Popular African Memoir Books
Find memoir books written by authors from Africa for the next part of the Read Around The World Challenge. (111)
61.
One Day I Will Write about This Place by Binyavanga Wainaina EN
KenyaDescription:
A groundbreaking memoir by the acclaimed Kenyan Caine Prize winner.
62.
Princesse des rugo : mon histoire by Esther Kamatari, Marie Renault FR
BurundiDescription:
Espoir. J'ai fui ma patrie après le massacre des miens. Princesse burundaise devenue top-model à Paris, j'en appelle aux valeurs qui ont fondé mon pays pour que les enfants ne paient pas le prix de la folie des hommes.
63.
Prisoner Without a Crime: Disciplining Dissent in Ahidjo's Cameroon by Albert Mukong EN
CameroonDescription:
Doughty human rights crusader, Albert Mukong was incarcerated for six years in some of Cameroon's worst detention centres under the despotic regime of late President Amadou Ahidjo. This book details his personal account of the discipline and punishment that the Cameroonian state has systematically dished out to dissidents who have dared to stand their ground. Until his death in 2004, Albert Mukong was without doubt, Anglophone Cameroon's most conspicuous political prisoner, spokesperson and champion human rights advocate. The particular detention he recounts in this book is evidence of how nat... continue
64.
Revolution for Dummies: Laughing through the Arab Spring by Bassem Youssef EN
EgyptDescription:
“Hilarious and Heartbreaking. Comedy shouldn’t take courage, but it made an exception for Bassem.” --Jon Stewart "The Jon Stewart of the Arabic World"—the creator of The Program, the most popular television show in Egypt’s history—chronicles his transformation from heart surgeon to political satirist, and offers crucial insight into the Arab Spring, the Egyptian Revolution, and the turmoil roiling the modern Middle East, all of which inspired the documentary about his life, Tickling Giants. Bassem Youssef’s incendiary satirical news program, Al-Bernameg (The Program), chronicled the events of ... continue
65.
Running for My Life : One Lost Boy's Journey from the Killing Fields of Sudan to the Olympic Games by Lopez Lomong, Mark Tabb EN
Country: Africa / 
South Sudan
South Sudan
Description:
This is a story about outrunning the devil and achieving the impossible faith, diligence, and the desire to give back. Lomong chronicles his inspiring ascent from a barefoot lost boy of the Sudanese Civil War to a Nike sponsored athlete on the US Olympic Team. He shares his commitment to keep moving forward and find God in each step.
66.
Saturday Is for Funerals by Unity Dow, Myron Essex EN
BotswanaDescription:
Dow and Essex tell the true story of lives in Botswana ravaged by AIDS. Witness the actions of community leaders, medical professionals, research scientists, and educators of all types to see how an unprecedented epidemic of death and destruction is being stopped in its tracks.
67.
Seed of South Sudan : Memoir of a “Lost Boy” Refugee by Majok Marier, Estelle Ford-Williamson EN
Country: Africa / South Sudan
South Sudan
Description:
One of the most detailed books on the Lost Boys of Sudan since South Sudan became the world’s newest nation in 2011, this is a memoir of Majok Marier, an Agar Dinka who was 7 when war came to his village in southern Sudan. During a 21-year civil war, 2 million lives were lost and 80 percent of the South Sudanese people were displaced. Tens of thousands of boys like Majok fled from the Sudanese Army that wanted to kill them. Surviving on grasses, grains, and help from villagers along the way, Majok walked nearly a thousand miles to a refugee camp in Ethiopia. Majok and 3,800 like him emigrated ... continue
68.
Shelf Life : Chronicles of a Cairo Bookseller by Nadia Wassef EN
Description:
The warm and winning story of opening a modern bookstore where there were none, Shelf Life: Chronicles of a Cairo Bookseller recounts Nadia Wassef’s troubles and triumphs as a founder and manager of Cairo-based Diwan The streets of Cairo make strange music. The echoing calls to prayer; the raging insults hurled between drivers; the steady crescendo of horns honking; the shouts of street vendors; the television sets and radios blaring from every sidewalk. Nadia Wassef knows this song by heart. In 2002, with her sister, Hind, and their friend, Nihal, she founded Diwan, a fiercely independent boo... continue
69.
Slave: My True Story by Mende Nazer EN
SudanDescription:
The author describes the years she spent as a slave to a wealthy Arab family in Khartoum and her subsequent break for freedom after she was sent to work for a diplomat in London.
70.
Benin