The Granta Book of the African Short Story

Helon Habila was born in Nigeria. He has published three novels, Waiting for an Angel (2002), Measuring Time (2007) and Oil on Water (2010). Winner of the Caine Prize 2001, and the Commonwealth Writer's Prize 2003, Habila currently teaches Creative Writing at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, where he lives with his family.

The skill and sophistication of African authors is on display throughout this rich and rewarding book - Joan Smith, The Times Brings together some of the most exciting voices from this generation - Daily Telegraph It is an anthology about the agonies of love and war, about family, about longing for home, about transplantation in unaccustomed earth ... The Granta Book of the African Short Story shows, wherever and by whomever they are published, Africa has writers of depth and talent with a multitude of stories as diverse as the continent's countries, cultures and peoples - Petina Gappah, Financial Times From Morocco to Namibia, this nutritious harvest of 29 tales spans a tumultuous continent with selections from many of its finest modern writers. These stories of hardship, of adventure and survival, defy easy generalisations but prove that fiction thrives from Casablanca to the Cape - Independent Habila has gathered together many of the biggest names around, including six writers in translation, as well as many authors one expects to hear more of in the future. This book is a landmark, a historic record and, most of all, a celebration of what has been an unprecedented decade for African fiction - Guardian