LOOKING FOR MODERN-DAY GRIOTS...

Welcome to the Motherland's most authoritative Arts and Letters online platform.

2024 ALEXANDER NDERITU PRIZE FOR WORLD LITERATURE LONGLIST

TheAfricanGriot.com is excited to announce the longlist for the inaugural Alexander Nderitu Prize for World Literature. The ten longlisted stories were chosen from 72 entries originating from 13 countries around the world...

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SOUTH AFRICAN WINS 2024 CAINE PRIZE FOR AFRICAN WRITING

2024 Caine Prize for African Writing has been handed to South African writer Nadia Davids her short story, Bridling, published in The Georgia Review in 2023....

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john sibi
JOHN SIBI-OKUMU’S ‘COLLECTED PLAYS’ – A REVIEW

Collected Plays (2004-2014) is a compilation of six original plays (or ‘books’, as they’re known in the West) by veteran actor/director/playwright John Sibi-Okumu...

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QUEEN SONO
‘QUEEN SONO’ SEASON 1 REVIEW

Queen Sono is an African crime drama starring South African actress and model Pearl Thusi (Quantico) as the title character...

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ABOUT US

TheAfricanGriot.com is a movement, an artistic renaissance forged in the heart of Africa. We seek to revive the role of ancient storytellers and historians - albeit adapted for the modern age. The African Griot project is a movement of which this website is but one manifestation. Other manifestations include (or shall include) publications, videos, podcasts, awards, events and more...This platform is primarily focused on Literature, Music, Poetry, Theatre, Film/Television, Fashion, and Cultural News. As a movement, The African Griot project has 'guiding lights' but no owners. Anyone can join the movement and play an active role. Our mascot is the African Elephant, by far the largest land mammal; a gentle giant known for its indomitable strength - and enduring memory. More... >

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WHAT IS A GRIOT?

'We had real oral tradition in our house. I knew the word "griot" when I was a little boy. A griot is a person in Africa who is charged with keeping the stories of the village. Everyone would tell a griot the stories and they would remember them all so that they could tell future generations. When they got old, they'd tell them to somebody else. And they say in Africa that when a griot died, it was like a library was burnt down. And my mother used to tell me, before I started doing comedy, "You should be a griot". And she'd fill me with every story of Black life - she's educated in African-American Studies - and she'd let me understand the context that I was being raised in. That I was being raised in a hostile environment that I have to tame.'

- From US comedian Dave Chappelle's 2019 Mark Twain Prize acceptance speech

Dave Chappelle

ARTICLES

Be informed, inspired and entertained by insightful writings from our contributors.

Amiri Baraka

Race in Literature – From the Past to the Present

Many of the ‘Slave Narratives’, including the compelling work of Frederick Douglass and the haunting confessions of Nat Turner, are now available as audio books on YouTube and other online platforms...More >

Sarafina musical
Failing Forward: Musical Theatre In Kenya

Indigenous Kenyan musicals are so rare that a few of them, coming out in the last two decades, have each claimed to be ‘the first Kenyan musical'... More >

Ngugi wa Thiongo
The Case for an ‘African Nobel Prize’

Jaws dropped in Africa after Ngũgi wa Thiong’o (highly favoured to win over the previous few years) was once again overlooked...More >

NEWS & OPPORTUNITIES

The latest arts-oriented call-outs, competitions, scholarships, and prizes from around the globe.

Ngiga Prize
THE NGIGA PRIZE FOR HUMOUR
The Ngiga Prize for Humour Writing submissions is now open. It will run until 31st May 2024'...More >
Global Africa Translation Fellowship
The fellowship welcomes applications from across the Global South for a grant of up to $5,000 to complete translations of works from the African continent and its diaspora, into English or Arabic (other languages are considered)...More >
Damilola Omotoyinbo
2023 WRITIVISM AWARD WINNERS
There were distinct three categories : Short Story, Poetry, and Koffi Addo Nonfiction...More >

WISDOM OF THE ELDERS

Contact Us

Nairobi, Kenya.
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E-mail: admin(at)theafricangriot.com