4 - The State of African Publishing
Corresponding Author(s) : Francis B. Nyamnjoh
Africa Review of Books,
Vol. 5 No. 1 (2009): Africa Review of Books, Volume 5, n° 1, 2009
Abstract
Publishing, Books & Reading in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Critical Bibliography by Hans M. Zell, ed. Lochcarron: Hans Zell Publishing, 2008. xxxvii + 712 pp. £130/•195/US$260 (hardback). ISBN: 978-0-9541029-5-1.
This bibliography is an indispensable one-stop-shop for the latest facts and issues on the publishing industry and reading trends in Africa. It is the latest effort in the relentless crusade of Hans Zell, in a challenging global context, to analyse and create space and respect for African publishing.
More than 2,500 works are critically annotated, often with abstracts and extensive citations, including almost 500 online resources and 1,612 entirely new entries, organised under topics such as ‘African books in the international marketplace’, ‘Open access publishing’, and ‘Women in African publishing/ Publishing by and for women’. This wealth of information on book development and the growth of the publishing industry in Africa is worthy of celebration.