15 June 2020
In the mid-20th century, a feverish movement for independence from colonial governments paired with a growing university-educated class, who pushed for education on the continent to be decolonized, created the perfect conditions for the birth of anglophone African publishing. In 1962, the African Writers Series (AWS) was founded by London-based publisher, Heineman, whose editorial manager at the time, Alan Hill, noted that Nigeria was considered "a place where you sold books rather than a source for new writers." The series publication was poised to bring post-colonial Africa to the world through literature while allowing African writers space to create independently, for themselves and their futures.
