African Literature Association
| Abbreviation | ALA |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1974 |
| Type | Independent non-profit professional society |
| Purpose | To promote literary and cultural studies related to, and about, Africa and its diasporic populations |
| Website | africanlit |
The African Literature Association (ALA) is an independent non-profit professional society that was founded in the United States in 1974, with the aim of promoting literary and cultural studies related to, and about, Africa and its diasporic populations.[1] It is open to scholars, teachers and writers from every country.[2] According to its mission statement: "The ALA as an organization affirms the primacy of the African peoples in shaping the future of African literature and actively supports the African peoples in their struggle for liberation."[3]
In 2024, Professor Gichingiri Ndigirigi was named as president of the ALA.[4]
Background
[edit]The ALA's inaugural conference was held at the University of Texas at Austin in 1975, when Dennis Brutus was elected the first chair of the organization.[5] The ALA holds annual conferences on a variety of themes, marking its 50th anniversary with the 2025 conference on "Ecologies of Transition: Spaces and Mobilities in African Literature and Cultures", hosted by the University of Nairobi's Department of Literature.[6]
Journal of the African Literature Association (JALA)
[edit]In 2006, the organization launched its Journal of the African Literature Association (JALA).[7] The journal is published by Taylor & Francis.[8][9]
References
[edit]- ↑ "CFP: JALA Special Issue on Afro-Hispanism and the Arts in and beyond Africa". African Literature Association. September 13, 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2025.
- ↑ "African Literature Association". Retrieved 4 July 2025 – via YouTube.
- ↑ "Mission Statement". africanlit.org. African Literature Association. Retrieved 4 July 2025.
- ↑ Brown, Randall. "UT's Ndigirigi Named President of African Literature Association". artsci.utk.edu. College of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Retrieved 4 July 2025.
- ↑ Ogwude, S. "History, Progress & Prospects in the Development of African Literature: A Tribute to Dennis Brutus". In Emenyonu, Ernest N., and Chimalum Nwankwo (eds), Reflections & Retrospectives: African Literature Today, Boydell and Brewer, 2012, p. 98. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781782040484-007.
- ↑ "Upcoming Event - African Literature Association 50th Annual Meeting". Department of Literature. University of Nairobi. Retrieved 4 July 2025.
- ↑ Abdallah, Ibrahim (28 March 2020). "Durosimi-Jones: The Passing of A Patriarch Of African Literature In English". Premium Times. Retrieved 4 July 2025.
- ↑ "JALA | Journal of the African Literature Association". africanlit.org. African Literature Association. Retrieved 4 July 2025.
- ↑ "Journal of the African Literature Association". tandfonline.com. Taylor & Francis Online. Retrieved 4 July 2025.