How to Write about Africa by Binyavanga Wainaina

Writing fearlessly across a range of topics - from politics to international aid, cultural heritage and redefining sexuality, this is a remarkable illustration of a writer at the height of his power. A rule-breaker full of wry satire and piercing wisdom, this collection includes many of Binyavanga's most critically acclaimed pieces, including the viral satirical sensation How to Write About Africa. The first time I read the essay How to Write about Africa I was literally squirming in my seat in an exquisite mixture of awe, embarrassment and resisting. Africa is to be pitied, worshipped, or dominated. Or it is hot and steamy with very short people who eat primates.ĭon't get bogged down with precise descriptions.'Binyavanga Wainaina was a seminal author and activist, remembered as one of the greatest chroniclers of contemporary African life.Īfter his death in 2019, this ground-breaking collection brings together his pioneering writing on the African continent for the first time. Whichever angle you take, be sure to leave the strong impression that without your intervention and your important book, Africa is doomed.inyavanga Wainaina was a pioneering voice in African literature, an award-winning memoirist and essayist, and a gatherer of literary communities. t’s beginning to seem like Binyavanga Wainaina ’s satirical essay How to Write About Africa might be, after the Bible, the most read English-language text on the African continent.

It is hot and dusty with rolling grasslands and huge herds of animals and tall, thin people who are starving. There are numerous words that convey negative images and are meant to convey the writer’s critique of how others portray Africa: prominent ribs, naked breasts, tall, thin people hot and dusty, hot and steamy, female genital mutilation, pitied, worshipped or dominated, corrupt politicians, inept polygamous travel-guides, rotting n. A trailblazing collection of writing from Binyavanga Wainaina's extraordinary life 'In your text, treat Africa as if it were one country.

How to Write about Africa by Binyavanga Wainaina