The top 25 African writers?

Are these really the top 25 African writers?

1. Brian Chikwava (Zimbabwe)
2. Tsitsi Dangarembga (Zimbabwe)
3. Chimamanda Adichie (Nigeria/US)
4. Chris Abani (Nigeria)
5. Ngugi wa Thiong’o (Kenya/US)
6. Helon Habila (Nigeria/US)
7. Uwen Akpan (Nigeria)
8. Nuruddin Farah (Somalia/South Africa)
9. Doreen Baingana (Uganda/Kenya)
10. JM Coetzee (South Africa)
11. Niq Mhlongo (South Africa)
12. Zukiswa Wanner (South Africa)
13. Petina Gappah (Zimbabwe/Switzerland)
14. Segun Afolabi (Nigeria)
15. Wole Soyinka (Nigeria)
16. Chinua Achebe (Nigeria)
17. Unity Dow (Botswana)
18. Zakes Mda (South Africa)
19. Aher Arop Bol (Sudan)
20. Leila Abouzeid (Morocco)
21. Buchi Emecheta (Nigeria/Britain)
22. M.G. Vassanji (Kenya/Canada/Tanzania)
23. Oswald Mbuyiseni Mtshali (South Africa)
24. Athol Fugard (South Africa)
25. Ben Okri (Nigeria)

Well, no. Even if we note that the list is meant to cover the “new breed” rather than classic authors like Camara Laye, Mariama Ba, Amos Tutuola, Naguib Mahfouz, Nadine Gordimer, and Ama Ata Aidoo—still, what about Emmanuel Dongala, Yvonne Vera, and Dambudzo Marechera (certainly part of the new breed, though Vera and Marechera died much too soon)?

And as others have pointed out, where are the Francophone and Lusophone writers? For instance, Tahar ben Jelloun, Sembene Ousmane, Mohammed Dib, Assia Djebar, Pepetela, Mongo Beti, Sony Labou Tansi, Ahmadou Kourouma, Albert Memmi and some of the others that I’ve blogged about at Words Without Borders.

Still, lists like this are welcome discussion starters. This one includes a couple of authors I haven’t read yet—Brian Chikwava and Oswald Mtshali—and a few I hadn’t even heard of: Zukiswa Wanner, Segun Afolabi, Unity Dow, and Aher Arop Bol. I look forward to exploring some of these voices, and I thank African Literature News and Review for letting me know about the list.