A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - Q - R - S - T - U - V - W - X - Y - Z

 

 

A

 

• Abbott, Jack Henri

  : (1944-2002) Abbott spent most of his life in prison - and died in solitary confinement. His letters from prison to the writer Norman Mailer are collected under the title In the belly of the beast.

• Abdourahman, Waberi

  : Djiboutian poet and writer based in France and the US. He has published numerous short story and poem collections. His most recent book is Les Etats Unis D’Afrique (The United States of Africa).

• Achmat, Zackie

  : Filmmaker and leading AIDS activist in South Africa. He is also chairperson of TAC.

• Ackermann, Kurt

  :

  A travel writer based in Cape Town, Ackermann is a regular contributor to Mind Shift magazine. His recent short story, ‘(The Theme From) Love Story,’ was runner-up for the 2008 Fish One-Page Prize, and was included in the 2008 anthology, Harlem River Blues. 

• Adesanmi, Pius

  : Critic and associate prof of english at Carleton University in Ottawa

• Adesokan, Akin

  : Journalist, critic, columnist and award winning author of Roots in the Sky and Sea of Forgetting. He's also an editor of Glendora Review, a literary journal in Lagos.

• Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi

  : Nigerian writer and the author of the acclaimed Purple Hibiscus. She won the Orange Prize for her latest novel, Half of a Yellow Sun.

• Agualusa, Jose Eduardo

  : Angolan novelist and filmmaker. He is the author of eight novels, including Creole, and most recently, The Man Who Sold the Past. He is currently developing a novel and a film script entitled My Father's Wives. He lives in Rio de Janeiro, Luanda and Lisbon.

• Akinbiyi, Akinbode

  : British-born Nigerian photographer. His current work focuses on four major African megalopolises: Cairo, Lagos, Kinshasa, Johannesburg. Akinbiyi curated Urban re:Views, a show featuring works by the Depth of Field collective.

• Akomfrah, John

  : Filmmaker, theorist and co-founder of the Black Audio Film Collective. Lives and works in London.

• Alagbé, Yvan

  : Graphic novelist and publisher. Authored Negres Jaunes (Yellow Negroes), Personne ne connaît mon nom (Nobody Knows My Name) and most recently Qui a connu le feu (Who Has Known Fire), which features illustrations by Olivier Dramanti. He is also the co-founder of the Paris-based Fremok, one of Europe's leading publishers of art comics.

• Alegi, Peter

  : Historian, and the author of Laduma! Soccer, Politics and Society in South Africa. He is one of the few (millions) who celebrated Italy's win at the last World Cup.

• Anderson, Ho Che

  : Named after the Vietnamese and Cuban revolutionaries Ho Chi Minh and Che Guevara, Anderson is a jack of all trades, having worked as a commercial illustrator, writer of fiction, radio producer, and newspaper reporter. And like many before him, he has designs on going to Hollywood and becoming a waiter before making it big in the movies. Anderson is primarily known for inflicting the world with the comic books, King – an acclaimed biography of MLK, I Want To Be Your Dog, Wise Son, and most recently, Scream Queen.

• Araeen, Rasheed

  :

  An artist, writer and the founder of both Third Text (London) and Third Text Asia (Karachi). As an artist, he began his journey in 1953 and continued to pursue art while studying civil engineering in Karachi. After doing some important works in Karachi, seminal to his later pursuits, he left for London in 1964 and has since lived there. In 1965, he pioneered minimalist sculpture – representing perhaps the only Minimalism in Britain. After having been active in various groups supporting liberation struggles, democracy and human rights, he began to write in 1975, and started publishing his own art journals: Black Phoenix (1978), Third Text (1987) and Third Text Asia (2008). He has curated two important exhibitions: ‘The Essential Black Art’ (1987), ‘The Other Story’ (1989); and is a recipient of three honorary doctorates from universities of Southampton, East London and Wolverhampton. He is now directing a project that will revise and produce the most comprehensive and inclusive history of art in postwar Britain.

• Arendse, Graeme aka Ramgee

  : Progressed from telephone pad doodles to the page six years ago. He has since illustrated for Big Issue, Alternatives, Nose Week and other scoundrels. Currently studies animation and designs for Chimurenga. 

• Atta, Sefi

  : Writer whose short stories have won prizes from Zoetrope and Red Hen Press.  Her debut novel, Everything Good Will Come, won the inaugural Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature. 

 

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B

 

• Baderoon, Gabeba

  : Poet and the author of The Dream in the Next Body and A Hundred Silences. She received the DaimlerChrysler Award for South African Poetry 2005. The Museum of Ordinary Life, her short collection of poems and creative non-fiction, was also published in 2005.

• Baingana, Doreen

  : Writer and two time finalist of the Caine Prize. She's the suthor of Tropical Fish, a collection of short stories "from Entebbe". She's also a columnist for the Ugandan magazine African Woman

• Balkisson, Juanita

  : Teacher and a writer based in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa.

• Baraka, Amiri

  : Iconic poet, revolutionary playwright, and outspoken activist, Amiri Baraka has authored over 40 books of essays, poems, drama, and music history. He is regarded as the father of the Black Arts Movement. 

• Barlet, Oliver

  : Film critic and Editor of the cultural journal Africultures.

• Barreiros, Joao

  : Portugual's leading sc-fi writer. Lives in Lisbon.

• Bartlett, Richard

  : Critic, translator, editor and founder of The Africa Review of Books.

• Basquiat, Jean-Michel

  : (1960–88) Initially gained notoriety as a graffiti poet and musician. By 1981, at the age of twenty, he had turned from spraying graffiti on the walls of buildings in Lower Manhattan to selling paintings in SoHo galleries, rapidly becoming one of the most accomplished artists of his generation. Astute collectors began buying his art, and his gallery shows sold out. Critics noted the originality of his work, its emotional depth, unique iconography, and formal strengths in color, composition, and drawing. By 1985, he was featured on the cover of The New York Times Magazine as the epitome of the hot, young artist in a booming market. Tragically, Basquiat died of a drug overdose when he was just twenty-seven years old.

• Bayat, Asef

  : Iranian scholar, taught sociology and Middle Eastern studies at American University in Cairo. Currently academic director of the International Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World (ISIM)

• Bekolo, Jean-Pierre Obama

  : Cameroonian filmmaker and theorist. His films include Les Saignantes and Quartier Mozart. Lives in Paris

• Bell, Hugh

  : Photographer who has been published in the Museum of Modern Art Exhibition catalogue The Family of Man, Jazz Giants and frequently Esquire. He has exhibited at Atmosphere Gallery and Cinque Gallery in SoHo. He is also a fashion and commercial photographer.

• Belvett, Naila

  : (nah-ee-lah) Toronto-based poet and playwright.  She appears on two independent CDs: When the love is not enough by Debbie Young and Wordlife: tales of the underground griot, produced by Anthony Bansfield.

• Benfodil, Mustapha

  : Journalist and novelist. He was voted best Algerian writer by his peers in 2004. His latest book is Les Bavardages du Seul.

• Benjamin, Mario

  : Haitian artist, lives and works in Port au Prince.

• Berold, Robert

  : Author of 3 books of poetry, the latest being Rain Across a Paper Field; editor of the critically acclaimed anthology: It All Begins: Poems From Postliberation South Africa and founder of Deep South Publishing.

• Biwa , Memory

  :

  A historian researching the genocide in Namibia during German colonisation and the aftermath in southern Namibia and the Northern Cape and a member of a Cape Town based organisation working on making Khoekhoegowab, one of the first languages spoken at the Cape into an official language of the country.
  

• Bolaño, Roberto

  : Chilean novelist and poet. In 1999 he won the Rómulo Gallegos Prize for his novel Los Detectives Salvajes (The Savage Detectives), and in 2008 he was posthumously awarded the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction for his novel 2666, considered as the first literary masterpiece of the 21th century.  

