Academic Writing Workshop at the Hargeysa International Book Fair: African Literature and Cultural Production in the 21st Century

There is at present a clearly defined asymmetry in the distribution of capital across the Global North and South; the field of African Literary and Cultural Studies is not immune from this phenomenon. In the context of the discipline, this has resulted in scholarly work that is often not genuinely reflective of the cultural and literary landscape as it exists on the ground and from an Africa-centred perspective. Instead, the continued monopoly on intellectual capital by the Global North has served to reinforce relationships largely based upon colonialist hierarchies of power, as well as, epistemologies which centre European models to the occlusion of other knowledge and other modes of perceiving the world bringing together and supporting early career researchers within the environment of the Hargeysa International Book Fair, where they also have access to dialogue with leading Africa-based cultural producers and creative writers, this workshop takes practical steps to address imbalances and blind spots that urgently need addressing.