The 88 Greatest Works of African Literature
This selection of literature from Africa is based on the continuing research carried out for The Greatest Literature of All Time list and is additionally informed by the views of local readers, writers, critics and scholars.
It encompasses the greatest works of African authors in all forms, genres, cultures and periods.
The literature of Africa's huge swath of humankind (comprising more than United States, Canada and Europe combined) has been largely overlooked by many of the critics, scholars and even readers upon whom we've previously depended in creating our "greatest" lists.
The works of more than eighty countries and cultures—ancient, pre-colonial, colonial and contemorary—have had to be reconsidered.
The resulting list is far from perfect but it's a start, as our research into classic and modern African writing continues. It may serve as a jumping off point for anyone beginning to explore the fascinating literary history of this continent.
Watch for updates as The Greatest Literature of Africa evolves.
Latest update: January 25, 2024
c.1990 BCE
"The Shipwrecked Sailor"
by Anonymous, Egypt
Story also known as "The Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor"; "The Sailor and the Serpent"; "The Island of Enchantment"
"The Eloquent Peasant"
by Anonymous, Egypt
Story also known as "The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant"; "The Plea of the Eloquent Peasant"; "The Tale of the Peasant and the Workman"
c.1200 BCE
"Tale of Two Brothers"
by Anonymous, Egypt
Story
c.1100 BCE
"Wenamun"
by Anonymous, Egypt
Story
c.150
The Golden Ass
by Lucius Apuleius, Numidia
Novel
397–400
Confessions
by Augustine of Hippo, Numidia
Memoir
c.1322
The Glory of the Kings
by Anonymous, Ethiopia
Novel
1728
The Story of Tambuk
by Anonymous, Kenya, long poem
1789
The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano
by Oloudah Equiano, Benin
Memoir
1925
Chaka
by Thomas Mofolo, Lesotho
Novel
1926—1967
The Days
by Taha Hussein, Egyot
Memoir
1934
The Call of the Curlew
by Taha Hussein, Egyot
Novel
1942
The Outsider
by Albert Camus, Algeria
Novella
1945
Caligula
by Albert Camus, Algeria
Play
1947
Mafeking Road and Other Stories
by Herman Charles Bosman, South Africa
Story collection
The Plague
by Albert Camus, Algeria
Novel
Midaq Alley
by Naguib Mahfouz, Egypt
Novel
1948
Cry, the Beloved Country
by Alan Paton, South Africa
Novel
1952
The Palm-Wine Drunkard
by Amos Tutuola, Nigeria
Novel
1953
The Dark Child
by Camara Laye, Guinea
Novel
1956
The Fall
by Albert Camus, Algeria
Novella
Houseboy
by Ferdinand Oyono, Cameroon
Novel
1956–1957
Cairo Trilogy
by Naguib Mahfouz, Egypt
Novel series
1958
Things Fall Apart
by Chinua Achebe, Nigeria
Novel
1959
The Sacrificial Egg
by Chinua Achebe, Nigeria
Story
1960
God's Bits of Wood
by Ousmane Sembene, Senegal
Novel
1961
Ambiguous Adventure
by Kane Cheikh Hamidou, Senegal
Novel
1964
Arrow of God
by Chinua Achebe, Nigeria
Novel
1965
The River Between
by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, Kenya
Novel
The Interpreters
by Wole Soyinka, Nigeria
Novel
1966
The Fate of a Cockroach
by Tawfiq Al-Hakim, Egypt
Play
Season of Migration to the North
by Tayeb Salih, Sudan
Novel
1966–1969
Song of Lawino
by Okot p'Bitek, Uganda, long poem
1967
Children of Gebelawi
by Naguib Mahfouz, Egypt
Novel
Miramar
by Naguib Mahfouz, Egypt
Novel
A Grain of Wheat
by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, Kenya
Novel
1968
Love to the Grave
by Haddis Alemayehu, Ethiopia
Novel
The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born
by Ayi Kwei Armah, Ghana
Novel
1969
The Bacchae of Euripides
by Wole Soyinko, Nigeria
Novel
1972
Sizwe Bansi Is Dead
by Athol Fugard, South Africa
Play
1973
Looking on Darkness
by Andre Bink, South Africa
Novel
A Question of Power
by Bessie Head, Botswana
Novel
1974
Dusklands
by J. M. Coetzee, South Africa
Novel
The Conservationist
by Nadine Gordimer, South Africa
Novel
1975
Death and the King's Horseman
by Wole Soyinka, Nigeria
Play
1977
Our Sister Killjoy
by Ama Ata Aidoo, Ghana
Novel
In the Heart of the Country
by J. M. Coetzee, South Africa
Novel
Woman at Point Zero
by Nawal El Saadawi, Egypt
Novel
Petals of Blood
by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, Kenya
Novel
1978
The House of Hunger
by Dambudzo Marechera, Zimbabwe
Story collection
So Long a Letter
by Miriam Bâ, Senegal
Novel
1979
A Dry White Season
by André Brink, South Africa
Novel
Burger's Daughter
by Nadine Gordimer, South Africa
Novel
1980
Waiting for the Barbarians
by J.M. Coetzee, South Africa
Novel
Devil on the Cross
by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, Kenya
Novel
1981
July's People
by Nadine Gordimer, South Africa
Novel
1982
"Master Harold"...and the Boys
by Athol Fugard, South Africa
Play
I Will Marry When I Want
by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, Kenya
Play
1983
The Life and Times of Michael K
by J.M. Coetzee, South Africa
Novel
1984
Another Country
by Karel Schoeman, South Africa
Novel
1985
The True Confessions of an Albino Terrorist
by Breyten Breytenbach, South Africa
Novel
1986
Matigari
by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, Kenya
Novel
Kaffir Boy
by Mark Mathabane, South Africa
Memoir
Ancestral Voices
by Etienne van Heerden, South Africa
Novel
1987
You Can't Get Lost in Cape Town
by Zoë Wicomb, South Africa
Story collection
1988
Nervous Conditions
by Tsitsi Dangarembga, Zimbabwe
Novel
1991
The Famished Road
by Ben Okri, Nigeria
Novel
1993
Gifts
by Nuruddin Farah, Somalia
Novel
1995
Astonishing the Gods
by Ben Okri, Nigeria
Novel
1997
Kafka's Curse
by Achmat Dangor, South Africa
Novel
1999
Disgrace
by J.M. Coetzee, South Africa
Novel
2000
The Heart of Redness
by Zakes Mda, South Africa
Novel
2003
Purple Hibiscus
by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Nigeria
Novel
Elizabeth Costello
by J.M. Coetzee, South Africa
Novel
2004
The Good Doctor
by Damon Galgut, South Africa
Novel
The Cry of Winnie Mandel
by Njabulo Ndebele, South Africa
Novel
2006
Half of a Yellow Sun
by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Nigeria
Novel
Wizard of the Crow
by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, Kenya
Novel
2007
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
by Ishmael Beah, Sierra Leone
Memoir
2008
Say You're One of Them
by Ulem Akpan, Nigeria
Novel
Thirteen Hours
by Deon Meyer, South Africa
Novel
2009
The Thing Around Your Neck
by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Nigeria
Story collection
2011
Anatomy of a Disappearance
by Hisham Marat, Libya
Novel
2013
Americanah
by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Nigeria
Novel
2015–2018
Sands of the Emperor
by Mia Couto, Mozambique
Novel series
2016
What It Means When a Man Falls From the Sky
by Lesley Nneka Armah, Nigeria
Story collection
2021
The Promise
by Damon Galgut, South Africa
Story collection