• Boni, Tanella Suzanne

  : Poet and philosopher from Cote d'Ivoire. Her publications include Une Vie de crabe (A Crab's Life), Labyrinthe (Labyrinth) and Ma peau est fenêtre d'avenir (My skin is a window on tomorrow).

• Boswall, Karen

  : Maputo-based filmmaker, cultural journalist and musician. Her most recent film is titled Marrabentando, and she's currently at work on a film on Cape Town band Freshly Ground. She is developing the film script My Father's Wives with Jose Eduardo Agualusa.

• Breakey, Basil

  : Photographer, best known for his photographs as published in Beyond The Blues - Township Jazz in the '60's and '70's. Four decades later, this veteran existing-light junkie turns his lens to a younger generation on stage in Cape Town, and recaptures some of his older subjects.

• Brewster, Sandra

  : Jamaican/Canadian artist. When You Kill Us, We Rule is her first stab at comics. She lives and works in Toronto.

• Bryant, Jennifer

  : Writer and editorial intern at Chimurenga Magazine.
  
  

• Bryce, Jane

  : Professor of African literature, cinema, and creative writing at the University of the West Indies in Barbados. 

• Burger, Francis

  : Artist currently completing an MFA at the University of Cape Town. Her work includes drawings, found objects, and sculptures. 

• Bylex, Pume

  : Painter based in Kinshasa

 

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C

 

• Casati, Roberto

  : Tenured senior researcher with the French Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS). Casati has studied both philosophy and graphic design and both disciplines influence his work. 

• Cherinet, Loulou Mirjam

  : Painter, photographer and video artist based in Stockholm and Addis Ababa. Her work has been featured in many international shows, including Africa Remix, Imagining the Book II Biennale (Alexandria), and the Sao Paulo Biennale.

• Chou, Isoje

  : Works in painting, drawing, sculpture, installation, performance and writing and at times uses found objects and literary or creative fiction in her work. Her work derives from the domestic, social, cultural, religious and political and how these challenge the individual's struggle with place and identity. 

• Choudhury, Banamallika Mamu

  : Johannesburg-based writer.

• Christie, Renfrew

  :

  Writer and professor at the University of the Western Cape.  Professor Christie chaired the Board of Directors of the Cape Town anti-apartheid struggle newspaper, South.   

• Chude-Sokei, Louis

  : A Jamaican writer artist, and historian of reggae and dub. His book The Incomprehensible Rain of Stars: Black Modernism, Black Diaspora is forthcoming.
  

• Cobbing, Julian

  : Historian based at Rhodes University in Grahamstown, and formely a photojournalist and member of Afrapix.

• Cole, Teju

  : Has worked as cartoonist, dishwasher, lecturer, gardener and haematology researcher. He also writes and makes photographs. His last book, on Lagos, is titled Every Day is for the Thief.

• Coleman, Steve

  : Alto-saxophonist, composer, producer and writer. Coleman has performed with such legends as Dizzy Gillespie, Abbey Lincoln, Branford Marsalis, and McCoy Tyner.  He is a founding member of M-Base Collective, a creative music movement. 

• Croc-e-moses

  : Cape Town based poet.

• Cronin, Jeremy

  : South African politician, academic and noted poet. He is the author of Even the Dead, and most recently More than Casual Contact.

 

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D

 

• D-form

  : DJ (Forgotten Frquencies), musician and producer (Moodphase5, Tykoon s.).

• Dadié, Bernard

  : Novelist and poet based in Abidjan. Author of Climbie.

• Damas, Leon Gontran

  : (1912-78) Guyanese poet who has published three collections of poems: Graffiti, Black Label and Neuralgias; and one of the founders the negritude movement.

• Daniel, Trenton

  : Staff writer for The Miami Herald.  He joined The Herald in 2003 after completing his fellowship at the International Reporting Project. Previously, Daniel covered Haiti as a Reuters stringer and Haitian Times staff writer. He began his journalism career as an editorial intern at The Nation.

• Darton, Eric

  : Writer and editor based in New York City

• Dasgupta, Rana

  : Writer and photographer, and the author of the acclaimed novel Tokyo Cancelled. He lives in Delhi.

• Davids, Nadia

  : Writer and playwright who wrote At her feet is an A.W. Mellon Fellow and is currently completing her PhD in Drama at the University of Cape Town.  She has written four plays.

• Depth of Field

  : A collective of Nigerian photographers: Uchechukwu James Iroh, Emeka Okerere, Amaize Ojeikere. They are based in Lagos.

• Derrick, Tracey

  : Freelance photographer based in Cape Town who focuses on social documentary and works mainly in black and white.  Her work is part of the Africa Remix exhibition, curated by Simon Njami.

• Desai, Rehad

  : Filmmaker and a co-founder of the Tri-continent Film Festival.

• Dieck, Martin Tom

  : Dieck studied illustration at the Fachhochschule für Gestaltung in Hamburg, where he still lives and works as a comic artist and illustrator. He made his first comics in Boxer, Strapazin and Jimmy Draht. He is the author of Der Unschuldige Passagier (The Innocent Passenger), and with writer Jens Blazer, Salut Deleuze!, and its sequel Les nouvelles aventures de l'incroyable Orphée (The Return of Deleuze). His latest book is Vortex, a wordless tribute to Hamburg.

• Dikeni, Sandile

  : One of the foremost social commentators in South Africa and a true all-arounder: accomplished poet, journalist, radio producer, activist, performer and communicator. He has published three collections of poems, including Telegraph to the Sky and Guava Juice.  He lives in Cape Town.

• Diop, Boubacar Boris

  : Senegalese writer whose most recent work, Murambi, le livre des ossements (Murambi: The Book of Remains), describes a notorious massacre during the Rwandan genocide of 1994. He is also the founder of Sol, the first independent newspaper in Senegal, and the author of several novels, including in the Senegalese language of Wolof.

• Dlamini, Sazi

  : South African ethnomusicologist, jazz musician and composer.  

• Dongala, Emmnuel

  : Congolese novelist and chemist, based at Simon's Rock College of Bard. Author of Johnny Mad Dog.

• dos Santos, Kiluanji Kia Henda Brito

  : An artist based in Luanda

• Dosunmu, Andrew

  : Nigerian fashion photographer and award winning filmmaker; based in New York.

• du Blanc, Blank

  : (pen name) is a writer and journalist, and occasionally a character is Zadie Smith's novels. He covers the DRC for his employer.

• Dutton, Denis

  : A philosopher, Dutton is founder and editor of Arts & Letters Daily (www.aldaily.com). He teaches the philosophy of art at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, and writes widely on aesthetics. He is editor of the journal Philosophy and Literature and the author of the recently published The Art Instinct: Beauty, Pleasure and Human Evolution.

• Dyani, Johnny Mbizo

  : Prolific South African jazz bassist and composer who performed with the Blue Notes and Abdullah Ibrahim among others. His seminal recordings include Song for Biko and Angolian Cry. 

 

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E

 

• Edjabe, Ntone

  : DJ, critic, founder and editor of Chimurenga. Member of the Heliocentrics scheming duo and co-curator of Pan African Space Station.

• Edwards, Brent Hayes

  : Assistant Professor, English Department, Rutgers University. His book, The Practice of Diaspora: Literature, Translation, and the Rise of Black Internationalism is a comparative study of the relationships between writers, artists and intellectuals associated with the Harlem Renaissance in the United States and their African and Caribbean counterparts in Paris.

• Esteva, Gustavo

  : Activist and de-professionalized intellectual based in San Pablo Guelatao. He works independently and in conjunction with Mexican, Latin American and international grassroots organisations and networks. His recent books include Grassroots Postmodernism and Escaping Education (both co-authored with M.S. Prakash).

• Evaristo, Conceicao

  : Writer living in Rio de Janeiro. She's the author of Poncia Vincencio, a novel, and has published short stories and poems.

 

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F

 

• Farred, Grant

  : A lifelong fan of Liverpool Football Club, Farred is the author of What's My Name? Black Vernacular Intellectuals and Midfielder's Moment: Coloured Literature and Culture in Contemporary South Africa. He is currently at work on a football book titled Long Distance Love: A Passion for Football.

