News & Events

Contrary to popular perceptions of North Korea as a hermit kingdom, its capital city used to be a hotspot for international travel. During the Cold War a stream of African visitors travelled to North Korea, a largely overlooked phenomenon, writes Tycho van der Hoog.

On 7 March 1968, the British-Nigerian writer and editor Sarah Ladipo Manyika was born in Nigeria. She is the author of two well-received novels, 'In Dependence' (2009) and 'Like A Mule Bringing Ice Cream To The Sun' (2016), as well as the non-fiction collection 'Between Starshine and Clay: Conversations from the African Diaspora' (2022). 

During the library's latest acquisition trip, in November, almost 1200 books were bought in South Africa, Mozambique and Eswatini. In Johannesburg, seventeen titles by Jewish authors and/or about Jewish subjects were bought. This sample suggests a lively bookpublishing industry.

Because of the move of the ASCL and its library to a new location (end of May), the library is currently inventorying its collection. We are giving away a number of books of which we have duplicates in the collection. Come have a look and pick up some books for free!

The LUALA Beats Area Studies Podcast Series has received a JEDI Fund from the Faculty of Humanities. LUALA (Leiden University Africa Latin America) is a cooperation between the two Area Studies sections of Leiden University’s Institute for History. The podcast will focus on issues pertaining to African and Latin American histories, languages, cultures and politics.