A Basket of Leaves is a collection of 54 essays by Geoff Wisner, each of which examines one or more books about a different African country. The collection was published by Jacana Media in 2007.
The authors of the selected books are (variously) African, American, West Indian, and European. Some of the authors are black, and others are white. Some of the books are fiction, and others are non-fiction; 28 of them were authored or co-authored by women. The selected works were originally published in Arabic, English, French, German, Polish, Portuguese, and other languages.
Reviewed works
Work Year published Author Author nationality Country The Sheltering Sky 1949 Paul Bowles United States Algeria The Savage Night 1995 Mohammed Dib Algeria Algeria Algerian White 1996 Assia Djebar Algeria Algeria Mayombe 1979 Pepetela Angola Angola Another Day of Life 1976 Ryszard Kapuscinski Poland Angola The Viceroy of Ouidah 1980 Bruce Chatwin United Kingdom Benin When Rain Clouds Gather 1968 Bessie Head South Africa / Botswana Botswana Whites 1986 Norman Rush United States Botswana Of Water and the Spirit 1994 Malidoma Patrice Somé Burkina Faso Burkina Faso The True Sources of the Nile 2003 Sarah Stone United States Burundi Mission to Kala 1957 Mongo Beti Cameroon Cameroon The Fortunate Isles 1989 Basil Davidson United Kingdom Cape Verde Song from the Forest 2015 Louis Sarno United States / CAR Central African Republic Komoon! Capturing the Chad Elephant 1953 Heinrich Oberjohann Germany Chad Last of the Pirates 1994 Samantha Weinberg United Kingdom Comoros
References
Further reading