• Faull, Jonathan

  : Political scientist based at Idasa in Cape Town.

• Fignole, Jean Claude

  : Haitian writer and journalist. Published Had full moon, Quiet paddle and The last drop of man.

• Frank Talk Writers

  : An underground collective of BC activists and contributors of the journal Frank Talk in the 80s.

• Fraser, Robert

  : Critic and historian of ideas. He lectures at the Open University.

• Frei, Luca

  : Multimedia artist based in Sweden

• Freitas, Oscar Memba

  : Pioneering Congolese photographer, and Franco's OK Jazz official image-maker, anthologized by Revue Noire.

• French, Howard

  : Currently senior writer for the New York Times. After teaching at the University of Ivory Coast in the early 1980s, he began his journalism career writing about Africa for the Washington Post, Africa News, The Economist and numerous other publications. Since 1986, he has reported for the Times from Central America, the Caribbean, West and Central Africa, Japan, Korea and now China. In 1997, his coverage of the fall of Mobuto Sese Seko won the Overseas Press Club of America's award for best newspaper interpretation of foreign affairs. French was born in Washington, D.C., and now lives in Shanghai.

• Friese, Kai

  :

  New Delhi based journalist and editor

• Fusco, Coco

  : Cuban-American artist and writer whose work examines the relationship between women and society, war, politics, and race. Her book A Field Guide for Female Interrogators examines the role of women in the war on terror. 

 

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G

 

• Gama, Victor

  : Angolan composer, theorist and performer. And the founder of Pangeia Instrumentos. Lives in Luanda and Lisbon.

• Garland, Muthoni

  : Storyteller from Kenya who lives in Cairo.  Garland is working on her first novel.  She writes stories to engage and entertain children and adults.

• Geoff Dyer

  : A writer and a critic, his latest book is The Ongoing Moment, on photography.

• Ghosh, Amitav

  :

  One of India’s best-known writers, Ghosh's books include The Circle of Reason, In An Antique Land, The Calcutta Chromosome, The Glass Palace, Incendiary Circumstances, and The Hungry Tide. His most recent novel, Sea of Poppies, is the first volume of the Ibis Trilogy.

• Goldblatt, Cullen

  : Goldblatt lives, writes and translates in New York. Many writers, in particular, African poets Leon Gontran Damas and Patrice Nganang, motivate him. He has translated poems by both. Previously, Cullen lived and studied in Dakar, and hopes to return.

• Gordon, Steve

  : Music producer based in Cape Town, and a founder of the collective Making Music.

• Gqola, Pumla Dineo

  : Feminist writer whose short stories have been published in anthologies of (South) African writing, and most recently in Tyhume, Gowanus and Postcolonial Text.

• Gueye, Babacar

  : Cultural journalist based in Dakar, and historian of Senegalese hip hop.

• Gunst, Laurie

  : Author of Born Fi Dead, and most recently Off White, a memoir.

 

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H

 

• Hallet, George

  : Cape Town-based photographer, known for documenting the SA jazz scene in exile during the 70s and 80s. Also produced cover images for the African Writers Series.

• Hardy, Stacy

  : Writer, playwright and critic based in Cape Town. Also a contributing editor and researcher of Chimurenga. Currently at work on an opera based on Tutuola's My Life in the bush of ghosts

• Head, Bessie

  : (1937-86) One of South Africa's most prominent writers, authored, among others, When Rain Clouds Gather, Maru, and A Question of Power.

• Hecht , Gabrielle

  :

  Hecht teaches history at the University of Michigan. Her first book, The Radiance of France: Nuclear Power and National Identity after World War II (1998), won awards from the American Historical Association and the Society for the History of Technology. Her current book project, entitled Uranium from Africa and the Power of Nuclear Things, focuses on Gabon, Madagascar, South Africa, Namibia, and Niger, and examines uranium extraction in these places and the flow of uranium from these places.

• Hendricks, Barkley

  : Painter and portraitist.

• Herbstein, Manu

  : Born and educated in apartheid South Africa, Herbstein has lived and worked in England, Nigeria, India, Zambia and Scotland. Since 1970 he has made his home in Accra. By profession a Civil and Structural Engineer, he has contributed to the design and construction of power stations, bridges, water supply and sewage treatment plants, river works, highways and buildings. He is a Fellow of the British Institution of Structural Engineers and a Fellow of the Ghana Institution of Engineers. He is the author of Ama, a Story of the Atlantic Slave Trade, which won the 2002 Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best First Book.

• Hofmeyr, Isabel

  : Professor and researcher in the Department of African Literature at the University of the Witwatersrand.  She is interested in how stories travel and what happens to them when they circulate. She participated in a series of public train lectures on the busy route between Park Station and Soweto in Jozi.  

• Horwitz, Allan Kolski

  : Lives in Johannesburg where he makes art, politics and hedonism function without creating mind/body overload. He's a founding member of the Botsotso Jesters, a poetry collective, and the editor of Botsotso, a literary journal.

• Hudson, Peter James

  : Editor of "North: New African Canadian Writing", a special issue of West Coast Line, and has recent essays in Transition and Prefix Photography. On the occasional Sunday, he can be found in Prospect Park in Brooklyn, waiting for his Jamaican brethren to pass the damn ball.

 

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I

 

• Ibrahim, Abdullah

  : Pianist and teacher, and one of South Africa's leading composers.

 

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J

 

• Jackson, Naomi

  : Brooklyn-based writer and Chimurenga contributor

• Jacobs, Sean

  : Lectures in communication studies at the University of Michigan. As freelance journalist, he regularly contributes to the Nation, Mail & Guardian, Africa Confidential and other publications. He co-authored Thabo Mbeki's World with Richard Garland. He is a contributing editor of Chimurenga.

• Jamal, Ashraf

  : Writer, playwright, author of the short story collection The Shades. Currently based in the English Department of University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur. Most recently, published Predicaments of Culture in South Africa.

• Janssen, Jeroen

  : Janssen created his first comic book, Muzungu, Sluipend Gif while living in Rwanda. The book received the VSB award, Stripdagen Haarlem, during 1998. His other books include Een Nachtegaal in de Stad (written by Pieter van Oudheusden) and Klaarlichte Nacht. Other works have been published in Beeldstorm, Stripburger, Kerozene, Parcifal and Zone 5300. His most recent book is Bakame (2003). He lives and works in Waarschoot.

• Jayawardane, M. Neelika

  :

  Assistant Professor of English and Global & International Studies at the State University of New York-Oswego, Jayawardane is also a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for African Studies, University of Cape Town. Her current research focuses on the history of mobility, migration, and the role of passports and visa regulations in containing travellers from Third World nations.

• Jensma, Wopko

  : South African poet and artist who disappeared in 1993. He authored 3 collections including where white is the colour/where black is the number.

• Jobson, Liesl

  : Writer, photographer and a music teacher at Johannesburg's Sacred Heart College. Formerly a bassoonist in the now defunct National Orchestra, she has also worked as a community journalist, a psychic, a bandswoman in the Soweto Police Band and a media officer and speechwriter for the Provincial Commissioner of the SAPS, Gauteng. Jobson is the author of 100 Papers, a collection of prose poems and flash fiction. She is currently the managing editor of Mad Hatters' Review, the Johannesburg editor of BOOK Southern Africa and the national editor of Poetry International Web, South Africa.

• Johnson, Natasha

  : Graphic designer, 'will-paint-for-food' artist and illustrator based in Cape Town.
  

• Jones, Keziah

  : Musician and blufunk pioneer has released Blufunk Is A Fact, African Space Craft and most recently Black Orpheus. Jones also writes poetry, paints and is currently producing a short film titled BLACKSPEEDTEXT.

• Jonker, Julian

  : Freelance writer, DJ and academic. His work has appeared in many reviews and anthologies including Life In The Wires: The C Theory Reader. Lives in Cape Town.

