newly married eldest sister suddenly takes her from their family compound in Iruama to live with her in Awka, Udonwa experiences violence first-hand. Preorder.
Allow Me to Introduce Myself, Onyi Nwabineli
Graydon House
28 April 2024
Ever since she was a child, Anuri’s life was chronicled and monetized by her influencer stepmother. Now an adult, she’s finally broken free. But when her stepmother starts preying on her young half sister, Anuri decides she must stop the cycle of abuse. Preorder.
Bright Red Fruit, Safia Elhillo
Penguin Random House
6 February 2024
Samira is determined to have a perfect summer filled with fun parties, exploring DC, and growing as a poet — until a scandalous rumor has her grounded and unable to leave her house. When Samira turns to a poetry forum for solace, she catches the eye of an older, charismatic poet named Horus. For the first time, Samira feels wanted. But soon she’s keeping a bigger secret than ever before. Preorder. ♦
