In
the late 1960s, the best known Sudanese writer,
Taban Lo Liyong, shocked fellow intellectuals
when he declared East Africa a literary desert
in his oft-quoted The Last Word. Times and tides
have since changed and Africa is awash with
literature ranging from books, magazines, music
and pamphlets.
However, a keen look at the
literature we have in our bookstores, homes,
and learning institutions reveal that most are
educational, imported motivational and general
books. Most African publishers opt to publish
school books that have a robust market. This
has left the general reader who has quest for
inspiration and self-help books with no option
other than to look at the West.
Unfortunately most of these
books imported from abroad are not written for
an African audience. Any work of art mirrors
the society and exists to offer solutions to
the society’s challenges and uphold its
ideals and aspirations.
In this regard and with due
cognizant of globalization and modern trends
most imported books in our market have not adequately
helped African readers because they were primarily
written for another society with different challenges,
values and aspirations. Evidently some of the
solutions suggested in these books are not applicable
within the African context. They only succeed
in charging the reader emotionally and taking
them euphorically to an ideal level devoid of
pragmatism.
It is against this background
that Queenex Publishers was formed in 2006,
from a very humble beginning to promote African
motivational and self-help books. Queenex Publishers
exists fundamentally to provide homegrown literature
that responds to Africa’s unique challenges.
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