• Joseph, Anthony

  : Poet and a musician. He's the author of two collections, Desafinado and Teragaton, and the album Leggo de Lion with his jazz septet the Spasm band. He's also the author of the novel The African Origins of UFOs.

 

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K

 

• Kaganof, Aryan

  : South African film-maker, novelist, poet, and artist. His filmworks include Giant Steps (with Lefifi Tladi and Bra Geoff Mphakati) and SMS Sugarman, the first film to be completed using a cellphone camera. 

• Kakudji

  : DRC born artist based in Paris.

• Kalu, Peter

  : Sci-fi writer and the author of Black Star Rising and most recently Little Jack Horner. He's also published plays, including Afrogoth and Taxi. He also works as software programmer

• Kamaldien, Yazeed

  : Freelance journalist and photographer living and working in Cape Town.

• Kaplan, Marion

  : Born in London, Kaplan has worked and lived as a photojournalist and writer in Africa for over twenty years. As a freelancer, he covered a broad range of stories for magazines and newspapers including National Geographic and Time in the US and The Observer in London.

• Kayode, Rotimi Fani

  : (1955-89) One of the most important black photographers of the late twentieth century, exploring in his work themes of racial and sexual identity. Has published several books including Traces of Ecstasy, Black male, white male and Ecstatic Antibodies.

• Keita, Salif

  : Internationally acclaimed singer and songwriter from Mali. Best known for Mandjou, his tribute to Guinean leader Sekou Toure.

• Kgositsile, Keorapetse

  : South African poet and essayist whose writings focus on Pan-African liberation as the fruit of informed heroism and compassionate humanism. Kgositsile's poetry books include Spirits Unchained (1969), For Melba (1970), My Name is Afrika (1971), The Present Is a Dangerous Place to Live (1974), Places and Bloodstains (1975), Herzspuren (1981; "Traces of the Heart"), and When the Clouds Clear (1990). He also edited The Word Is Here: Poetry from Modern Africa (1973).

• Khan, Hassan

  : An artist based in Cairo. He works with image, sound, text, space and situation.

• Kimani, Martin

  :

  A writer and conflict analyst based in Addis Ababa, Kimani previously was Teaching Fellow at the Joint Services Command and Staff College in Shrivenham, and an Associate of the Conflict Security and Development Research Group of King’s College of the University of London. Find him at www.bulletsandhoney.wordpress.com.

• Koyana, Vuyo

  : Co-founder of the Pan African Market in Cape Town.

• Kozain, Rustum

  : A poet and freelance editor based in Cape Town, Kozain won the 2007 Olive Schreiner Prize for his collection of poems This Carting Life. He blogs at www.groundwork.wordpress.com. An earlier version of this piece appeared as ‘’n Moerse Samoosa’ in Student Life, September 1997.

• Krishen, Pradip

  : Indian fimmaker and Environmentalist. He directed three groundbreaking films: Massey Sahib, In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones,and Electric Moon.

• Kumar, Anant

  : Indian writer and academic based in Germany.

• Kunene, Keith

  : Rapper and poet. Leader of the Durban based Blackfist of Garvey.

• Kuper, Simon

  : The author of Football Against the Enemy (the main reason it's now cool to write about football and politics). He also founded and edited Perfect Pitch.

• Kwahulé, Koffi

  : Ivorian comedian and playwright; has most recently published a novel titled Babyface.

 

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L

 

• Lamore, Jean

  : A writer, on the intersection of culture, politics and science; his last book is AKA. He's also the editor of the Paris based Mamba.

• Le Du, Nathalie

  :

  Editor, singer/songwriter, and academic, born and raised in New York City, where she currently resides. She edits childrens books and is the frontwoman of the indie rock band Nectar.  

  www.nectarbuzz.com

  www.myspace.com/nectarbuzz

  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nectar/145749136862
  

• Lemon, Ralph

  : A world renowned artist and choregrapher

• Lewis, Desiree

  : Lectures in Gender Studies at the University of the Western Cape and is a founder of the e-zine Fito.

• Leye, Goddy

  : Cameroonian artist living and working in Douala. Leye is renowned predominantly for his video work, but also works with painting, installation, performance and drawing.

• Lo Liyong, Taban

  : Sudanese poet and essayist; author of Frantz Fanon's Uneven Ribs.

• Lobe, Henri Kala

  : Cameroonian journalist, poet, and cultural critic. Lives in Douala and Paris.

• Lobo, Ryan

  :

  A photographer, documentary filmmaker and writer based in Bangalore, Lobo has made films for National Geographic, Discovery channel and many other networks and his photographs and writing have appeared in numerous publications. Find him at www.ryanlobo.blogspot.com

• Louw, Nicolene

  : Louw studied illustration at the University of Stellenbosch and is a member of the Strip Art Project. She is co-founder and co-editor of Stripshow, and has published widely in South Africa. Her work also appears in the Africa Comics anthology (2003). Louw currently works as a freelance illustrator and designer in Johannesburg.

 

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M

 

• Magdy, Basim

  : A multimedia artist based in Cairo

• Maiofiss, Michel

  : Photographer and filmmaker who has done photo reportage for such magazines as Actuel and Geo. His photographs are included in the collections of the Centre Pompidou, Musee d'Art and Moderne de la Ville de Paris.

• Majavu, Mandisi

  : Freelance journalist and news editor at pambazuka.org.

• Makhaya, Gertrude

  : Makhaya is an economist and she is a member of slice mango, an Oxford based writers' collective.

• Makoni, Munyaradzi

  : A Zimbabwean who for several years after independence worked for Moto magazine, now a freelance journalist based in Cape Town. He is a contributor to a recent book Writers, Writing on Conflicts and Wars in Africa.

• Malaquais, Dominique

  : An art historian of contemporary African cultures and Chimurenga associate editor, Malaquais is the author of Burning Down the House:  Space, Place and Resistance in the Bamileke Highlands, 1957-1971. Contestations:   New Positions on Architecture, Urbanism and Modern Recall is forthcoming. She sits on the editorial board of Politique Africaine.

• Malaquais, Jean

  : (1908-98) (Vladimir Malacki), Citizen of many countries and none, self taught writer and chronicler (of war and the wretched of the earth), and author of Les Javanais and Panete sans visas among others.

• Mamdani, Mahmood

  : A writer and academic, Mamdani most recently published When Victims Become Killers: colonialism, nativism and the genocide in Rwanda and Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: America, the cold war and the roots of Terror. He is based at Columbia University, New York City.

• Mamdani, Mahmood

  :

  Herbert Lehman Professor of Government at Columbia University in New York, Mamdani is the author of Good Muslim, Bad Muslim (2004), When Victims Become Killers (2001), Citizen and Subject (1996), and most recently, Saviors and Survivors: Darfur, Politics, and the War on Terror.  

• Mancuga, Epictetus, Jr.

  : Pen name for a writer based in Johannesburg.

• Manga, Lionel

  : A writer, policritic, theorist, radio host, epistemologist - in no particular order. He makes his home in Douala and would rather die than earn a monthly wage.

• Mansaray, Abu Bakarr

  : Visual artist and speculative engineer based in Freetown.

• Marechera, Dambudzo

  : Prolific Zimbabwean poet, playwright, novelist, and short story writer. He described himself as 'the doppelganger whom, until I appeared, African literature had not yet met.' His published works include The House of Hunger, Black Sunlight, and Cemetery of the Mind. 

• Masekela, Hugh

  : World-renowned South African trumpeter and composer.

• Mashile, Lebogang

  : Writer, performer and actor who began writing in 1995. Mashile's workbook, From Our Mothers Tongues, aims to showcase South African women's poetry, as well as her own, to shed light on the true lives and struggles of South African women in their own words.  Mashile studied law and international relations at Wits University.  She published a collection of poems titled Wrapped in a Ribbon of Rhythm (2005).

• Mason, John Edwin

  : An historian and the author of Social Death and Resurection: Slavery and Emancipation in South Africa. Also a musician, he's a member of the Lynchburg Symphony Orchestra.

• Masondo, Ingrid

  : South African photographer.

