What happens when African languages talk to each other?

Imagine, for a moment, that you could traverse the length and breadth of the African continent and speak to everyone you meet in your language, and have them understand you perfectly. Imagine, also, that you could understand them perfectly in their own languages. Imagine what that would do to the fabric of our social relations, our politics, our trade, and the arts. Imagine how that could rewire our brains and our world. Imagine what that would do to the appreciation of literature and difference.

Technology and AI have made this possible in a number of languages today, but not in Africa. The lack of written and audio corpora of translated materials between African languages and from other global languages into African languages has made this difficult to achieve without enormous investment in corpora building. And yet, literature continues to be created around the world in English, French, Arabic, Portuguese, etc, by African writers — works that often do not get read in their home countries, much less by folks in other African countries who do not speak these hegemonic languages.

This is the reason for this multilingual anthology from OlongoAfrica.

The Project

In 2023, supported by Sterling Bank Nigeria, we invited ten writers to submit a story of their choice for translation into an African language they do not speak. We then invited ten translators to translate these stories into their mother tongues, and then speakers of these target languages to record them. The result was an anthology of stories that showcase the richness and diversity of African languages, and the creative possibilities that emerge when we break down the linguistic barriers that have for too long divided us. The project is now a permanent fixture at OlongoAfrica, and we invite translators to send us their work of translation into any African language from English, German, Spanish, Arabic, etc, or into English from an African language. We are open to poetry, short stories, short drama excerpts, and any other interesting work we may not even know about.

Send to publisher@olongoafrica.com with “Translation” in the subject line. We pay $50 for every accepted work. The only condition is that you must have permission from the original author of the work being translated.

Why this matters

By translating these stories, we are not just exchanging words; we are sharing worlds. We are creating a space for a new kind of conversation, one that is rooted in our shared African heritage but open to the endless possibilities of our multilingual future.

We hope this anthology will inspire more initiatives of this kind, and contribute to the ongoing project of building a vibrant and inclusive African literary landscape.