News & Events

In July 2024, the African Library bought 230 books in Dar es Salaam, among which a selection of Tanzanian children’s and youth literature in English and Swahili. This selection is the subject of this month's Library Highlight!

Inspired by the African Literary Metadata Project (ALMEDA), the African Library compiled a web dossier on East African literatures. It showcases literary works in English and Swahili, published in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda in the last ten years.

On the occasion of the 10th Stephen Ellis Annual Lecture, delivered by Africa correspondent Koert Lindijer on 4 December, the African Library has compiled a special edition web dossier, connected to the subject of this year’s lecture: Africa in the world today and the issues facing African governance.

The Boom2Dust project, for which Prof. Jan-Bart Gewald has received an NWO Open Competition grant, is up and running with a brand new project website. The project will investigate the environmental history of three industrial mining centres in southern Africa: Kimberley in South Africa, Kabwe in Zambia, and Tsumeb in Namibia.

In its policy plans on research and education in the Netherlands, the Dutch government announced budget cuts that will severely affect social sciences and humanities in the Netherlands. In this blog, we highlight the pivotal role of African Studies for Dutch society and education, and beyond. 

On 6 November 1966 Equatoguinean author and activist, Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel, was born. His parents were from the remote island of Annobón, off the West African coast. Ávila Laurel is featured in our library weekly.