• Matabane, Khalo

  : Award-winning filmmaker whose groundbreaking films on South African society have received national and international recognition. His films include Young Lions, Two Decades Still, and Love in a Time of Sickness. 

• Matine, Jorge

  : Mozambican poet, writer and journalist born in 1976.  His first collection is titled The Vultures of Love.  Editor of the Mozambican literary journal Domingo.

• Mattera, Don

  : Poet, musician and community activist. He was awarded the Steve Biko Prize for his autobiography Memory is the Weapon. Mattera has worked as a journalist for The Sunday Times, The Weekly Mail and The Sowetan. He continues to work with street children in the Eldorado community in Johannesburg.

• Matthews, James

  : Cape Town based poet and activist. And the author of Cry Rage.

• Mbembe, Achille

  : Cameroonian philosopher based at Wits University in Johannesburg. His latest book is titled On the Postcolony.

• Mbuli, Mzwakhe

  : One of South Africa's best known poets and musicians; his album Change Is Pain was banned by the South African government upon its release in 1987.

• McGill, Mac

  : One of the leading pen and ink artists in the NYC underground scene, known for his "Afrodelic", dreamlike pieces. His work has been published by The Progressive Magazine, Tikkun Magazine, Seven Stories Press ("All Things Censored," written by Mumia Abu-Jamal), and World War 3 Illustrated, among others. He is working on Soul Music, a collection of short stories.

• Mdledle, Buyaphi

  : Photographer and teacher based in Johannesburg.

• MEDU Arts Ensemble

  : Cultural organization founded by South African exiles in Gaborone, Botswana. They produced graphic and visual arts, music, theatre, photography and writing. Thami Mnyele, Lentswe Mokgatle, Mongane Wally Sarote, Mandla Langa, Jonas Gwanga, and Gwen Ansell were all members of the Medu Arts Ensemble. Medu is a Sepedi word meaning 'roots'. 

• Memela, Sandile

  : Formerly a journalist, now a publicist, Memela is the author of Flowers of the Nation, a novel.

• Messon, Andrea

  : Journalist, editor and designer based in Johannesburg. Designer of the launch issue of Chimurenga

• Mingus, Charles

  : (1922-79) One of the most important figures in twentieth century music; Mingus was a virtuoso bass player, accomplished pianist, bandleader and composer. He toured extensively throughout Europe, Japan, Canada, South America and the United States until the end of 1977. Key works include Pithecanthropus Erectus, Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus and Cumbia & Jazz Fusion

• Mir, Aleksandra

  : Mir is an artist based in Palermo

• Mngxitama, Andile

  :

  A social activist and a doctoral student at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, Mngxitama recently co-edited Biko Lives, a collection of essays on the legacy of Steve Biko.

• Mofokeng, Reikana

  : Poet based in Johannesburg.

• Mofokeng, Santu

  : South African photographer.  He has had various exhibitions around the world, including Chasing Shadows, The black photo album - Johannesburg, 1890-1950, l'Atelier de Visu, Marseille; Rumours/The Bloemhof Portfolio, Market Gallery, Johannesburg; Like Shifting Sand, Market Gallery, Johannesburg.

• Mohaiemen, Naeem

  : Filmmaker and digital-media activist specializing in political Islam. He is the director of VISIBLE, a Collective of Muslim and Other Artists, which created DISAPPEARED IN AMERICA, a film trilogy and multimedia installation that humanizes the faces of "disappeared" Muslims since 9/11. Mohaiemen is also an interdisciplinary artist exploring historical markers and failed utopia. His work is foud at www.shobak.org.

• Moholo, Louis

  : Self taught South African jazz drummer, Moholo is a co-founder of the revered band Blue Notes and later the London based Botherhood of Breath. He often featured in the Dedication Orchestra and is a member of the London Improvisors Orchestra. He lives in Cape Town.

• Mora y Araujo, Marcella

  : Has been translating Argentinean and South American futbol cultures for English readers for over 15 years. She also translated El Diego, The Man's autobiography. She co-edited Perfect Pitch with Kuper. She currently writes for the Guardian, and routinely infuriates bloggers at http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport.

• Morojele, Sechaba

  : Filmmaker and actor based in Johannesburg.

• Mosley, Walter

  : Prominent African-American crime novelist best known for his Easy Rawlins detective series. Mosley also writes short stories and non-fiction. 

• Motana, Masello

  : Singer, poet, actress and writer.  Her poems have been published in several collections, including Timbila and New Horizons: An Anthology of African Verse. Motana has also presented her poetry at a number of leading events in South Africa. These include the national hip-hop poetry festival, Urban Voices (2002), the Oppikoppi Festival (2002) and the World Summit Festival (2002).

• Mouanda, Baudouin

  : A photographer based in Brazaville. His work's been featured at the Duta, Douala's bienale of photography.

• Mphakati, Geoff

  :

  A giant in the South African music and arts scene, Bra Geoff (as he was often called) managed the groups Malombo and Dashiki, founded the Jazz Appreciation Society, and established the Association for the Advancement of Creative Artists. He passed during the filming of his first documentary, Giant Steps. 

• Mthethwa, Zwelethu

  : Artist based in Cape Town. Mthethwa has had over 35 solo exhibitions in galleries and museums in the United States, Italy, Germany, Spain, France, Switzerland and South Africa. Best known for his large-format color photography, he also works in pastels and paint.

• Mudede, Charles Tonderai

  : Zimbabwean journalist and scriptwriter who has lived in Seattle since 1991, where he edits The Stranger. His fiction has appeared in Seattle Review and Monkey Puzzle, and his non-fiction has appeared in Nest Magazine, Village Voice, C Theory, and Radical Urban Theory. Mudede is a founding member of the Seattle Research Institute.

• Muyanga, Neo

  : A songwriter, composer and one of South Africa’s most acclaimed musical directors, most recently for the Royal Shakesperare Company’s production of The Tempest. He is also a founder of Blk Sonshine, and co-curator of the Pan African Space Station (www.panafricanspacestation.org.za), a music and radio project in Cape Town.

• Muzanenhamo, Togara

  : Zimbabwean poet and journalist. His debut collection of poetry, Spirit Brides, was released in 2006. 

 

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N

 

• nah-ee-lah

  : cf. Belvett, Naila

• Naidoo, Kesivan

  : A drummer, Naidoo has performed with pianist Hotep Galeta, trumpeter Marcus Wyatt, and pianists Jack Van Poll and Bheki Mseleku. 'Kes' graduated with a BA Music (Jazz Performance & Arrangement) from the UCT College of Music in 2000, and has won a SAMRO scholarship to further his studies abroad.

• Napier, Julia

  : Napier played college soccer in the US. She is currently at work on her first novel, about a kidnapping in Buenos Aires where she lives – Boca! Boca! Her football stories have previously been published in Perfect Pitch.

• Narayanan, Vivek

  : A poet, and the author of Universal Beach, Narayanan also works at Sarai-CSDS in Civil Lines, Delhi, and is Consulting Editor of Almost Island, a literary journal

• Naude, Francois

  : Designer based in Cape Town

• Ndebele, Njabulo

  : Writer and academic. He is the author of The Cry of Winnie Mandela, Fools and Other Stories and a collection of essays titled Rediscovery of the Ordinary.

• Neal, Mark Anthony

  : The author of four books, What the Music Said: Black Popular Music and Black Public Culture, Soul Babies: Black Popular Culture and the Post-Soul Aesthetic, Songs in the Keys of Black Life: A Rhythm and Blues Nation and most recently, New Black Man: Rethinking Black Masculinity.  Neal is also the co-editor (with Murray Forman) of That's the Joint!  The Hip-Hop Studies Reader.

• Nerf, Christian

  : Born in 1970 in Johannesburg, South Africa, Christian Nerf is a founding member of the artists' group Blow-up g_ds. He is currently working as part of the City + Suburban studio in Johannesburg. 

