News & Events

On 25 October 2001, Cameroonian writer, journalist, poet, novelist, and playwright René Philombe, pen name of Philippe Louis Ombedé died in Yaoundé at the age of 70. He was one of the founders of the Association of Cameroonian Poets and Writers (APEC) of which he was the secretary for 20 years.

On the occasion of the upcoming edition of Bamako Encounters, which will take place in Bamako (Mali) in the coming months, the ASCL Library has created a web dossier on African Photography. The introduction is by visual artist Andrea Stultiens.

On 19 October 2004, Seychellois poet Antoine Abel died in Mahé at the age of 69. He is considered the father of Seychelles literature. 

On 13 October 2020, Nigerian poet, playwright and scholar J. P. Clark (John Pepper Clark-Bekederemo) died at the age  of 85. He is most noted for works in which he explored themes such as violence and protest, institutional corruption, European colonialism, the inhumanity of the human race as well as beauty in nature. J.P. Clark is featured in our Library Weekly.

Mayke Kaag, named Professor by Special Appointment of the Anthropology of Islam in Africa and its Diaspora at the University of Amsterdam (UvA), gave her inaugural lecture during a festive ceremony in the university's Auditorium on 5 October. You can still watch the ceremony online.

According to colleague writers, Zimbabwean author Irene Ropa Rinopfuka Mahamba stands out as one of the local writers representing a true, Zimbabwean perspective on the liberation struggle in this country. Mahamba is the subject of the latest Library Highlight!