Africa's 100 Best Books of the 20th Century is the most ambitious project ever embarked on by the African publishing industry. To encourage African writers and publishers, the Zimbabwe International Book Fair launched the international compilation of "Africa's 100 Best Books"
read more   This project included nominations from all over the world, followed by rigorous selection criteria which included assessment of quality, ability to provide information or insight, a continuing contribution to debate and the extent to which a book broke down boundaries. The final list had to reflect a balance of regional representation, gender, historical spread and genres of writing. The top 100 list were selected and the Awards were presented to the authors and publishers of the Africa's 100 Best Books of the 20th Century or their representatives on Saturday 27 July, 2002 in Cape Town, South Africa at a ceremony attended by eminent dignitaries.
The aim of this endeavour is: * to celebrate the achievements of African writers over the last century; * to stimulate debate, discussion, reading, criticism and analysis of African writing; * to foster the publication and development of new titles and those that are currently out of print; * to encourage translation of different texts; * to promote the sale and exchange of books continent-wide and throughout the world; * and above all to increase awareness and knowledge of books and writing by African authors.

This page lists the holdings of the 'Africa's 100 Best Books of the 20th Century' that the African Union Library has in its collection.
It is also available by country, language and type - please refer to it at the end of the page

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A couple of book covers



The Cairo trilogy
- Mahfuz, Najib


The Dark Child
- Laye, Camara


The famished road
- Okrim Ben


The fortunes of Wangrin
- Bâ, Amadou Hampaté


The history of Yorubas
- Johnson, Samuel, Rev.


The House of Hunger
- Marechera, Dambudzo


The Joys of Motherhood
- Emecheta, Buchi


The Palm-Wine Drinkard
- Tutoula, Amos


The sacred night
- Ben Jelloun, Tahar


The soul of the white Ant
- Marias, Eugène


The Suns of Independence
- Kourouma, Ahmadou


Things fall apart
- Achebe, Chinua
      1. A grain of wheat - Ngugi wa Thiong'o - (English)
      3. Chaka - Mofolo, Thomas - (English)
      4. L'Amour, la fantasia - Djebar, Assia - (French)
      5. Nervous conditions - Dangarembga, Tsitsi - (English)
      6. Oeuvre poètique - Senghor, Leopold Sedar - (French)
      7. SOSU' S call - Asare, Meshack - (English)
      8. Terra Sonâmbula: romance - Couto, Mia - (Portuguese)
      10. The Cairo trilogy - Mahfuz, Najib - (English)
      11. Things fall apart - Achebe, Chinua - (English)
      12. Une si longue lettre - Ba Mariama - (French)
      82. The Joys of Motherhood - Emecheta, Buchi - (English)
      85. The Palm-Wine Drinkard - Tutoula, Amos - (English)
      86. The sacred night - Ben Jelloun, Tahar - (English)
      88. The soul of the white Ant - Marias, Eugène - (English)
      89. The Suns of Independence - Kourouma, Ahmadou - (English)
      90. Things fall apart - Achebe, Chinua - (English)
      91. Ualalapi - Ba Ka Khosa, Ungulani - (Portuguese)
      92. Un attiéké pour Elgass: roman - Monenembo, Tiemo - (French)
      93. Un long chemin vers la liberté - Mandela, Nelson - (French)
      94. Une si longue lettre - Ba Mariama - (French)
      95. We killed Mangy-Dog, & other stories - Honwana, Luis Bernardo - (English)
      96. Woman at point zero - El Saadamim, Namal - (English)
      97. Zani Barakat - Ghitany, Gamal - (French)
      82. The Joys of Motherhood - Emecheta, Buchi - (English)
      85. The Palm-Wine Drinkard - Tutoula, Amos - (English)
      86. The sacred night - Ben Jelloun, Tahar - (English)
      88. The soul of the white Ant - Marias, Eugène - (English)
      89. The Suns of Independence - Kourouma, Ahmadou - (English)
      90. Things fall apart - Achebe, Chinua - (English)
      91. Ualalapi - Ba Ka Khosa, Ungulani - (Portuguese)
      92. Un attiéké pour Elgass: roman - Monenembo, Tiemo - (French)
      93. Un long chemin vers la liberté - Mandela, Nelson - (French)
      94. Une si longue lettre - Ba Mariama - (French)
      95. We killed Mangy-Dog, & other stories - Honwana, Luis Bernardo - (English)
      96. Woman at point zero - El Saadamim, Namal - (English)
      97. Zani Barakat - Ghitany, Gamal - (French)