• Neyrat, Cyril

  : Film critic at Cahiers du Cinema, and the editor of Vertigo magazine, Neyrat has contributed to the collection Le Cinema et L'Essai. He also selects and programs at the Marseilles International Film Festival.

• Nganang, Patrice

  : Cameroonian writer, poet and essayist, turned nine the year Union de Douala won the African Champions League. He is the author of an "underdog" trilogy: La Promesse des Fleurs; Temps de Chien; and La Joie de Vivre.  He won the Grand prix littéraire de l'Afrique noire for Temps de Chien (Dog Days).

• Ngozi, Winston Mankunku

  : Acclaimed tenor and soprano saxophonist whose 1968 debut, Yakhal'Inkomo, is one of the most important South African jazz recordings of all time. Mankunku refused to go into exile, also refusing several invitations to tour internationally by the likes of Duke Ellington -- because his music was deeply connected to South Africa and its people.  He was both an unschooled musician and a un-official professor emeritus of jazz.  

• Niorthe, Philippe

  : French photographer.

• Nkabinde, Concord

  : Bass player, has worked with Abdullah Ibrahim, Zim Ngqawana, Hugh Masekela, Ray Phiri and many more.

• Nkutha, Lindiwe

  : Author of short stories and poems – published in various anthologies and on the net. She is also working on her first novel. When the spirit moves her, she makes photographs and short films. "Theoretically" she supports Kaizer Chiefs. But she mostly enjoys watching people watch football. She lives in Johannesburg.

• Noble, Alex

  : Cape Town-based graphic designer and architect.

• Noriega, David

  : writer and translator living in Brooklyn, New York.

• Nowicki, Andrzej

  : A visual artist. He works primarily in painting and drawing media. "Haiti" is his first exploration of the comic medium.

• Nwankwo, Chimalum

  : A poet, Nwankwo has won the Association of Nigerian Authors Poetry Prize twice: in 1988 with Toward the Aerial Zone and in 2002 with The Womb In The Heart and Other Poems.

• Nxumalo, Khulile

  : Author of Ten Flapping Elbows, Mama, a collection of poems. Researcher, writer, and film director, Nxumalo worked on a documentary as part of the Project 10 series, ‘Nabantwa bam'. Soweto-born Nxumalo has studied at the Universities of Durban and Cape Town, as well as in Swaziland.

 

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O

 

• O’Toole, Sean

  :

  A Cape Town based journalist and writer, O'Toole is currently editor of Art South Africa, and writes a weekly column on photography for the Sunday Times. His journalism has been widely published, including Adbusters, Art in America, Blueprint, BBC Focus on Africa, Colors, Creative Review, Eye, ID, Kyoto Journal, amongst others. The recipient of the 2006 HSBC/SA PEN Literary Award, he published a collection of short stories titled The Marquis of Mooikloof.

• oa Magogodi, Kgafela

  : teaches at the Wits School of Arts, literature, film studies in Africa and the diaspora. Columnist for Ymagazine, www.kgafela.com. Forthcoming, Dread Scribbles (book of essays/articles) and I Mike What I Like, poetry cd and film.

• oa Mahabane, Itumeleng

  : Former editor of Y-Mag; has been a TV listing journalist and a scriptwriter. Now a publicist. He lives in Johannesburg.

• Ofeimun, Odia

  : Poet, critic and former president of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA). He is the author of the acclaimed collection The Poet Lied.

• Oguibe, Olu

  : Poet, artist, curator and critic, Oguibe currently teaches at the University of Connecticut as an Associate Professor of art and African American studies.  Co-founded Nka: Journal of Contemporary African Art.  Most recently published The Culture Game.

• Ojaide, Tanure

  : Renowned Nigerian poet who has also published two books of literary criticism, Poetic Imagination in Black Africa: Essays on African Poetry and The Poetry of Wole Soyinka, and a memoir, Great Boys: An African Childhood.

• Okogu, Efe

  : Nigerian writer currently living, working, studying and traveling in Asia, his story The Train Game was published in Diaspora City, an anthology of new writing about London.

• Okonkwo, Ogoo Rudolf

  : New York based freelance writer, and the founder of Iroko Productions. His first book, Children of A Retired God, is forthcoming.

• Okonta, Ike

  : Nigerian writer and activist and Okonta was recently shortlisted for the Caine Prize for African Literature. A founding member of Tempo, one of the most controversial Nigerian news magazines during the Abacha years, he co-authored with Oronta Douglas, Where Vultures Feast: Shell, Human rights and Big Oil.

• Okorafor-Mbachu, Nnedi

  : A Nigerian scientist and sc-fi author based in the US. She's the author of Zarah the Windseeker.

• Okpako, Branwen Kiemute

  : Nigerian filmmaker based in Berlin. Her latest film is Valley of the Innocent.

• Omoniyi, Tope

  : Poet and a senior lecturer in English and Modern Language at the University of Surrey.  His most recent collection is titled Farting Presidents and Other Poems.

• Oscar G

  : Johannesburg-based photographer.

• Osondu, E.C.

  : Nigerian writer known for his short stories. His story 'Waiting' won the 2009 Caine Prize, for which he had been a finalist in 2007. Osondu's stories have been published in Agni, Guernica, Vice, Fiction, and The Atlantic. 

• Ouologuem, Yambo

  : Malian writer, whose most famous novel, Le Devoir de violence, (Bound to Violence), published in 1968, is a satirical portrayal of African spiritual values. Subsequently Ouologuem published Lettre ouverte à la France nègre, a satirical pamphlet which criticised paternalistic French liberals and was addressed to General de Gaulle. His other works include Les Mille et une bibles du sexe, described as "frankly pornographic" and published under the pseudonym Utto Rodolph. Several of Ouologuem's poems have appeared in Nouvelle somme.

• Owuor, Yvonne Adhiambo

  : Winner of the Caine Prize for African Writing in 2003 for her story Weight of Whispers, Owuor is the former Executive Director of the Zanzibar International Film Festival.

• Owusu-Ankoma, Kwesi

  : Ghanaian painter based in Germany.

• O'Toole, Sean

  : Writer, critic and editor of Art South Africa.

 

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P

 

• Parks, Gordon

  : (1912-2006) A photographer, filmmaker, writer and musician, Parks was one of 20th century most important artists.

• Patel, Shailja

  : Patel's a Kenyan poet, playwright, theatre artist and political activist. Her one-woman show, ‘Migritude,’ has toured globally, and was published in 2008 as a bilingual (Italian-English) edition by Lietocolle. Visit her at www.shailja.com

• Pavlic, Ed

  : Poet and music critic. His latest book is But Here Are Small Clear Refractions. 

• Phakathi, Dumisane

  : Award-winning filmmaker, journalist, and tv producer. His film credits include Wa n'wina and Don't F*** With Me, I Have 51 Brothers and Sisters. 

• Pienaar, Hans

  : Author of Die Derde Oorlog teen Mapoch, an alternative history of apartheid, looking at all the secret societies and structures involved. Die Taal van Voëls is a collection of poetry, and in 1987, he published some short stories, Die Lewe Ondergronds. In 1988 Pienaar edited Forces Favourites, a collection of stories against conscription. He is currently working on a second poetry collection, trying to get three novels published, short stories, a fourth novel, trying to get two Afrikaans plays performed. Wrote the plays Ching Chong Che, and Three Dozen Roses.

• Pieterse, Edgar

  : Writer, researcher and founder of the Isandla Institute in Cape Town. Authored the acclaimed City Futures. Co-editor of African Cities Reader

• Pillay, Pravasan

  : A poet, filmmaker and the founder of Tearoom Books, an independent press based in Durban. Glumlazi, his debut, is a collection of short poems, the majority of which run no-more than two lines

• Pillay, Suren

  : Senior Lecturer in the Department of Political Studies at the University of the Western Cape.

• Place, Rodney

  : multi-media artist and writer living and working in Johannesburg and Warsaw.  His work focuses largely on art and urbanism, whether as satirical commentary, activism, or permanent installation.  

