Dibussi Tande: Scribbles from the Den

Rosemary Ekosso's "House of Falling Women" Nominated for the Aidoo-Snyder Prize

House of Falling Women, the debut novel of Cameroonian writer Rosemary Ekosso has been nominated for the Aidoo-Snyder Book Prize.

Other nominees include Kenyan novelist Wambui Githiora for her book Wanjira; Valerie Tagwira of Zimbabwe for The Uncertainty of Hope; Amma Darko of Ghana for Not Without Flowers; Kopano Matlwa of South Africa for Coconut.

The Aidoo-Snyder Book Prize is awarded annually by the Women’s Caucus of the African Studies Association (ASA) for an outstanding book published by a woman that prioritizes African women’s experiences. Named in honor of Ama Ata Aidoo, the celebrated Ghanaian novelist and short-story writer, and Margaret Snyder, the founding Director of UNIFEM, this award will be given during the 2010 ASA annual meetings in San Francisco at the Women’s Caucus Annual Lecture and Luncheon. Every fifth year the prize is given for a creative work, this year the Aidoo-Snyder Book Prize will be awarded for a novel.

Fourth Edition of Acclaimed Historical Dictionary of Cameroon Now Available

DeLancey, Mark D., Rebecca Neh Mbuh, and Mark DeLancey. Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Cameroon (4th Edition). Historical Dictionaries of Africa, no. 113. Lanham, Md: Scarecrow Press, 2010. 530 pages.  

Book Flyer from Scarecrow Press
Cameroon is a country endowed with a variety of climates and agricultural environments, numerous minerals, substantial forests, and a dynamic population. It is a country that should be a leader of Africa. Instead, we find a country almost paralyzed by corruption and poor management, a country with a low life expectancy and serious health problems, and a country from which the most talented and highly educated members of the population are emigrating in large numbers. Although Cameroon has made economic progress since independence, it has not been able to change the dependent nature of its economy. The economic situation combined with the dismal record of its political history, indicate that prospects for political stability, justice, and prosperity are dimmer than they have been for most of the country's independent existence.

Books by Dibussi Tande

Available on Amazon.com

Just Published: "Betrayal of Too Trusting a People" by Carlson Anyangwe

Carlson Anyangwe. Betrayal of Too Trusting a People: The UN, the UK and the Trust Territory of the Southern Cameroons. Langaa RPCIG, Cameroon | Paperback | 260 pages | 2009

There is a growing body of literature on what was originally envisioned as a free political association of the French and British Cameroons and its dramatic effects on the 'British Cameroons' community. Anyangwe's new book is an attempt to write the history of the Southern Cameroons from a legal perspective. This authoritative work describes in great detail the story of La Republique du Cameroun's alleged annexation and colonization of the Southern Cameroons following the achievement of its independence, while highlighting the seeming complicity of the United Nations and the British Trusteeship Authority. In the process, Anyangwe unravels a number of myths created by the main actors to justify this injustice and, in the end, makes useful suggestions to reverse the situation and to restore statehood to the Southern Cameroons. The book is rich in archival research and informed by a global perspective. It convincingly shows the uniqueness of the Southern Cameroons case.

Joyce Ashuntantang: Foreign Publishers Determine the Nature of our Stories (Interview)

Interviewed by Dibussi Tande

“As long as foreign publishers remain the mid-wives of our stories, they will keep determining the nature of these stories.” Joyce Ashuntantang

Early this year, Joyce Ashuntantang published a book titled Landscaping Postcoloniality: The Dissemination of Anglophone Cameroon Literature which Bernth Lindfors describes as the "most comprehensive study of Anglophone Cameroon literature that has been published to date". In the book, Dr. Ashuntantang, who teaches literature at Hillyer College, University of Hartford, USA, demonstrates that contrary to widespread belief, literature from the English-speaking part of Cameroon is alive and well, in spite of a host of obstacles that have slowed its development and reduced its international visibility. In this interview, Dr. Ashuntantang discusses her ground-breaking book and the state of Anglophone Cameroon literature with Dibussi Tande. Excerpts:

Now Available! Scribbles from the Den

Dibussi Tande: Scribbles from the Den: Essays on Politics and Collective Memory in Cameroon. Langaa publishers. 232 pages. Now available from African Books Collective, Oxford (£19.95), Michigan State University Press, Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble ($29.95).

(Press Release) New Anthology to Promote Anglophone Cameroonian Writing

New writing from Anglophone authors in Cameroon is featured in an anthology to be released in July. 
 
The Spirit Machine and other new short stories from Cameroon is the first in a new series of books aiming to promote emerging Anglophone writers unknown in the West but “whose writing tells wonderful new stories in wonderful new ways”.
 
Edited and introduced by Dr Emma Dawson, of Keele University in Staffordshire, UK, The Spirit Machine will be published on July 1 by Critical, Cultural and Communications Press in the World Englishes Literature Fiction series.