Queer Africa

Book set in several Anglophone African countries. Reviewed on 2019/05: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bw4ggn9HM26/

With a title such as #queerafrica I was expecting a seminal work. Alas it is not what I found here. Anthologies are tricky to pull off. There are inevitably some stories which are going to be better than the others. From the reader’s perspective, I always wonder whether the editors gathered these stories in one volume for a specific reason, in order to show us something. Is there a coherent theme spreading through the stories, obviously more than just the “queer” element? I particularly enjoyed #mydadforgotmyname by #victorlewis and #allcoveredup by #dolarvasani . These two stories are located in #sierraleone and #tanzaniarespectively. A #lesbian #lovestory set in #zanzibar Tanzania! YASS! Being the geography maniac that I am, I also appreciated finding here stories set in #botswana #zambia and #uganda . I can rationalize why stories from predominantly non-English African countries were not included. Although that same argument disappoints me tremendously. Also I might have missed something here, but I only read gay and lesbian stories in this anthology. The cover does say #selectedstories . So I wonder if the more comprehensive volumes do in fact include “BTQI” stories. And when it comes to the stories themselves, I personally did not feel compelled or moved by any one of them. And this is a very personal statement. I do not want to belittle anyone’s personal stories or at what stage in your life you’re in or where in the world you are when you read these stories. Someone from these countries or cultures might see something deeper or more nuanced that I completely ignored or I was simply not the reader meant for them. #newinternationalist#genderqueerlit #queerlit#karenmartin #anthology#makhosazanaxaba