• Prabhala, Achal

  :

   A journalist and activist living in Bangalore, Prabhala's writing has appeared in Transition, Bidoun and Outlook India, and most recently in Johannesburg, The Elusive Metropolis, a collection of essays about the city. He is also editor of Civil Lines, a literary journal out of Delhi, and contributing editor of Chimurenga.

• Press, Karen

  : Poet and freelance editor. She has published seven collections of poetry as well as textbooks and fiction. In 1987 she co-founded the publishing collective Buchu Books.  

 

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Q

 

 

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R

 

• Raboteau, Emily

  : The author of the novel, The Professor's Daughter, Raboteau is at work on a travel book, Searching for Zion, largely about Black Zionist movements and the African diasporic search for home.
  

• Raegon, Gael

  : Journalist and poet. She is contributing editor of Chimurenga.

• Rage, Jimmy

  : a.k.a Femi Dawkings a Jamaican artist, poet and musician living and working in Amsterdam. Rage is also contributing artist for the Paris based magazine Clam

• Ramallah Underground

  : A music and art collective based in Ramallah. Members include Amer Shomali, Mohanad and Jana.

• Ramgee aka Graeme Arendse

  : see Arendse

• Rampolokeng, Lesego

  : Poet and playwright. Rampolokeng has published three volumes of poetry, including the acclaimed Horns for Hondo and the novellas Whiteheart and Blackheart. He has also published many plays, including Fanon's Children.

• Rantekoa, Liepollo

  : Is a bibliophilic, writer and researcher. She hails from Lesotho and is currently employed at Chimurenga Magazine.

• Raqs Media Collective

  :

  The Collective has been variously described as artists, media practitioners, curators, researchers, editors and catalysts of cultural processes. Their work, which has been exhibited widely in major international spaces and events, locates them squarely along the intersections of contemporary art, historical enquiry, philosophical speculation, research and theory – often taking the form of installations, online and offline media objects, performances and encounters. They live and work in Delhi, based at Sarai, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, an initiative they co-founded in 2000. They are members of the editorial collective of the Sarai Reader series.

• Rasheed, Kameelah

  : Writer, teacher, self-taught documentary photographer, graphic designer, and city planning commissioner.  The former U.S. Amy Biehl Fulbright Scholar to Johannesburg, South Africa currently resides in the San Francisco Bay Area.  Find her work at www.kameelahwrites.com. 

• Ratele, Kopano

  : Writer and academic based in Pretoria.

• Ray, Sandeep

  : Documentary filmmaker and post- production editor living in Boston.

• Rekacewicz, Philippe

  :

  A cartographer and the co-author of Atlas mondial de l'eau, une pénurie annoncée (2003), Rekacewicz draws maps for Le Monde diplomatique and Atlas der Globalisierung.

• Rickards, Peter Dean

  : A photographer and writer, and the founder of First Magazine, a fashion and art magazine based in Kingston.

• Roberts, Ronald Suresh

  :

  A writer based in Cape Town, Roberts is the author of Clarence Thomas and the Tough Love Crowd (1995), Reconciliation Through Truth (with Kader and Louise Asmal, 1996); No Cold Kitchen: A Biography of Nadine Gordimer (2005); and Fit to Govern: The Native Intelligence of Thabo Mbeki (2007).

• Robinson, Knox

  : Writer, music producer and former editor at the Fader. Milla's dance drew him to football. He is currently at work on Ghetto Arc, a series of releases on the sound of the global urban underground from Kingston to Baltimore to Johannesburg.

• Rosa-Mendes, Pedro

  : Lisbon-based freelance journalist and writer.  His first book Bay of Tigers has been translated into thirteen languages. 

• Rose, Tracey

  : South African artist who lives and works in Johannesburg; her work has been featured in exhibitions around the world.

• Roussouw, Henk

  : Journalist. Authored An African Tale: First Hell, Then College.

• Roy, Arundhati

  : Novelist and activist. Author of the acclaimed novel, The God of Small Things. Her non-fiction books include The Cost of Living and Power Politics.

• Rozzano, Real

  : DJ and cultural entrepreneur based in Cape Town.

• Rux, Carl Hancock

  : Poet, musician and novelist based in Brooklyn. His latest book is Asphalt.

 

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S

 

• Said, Abdulkadir Ahmed

  : Award winning Somali filmmaker based in Cape Town. He's the founding director of the African Cinema.

• Salo, Elaine

  : An academic based at the University of Cape town; specialising in gender issues.

• Saxena, J.S.

  : Having featured in the Indian Committe for Cultural Freedom's Quest (Issue 65, 1970), Saxena was last listed as being ‘a Reader in English [at the] University of Jodhpur.’ Quest's founding editor was the celebrated poet Nissim Ezekiel. The publication existed in the same time – and within the same political space – as Transition in Uganda and Encounter in the UK before falling victim indirectly to Indira Ghandi's brutal imposition of a state of emergency in the country (1975-1977).

• Schwartz, Nicola

  : Photographer and founder of the London-based Pocko Editions.

• Scott, Dread

  : Artist based in New York, works in a variety of media including installation, photography, sculpture, and screenprinting. His work has been exhibited at the Whitney Museum of American Art, the New Museum of Contemporary Art, the Robert Miller Gallery in New York and at DeBeyerd Center for Contemporary Art in the Netherlands.

• Sebbar, Leila

  : Algerian writer based in Paris. Her latest book is Femmes au Bain.

• Seethal, Rucera

  : Designer and art director of Chimurenga

• Seidman, Judy

  : Artist, writer, and activist. Seidman worked with the Medu Arts Ensemble in Botswana from 1981 to 1985. In 2008 she released Red on Black: The Story of the South African Poster Movement. 

• Sekou, Lasana

  : The author of 11 books of poetry, monologues, and short stories. He is the leading writer of St. Martin and is considered one of the prolific Caribbean poets of his generation. His newest collection is 37 Poems, published in 2005.

• Sen, Orijit

  : Graphic designer and comics creator based in New Delhi. His first graphic novel, The River of Stories was published in 1994. He also runs People Tree, a crafts, books and design shop in New Delhi. Sen also consults on museum and exhibition design projects. His current projects include a second graphic novel and his first animation film.

• Sey, James

  : Writer, critic and occasional multimedia conceptulist based in Johannesburg

• Shagaya, Simdul

  : At work on his debut collection of poems, provisionally titled between the Moon and pride, Shagaya lives between Abuja, Lagos and Johannesburg.

• Shaheen the sheriff

  : DJ, producer, broadcaster and founder of the group Prophets of da City.

• Sharzhad

  : Design and publishing collective based in Switzerland

• Shivji, Issa

  : Professor of Law, director of the Department of Constitutional and Administrative Law at the University of Dar es Salaam.

• Shukri, Ishtiyaq

  : South African writer based in London and Ramallah, the author of The Silent Minaret, a book about the alienation, disillusionment, anger and loss caused by the "war on terror." He was educated in Cape Town and Johannesburg and studied South Asian literature at the School of Oriental African Studies (SOAS), London.

• Singh, Nikhil

  : Artist, writer and musician. He has released two albums, formed a theatre group, written the soundtrack to two films, done stage design and murals for Miss Kitten, serialised a graphic novel with Sturgeon White Moss and staged two solo and several joint exhibitions of his artwork. His mutant alter ego is also the front man for the pop punk outfit, The Wild Eyes. He lives and works in Cape Town.

• Smith, Gail

  : Journalist, and the editor of City Press Pulse, the arts and lifestyle section of City Press, a Johannesburg based newspaper.

• Smith, Kyla

  : Violinist of the band Freshlyground. Lives in Cape Town

• Sondiyazi, L. Unathi

  : Is a reluctant nomad, a read-artist & an unwriter working in Cape Town.  Follow some of his exploits on www.un8speaks.blogspot.com

• Sousa, Adriano

  : Journalist by training and a publicist by un-training. In between, he has published three collections of poems. But in truth, he would have preferred to be a football player. He lives in Rio Grande.

