The Ordeal of the African Writer

This book demonstrates how only a small number of African writers--like Chinua Achebe, Ben Okri, Nuruddin Farah, and Wole Soyinka--have become known outside of their own continent. It also details the enormous obstacles they face within Africa to get their work published, let alone to support themselves financially from their writing. Charles R. Larson combines writers' own testimony, pen portraits of their lives, and factual investigation to explore the full dimensions of this problem.

Charles R. Larson is Professor of Literature at The American University.

The Example of Amos Tutuola: Accidental Artist or Really Writer * Talking with Paper is Only the Beginning * African Writers and the Quest for Publication * African Publishers, African Publishing * The Horror, the Horror * Conclusion: The Crisis in African Writing
The Example of Amos Tutuola: Accidental Artist or Really Writer * Talking with Paper is Only the Beginning * African Writers and the Quest for Publication * African Publishers, African Publishing * The Horror, the Horror * Conclusion: The Crisis in African Writing