Introduction to Volume 2

February 21, 2026

In February 2023, we launched the first multilingual multimedia anthology with an ambitious goal of creating an annual database of translated short stories from English (and other hegemonic languages used in print in African literature) into African languages. This is notable, we argued, because of a glaring absence in this space specifically for works translated in this direction. “Who is the audience of our stories?” we asked in the first introduction. If the first image that comes to mind when we think of an “African writer” is of an individual writing and publishing only in English/Portuguese/Spanish, etc., then what we are leaving behind is over 2000 indigenous African languages spoken on the continent. This multilingual anthology is a decision to fill this gap and a call to order the colonial heritage of modern African literature. By translating over 11 African languages from previously written English stories, we hope to expand the African presence in global and world literature and create new environments for the readership of African literature.

Since that time, one of us has become the maiden African editor of the American Best Literary Translations anthology, with its own goals of collating an annual selection of the best translations into English of works from around the world. That, along with other individual pursuits and funding limitations, has made it hard to remain consistent in our desire to keep this an annual anthology. But it has also opened new doors to understanding the scale of the challenges facing African literature in translation.

Finding works of translation from English into African languages is difficult enough, because there’s no consistent industry of production in this space, and individual efforts haven’t been able to fill a structural void that has widened over many generations of neglect. That was what we originally sought to change by finding sponsors to be able to pay for translation rights, translator efforts, voiceover, and illustrator fees, and the technological tools to put the stories online with audio recordings and editing oversight. But what we realized is that even to find works of translation into English from African languages, something we thought was already ubiquitous, comes with its own challenges that extend from the dearth of original work in those African languages. This itself stems from some of the earlier and perennial problems in African language publishing, where priority for publication in European languages over local ones has become the default.

If original writings don’t exist in African languages in the first place, then what do translators find to translate into English that such an African editor of Best Literary Translations can find to suggest for inclusion in an annual anthology? So if the goal, as we articulated in the beginning, is not only to facilitate the creation of literature that can expand the African imagination, but also to encourage the production of usable corpora in usually underserved and minoritized languages, then the work that needs to be done must be a comprehensive one, attending closely to both ends of the ledger. Translating from European languages into African ones will be equally important as encouraging the writing of original literature in African languages,whichcanthenserveasraw source materials for translations into English. The goals are the same: African languages gain agency through the generative production of original and derivative work; the audience of African language literature expands in significant ways; the work of linguists, language technologists, and orthography creators improves through the ubiquity of data and engagement.

We’re therefore even more resolved to make Lingua an integral part of OlongoAfrica’s core mission as a generational imperative. We have announced a vacancy for a permanent editor for the project, which we hope can scale the work to more remarkable dimensions.

The International Mother Tongue Day 2026 presents an opportunity to recommit to this ideal of a future in which literature on the continent is not limited to those produced in colonial languages, but all languages of expression on the continent. With sustained funding, this future should be more within reach.

We thank the estate of Aisha and Gbenga Oyebode Family Office, who, in 2023, gifted us 750,000 naira (then worth about $980) to support this work and our subsequent plan for a physical collection of these translations. We also thank Dr. Kẹ́hìndé Ládiípọ̀ who gave ₦250,000 at around the same time. These, and other in-kind donations to OlongoAfrica, helps our long-term goals. With some luck and more funding, we’d no longer need to wait for three years before a new volume of translated works is published. It should be a fairly regular occurrence that every new important work by an African writer is immediately available in as many African languages as possible, that translators exist on the continent willing and able to do the work and earn from it, and that an industry of academic and inter-personal conversations begin to emerge that lead us into a more exciting future for not just our literature and languages, and our ability to use both to engage contemporary issues of significance.

In the middle of last year, one of the early backers of our project, and an eternal advocate for the use of African languages in literature — Ngugi wa Thiong’o, — passed on into ancestorhood. The project is grateful for his example.

To reword the phrase of another recently departed Harvard Professor of African literature, Bíọ́dún Jéyǐfó, translation as a literary field practice allows us to deal with the complexity and ambiguity of modern African literature.

Do enjoy the offerings.

The editors.
Kọ́lá Túbọ̀sún
Olajide Salawu