• Stanley, Ransome

  : Munich-based artist whose work has been presented in numerous exhibitions. He recently showed his work in the large exhibition project, Black Paris – Black Brussels. 

• Sterling, Bruce

  : American science fiction author, best known for his novels and his work on the Mirrorshades anthology, which helped define the cyberpunk genre. He is the founder of the Dead Media Project (www.deadmedia.org). 

• Suede

  : Brooklyn-based photographer.

• Sumegne, Joseph Francis

  : Cameroonian artist best known for his public art, in particular the sculpture La Nouvelle Liberte in Douala.

 

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T

 

• Tate, Greg

  : Cultural critic for The Village Voice, is the author of Flyboy in the Buttermilk and contributes regularly to publications such as Rolling Stone, VIBE, and The New York Times.  In addition, he helped found the Black Rock Coalition, produced two albums on his own label, and composed a libretto that was performed at the Apollo Theater.  He lives in New York City.

• Taylor, Elizabeth Liz

  : Pen name for a Johannesburg-based writer.

• Tchebwa, Manda

  : Congolese cultural journalist and artistic director of MASA in 2005.

• Terry, Olufemi

  : Writer from Sierra Leone based in Cape Town.

• The Speculative Archive

  : Julia Meltzer and David Thorne

• Tiago, Paulo

  : Mozambican born guitarist, member of the bands Tumi and the Volume and 340ml.

• Tooks, Lance

  : Tooks has been drawing all his life. A former assistant editor at Marvel Comics, his artwork has since appeared in television commercials, films and music videos. He self-published the comic books Danger Funnies, Divided by Infinity and Muthafucka, and his comics have appeared in Zuzu, Girltalk, World War 3 Illustrated, Spike Lee's Floaters, and Lupo Alberto. He also illustrated The Black Panthers for Beginners, written by Herb Boyd. He recently completed Narcissa (Doubleday), his first graphic novel and a four volume series entitled Lucifer's Garden of Verses (NBM). He lives in New York and Madrid.

• Toure

  : Brooklyn-based writer, and the author of The Portable Promised Land, and most recently Soul City.

• Tropp, Girija

  : Girija was raised in Africa by Indian parents, lives in Melbourne. She is completing a novel, polishing up new short fiction, and raising her children while juggling the demands of working in multimedia and as part-owner of a food manufacturing company. Her work has appeared in Boston Review, Zoetrope All-Story Extra, a Visible Ink anthology, and elsewhere

• Tsuba ka 23

  : A pan African collective of new media, word and note artists. Watch the Space for Pan-African Research, Creation and Knowledge (SPARCK).

• Turner, Nicole

  : Writer and journalist based in Cape Town, where she works as news editor for CTV. She has never been to Europe and is contributing editor for Chimurenga.

 

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U

 

• Unigwe, Chika

  : Nigerian writer living in Belgium. Her short story, "The Secret" was short- listed for the 2004 Caine Prize. Her novel, De Feniks, was recently published in Belgium.

 

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V

 

• van der Merwe, Kali

  : Co-founder of Other-Wise media - an organisation which creates awareness-raising media, Van der Merwe teaches media skills to marginalised youth. She is the current Director of the organisation and works as a media trainer, filmmaker, photographer, graphic designer and installation artist.  Her last documentary, Doing it!  (2003), explores issues around female sexuality.

• van der Spuy, Patricia

  : Historian, based at Emory University.

• Vari, Minette

  : An internationally renowned video and multumedia artist. She lives and works in Johannesburg

• Verissimo, Jumoke

  : Lagos based writer. She is a sub-editor with www.farafina-online.com, a literary magazine.

• von Bassewitz, David

  : Von Bassewiz studied cinematography at the University Erlangen, and illustration at the Fachhochschule, Wrzburg. Initially he constructed drawings and then the latter became paintings, and paintings evetually became the possibility of traveling without moving. He has been exploring the infiniteness of human imagination as a freelance artist in Hamburg ever since.

 

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W

 

• wa Ngugi, Mukoma

  : Kenyan poet and essayist. Wa Ngugi is the author of Conversing with Africa: Politics of Change.  His second book, A Malignant History: Looking at America, is forthcoming.  He serves as the coordinator for the Toward an Africa without Borders Organization.

• Wainaina, Binyavanga

  : Journalist, writer and founding editor of the Nairobi based literary journal Kwani? and winner of the Caine Prize for African Writing in 2002. Previous works include An Affair to Dismember and Beyond the River Yei: life in the land where sleeping is a disease. His writings have also appeared in the New York Times, Granta, the Guardian, and National Geographic. Wainaina also writes a column for the Mail&Guardian.

• Weizman, Eyal

  : An architech based in London and Tel Aviv. Weizman recently published Hollow Land, a book on Israel's architecture of occupation. He's also editor at large of the journal Cabinet.

• Whande, Webster

  : Zimbabwean writer and researcher based in Cape Town.

• White, Ernestine

  : Artist and Master Printer, White was recently employed as an Exhibition Coordinator-Curator: Parliamentary Millennium Project, Parliament of the Republic of South Africa.

• Wicomb, Zoe

  : A writer, Wicomb is the author of the acclaimed You Can't get Lost in Cape Town and David's Story and most recently, Playing the Light. She is also a Senior Lecturer at University of Strathclyde.

• Wise, Christopher

  : A critic and the editor of Yambo Ouologuem: Postcolonbial Writer, Islamic Militant. Most recently, Wise published a Yambo Ouologuem Reader.

• Wonodi, Ikwunga

  : Not a new face among Afrobeat music followers in Nigeria and elsewhere; years back while a university student, he was a member of the "What?" collective, an underground campus hit in Nigeria. As a young medical doctor, Ikwunga was a regular opening act for Femi Kuti at the Afrika Shrine in Lagos. His latest album release is Calabash Afrobeat Poems Vol.1.

• Wood, Molara

  : Nigerian writer who lives and works in London – she was last in Nigeria during Kanu's reign.  A freelance journalist, essayist and occasional poet, she writes a regular Arts column in the Guardian on Sunday, Lagos, Nigeria.

 

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X

 

 

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Y

 

• ya Salaam, Kalamu

  : Founder of NOMMO Literary Society, a New Orleans-based creative writing workshop.  Salaam is the leader of the WordBand, a poetry performance ensemble that combines poetry with blues, jazz and other forms of music. His work includes the spoken word CD My Story, My Song and his latest book is What Is Life?   His other books include The Magic of Juju: An Appreciation of the Black Arts Movement.

• Yamguen, Herve

  : Cameroonian poet and painter.

• Yéré, Henri-Michel

  : Writer and historian from Cote d'Ivoire; based in Switzerland.

• Yere, Henri-Michel

  : Writer and historian from Côte d'Ivoire.  His MA thesis looked at the dance and music known as "Zouglou" and how adolescents in Côte d'Ivoire used this cultural practice  to deal with social and political events in the 1980s and 90s. 

 

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Z

 

• Zangewa, Belinda

  : Artist and top ten finalist of the ABSA Atelier Competition exhibition –winner of the Gerald Sekoto Award. Zangewa majored in Graphics and Printmaking at Rhodes University, in Grahamstown.

• Zezelj, Danijel

  : Zezelj started publishing comics during his first year at Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb, Croatia. Il Rhytmo del Cuoro (The Rhythm of the Heart), his first graphic novel, was published in 1993, with an introduction by legendary Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini. His illustrations and comics have since been published by DC Comics/Vertigo, Marvel Comics, New York Times Book Review, Harpers Magazine, San Francisco Guardian, and he's the author of 28 graphics novels. He has also created a series of multimedia performances, in collaboration with musician/composer Jessica Lurie and writers Greiner and Kropilak. His latest book is Stray Dogs. He lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.

• Zossou, Gaston

  : A former English teacher and now Minister of Culture in Benin. He has published the essay Au nom de l'Afrique.

• Zvomuya, Percy

  :

  A football fan, Zvomuya in his spare time, which is usually from Monday to Friday, writes about music, football, books, poverty and sometimes politics, for the Mail & Guardian.

 

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