How foreign writers make it to US bookshelves

I’m quoted (or at least paraphrased) in the Christian Science Monitor, on how African writers gain attention.

It’s the same for young African talents, says Geoff Wisner, author of “A Basket of Leaves: 99 Books that Capture the Spirit of Africa.”

Engaging an American audience is anything but easy. Winning one of Africa’s two biggest literary prizes – the Caine or the Wole Soyinka – is the best bet but even that is no guarantee.

Mr. Wisner notes that Kenyan writer Binyavanga Wainaina won the Caine Prize in 2002, founded the influential literary magazine Kwani?, and teaches at Bard College in the US. Yet he is still best known (if known at all) to American readers as the author of “How to Write about Africa” – a short satirical piece mocking Anglo writers who set novels in Africa.

P.S. Libyan writer Hisham Matar has weighed on what’s it’s been like to be a judge for the Caine Prize.