Books published by African Books Collective

A collection of first-hand stories, based on interviews with former female prisoners, conducted by Zimbabwe Women's Writers. Each story is highly personal and particular. As a body, they document that women who find themselves in prison are often driven by circumstances into a situation where the emotional or material poverty of their lives makes breaking the law the only option. They illustrate how once in prison, women are subjected to punitive or demeaning action; and not infrequently, are regarded as pariahs by their families and friends, and society at large. The stories further shed light on the impact of imprisonment on the children of prisoners, who by virtue of the absence of their mothers, suffer deprivation, which limits their opportunities for a fulfilling life. The writers pose the challenges: how much responsibility should be borne by the culprits themselves; and how much are their failures an indictment against the whole society, outlining what might be done to prevent the so-called crime and create a more compassionate environment. The stories are supplemented with scholarly essays written by specialists in law, gender and prison reform, who raise some important general issues regarding women, criminal law and punishment regimes.

Africa's Political Wastelands explores and confirms the fact that because of irresponsible, corrupt, selfish, and unpatriotic kleptocrats parading as leaders, the ultimate breakdown of order has become the norm in African nations, especially those south of the Sahara. The result is the virtual annihilation of once thriving and proud nations along with the citizenry who are transformed into wretches, vagrants, and in the extreme, refugees. Doh uses Cameroon as an exemplary microcosm to make this point while still holding imperialist ambitions largely responsible for the status quo in Africa. Ultimately, in the hope of jumpstarting the process, he makes pertinent suggestions on turning the tide on the continent.

Set in the fictional and reluctantly bilingual land of Mimbo in contemporary Africa, this story revolves around the tragedy of the haunting Prospère, a semi-literate Mimbolander who is searching for the finer things in life. The novel presents a graphic picture of the frustrations engendered by a society that values wealth over love.

A Fallen Citadel and Other Poems is a powerful collection of over forty prose poems. The poems cover an array of issues ranging from the crisis that ensued after the 2007-2008 elections in Kenya to other social issues: loss of identity, poverty, hopelessness, and AIDs. These poems are powerful, vivid, full of imagery, and delightful. Some begin tragically, but end with hope; they begin with an everyday event, but end with a philosophical question about the meaning of life; and others are not only disturbing, but also thought provoking. Abala's poetic maneuvers in this collection are bound to delight and fascinate any reader.