What makes a woman amazing? Is it in the way she dominates a boardroom, or the way in which she commands a room full of people when she walks in? Is it the way her mouth curls at the corners when she smiles, or the way she holds herself up even when she is tired? Or perhaps it is the way she picks herself up when life has knocked her over? Maybe it's the way she makes us feel when we are around her, giving us inspiration and strength?
Here are 15 biographies and memoirs by amazing African women to inspire you this Mother's Day — and any other day of the year.
1. Mom & Me & Mom by Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou was U.S. poet, singer, memoirist and civil rights activist best known for her seven autobiographies focusing on her childhood and early adult experiences.
"'Mom & Me & Mom' is delivered with Angelou's trademark good humour and fierce optimism. If any resentments linger between these lines, if lives are partially revealed without all the bitter details exposed, well, that is part of Angelou's forgiving design. As an account of reconciliation, this little book is just revealing enough, and pretty irresistible." - The Washington Post
2. This Child Will Be Great: Memoir of a Remarkable Life by Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa's First Woman President
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was born in Monrovia, moved to the United States to further her career at Harvard University and returned to Liberia. She was the 24th president of Liberia, 2006-2018.
In this stirring memoir, Sirleaf shares the story of her rise to power, including her early childhood; her experiences with abuse, imprisonment, and exile; and her fight for democracy and social justice.
She reveals her determination to succeed in multiple worlds, from her studies in the U.S. to campaigning in some of Liberia's most desperate and war-torn villages and neighbourhoods. It is the tale of an outspoken political and social reformer who fought the oppression of dictators and championed change. By telling her story, Sirleaf encourages women everywhere to pursue leadership roles at the highest levels of power and gives us all hope that we can change the world.
3. The House at Sugar Beach by Helene Cooper
Helene Cooper is a Liberian-born American journalist and the Pentagon correspondent for The New York Times. She received the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting for coverage of the 2014 Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa.
"'The House at Sugar Beach' is a deeply personal memoir and an examination of a violent and stratified country. The House at Sugar Beach tells of tragedy, forgiveness, and transcendence with unflinching honesty and a survivor's gentle humour." (Simon and Schuster)
4. On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker by A'Lelia Perry Bundles
"On Her Own Ground" is the first full-scale, definitive biography of Madam C. J. Walker — the legendary African-American entrepreneur and philanthropist — by her great-great-granddaughter, A'Lelia Bundles. "On Her Own Ground" is about a woman who is truly an African-American icon. The book is enriched by the author's exclusive access to personal letters, records and never-before-seen photographs from the family collection.
5. Brutal Legacy: A Memoir by Tracy Going
Tracy Going is an award-winning former TV and radio news anchor.
"It's for every mother who has run, every sister who has picked up the pieces and every friend who hasn't fled. It's for every brother who's cried and for the children who have watched. Every South African should read it." – Sisonke Msimang, author of "Always Another Country".
6. Reflecting Rogue, Inside the mind of a feminist by Professor Pumla Dineo Gqola
Pumla Dineo Gqola is a gender activist, award-winning author and full professor of African literature at Wits University.
In her most personal book to date, written from classic Gqola anti-racist, feminist perspectives, "Reflecting Rogue" delivers 20 essays of deliciously incisive brain food, all extremely accessible to a general critical readership, without sacrificing intellectual rigour.
7. Cancer: A love story by Lauren Segal
Lauren Segal is a South African author and museum curator.
"Cancer: A Love Story" is the intimately searing memoir of a four-time cancer survivor. The book breathlessly tracks Lauren's journey coming to terms with the untold challenges of the dreaded disease. But in the midst of her lonely horror, in a quest for deeper meaning, Lauren discovers the unexpected gift of awareness of unanticipated opportunities that cancer presents — to confront her unmasked humanity; her fears, strengths and weaknesses.
8. Country of My Skull byAntjie Krog
Antjie Krog is a South African poet, journalist, academic, and writer, the recipient of numerous awards, including the 2018 Gouden Ganzenveer (the golden goose feather), being the first non-Dutch speaking recipient.
"Country of My Skull" captures the complexity of the Truth Commission's work. The narrative is often traumatic, vivid, and provocative. Krog's powerful prose lures the reader actively and inventively through a mosaic of insights, impressions, and secret themes. This compelling tale is Antjie Krog's profound literary account of the mending of a country that was in colossal need of change.
9. Selected Stories byNadine Gordimer
Nadine Gordimer is a South African writer, political activist and recipient of the 1991 Nobel Prize in Literature. She was recognised as a woman "who through her magnificent epic writing has been of very great benefit to humanity" (Alfred Nobel).
In stories written over a period of thirty years, individuals caught up in racial and other South African tensions choose or fall victim to visions and fears of freedom and change.
10. Nervous Conditions, semi-autobiographical by Tsitsi Dangarembga
Tsitsi Dangarembga is a Zimbabwean author and filmmaker.
"Nervous Conditions" was awarded the Commonwealth Writers' Prize in 1989 and is regarded as a significant contribution to African feminism and post-colonialist narratives.
The semi-autobiographical novel focuses on the story of a Rhodesian family in post-colonial Rhodesia during the 1960s. The novel attempts to illustrate the dynamic themes of race, class, gender, and cultural change during the post-colonial conditions in the country that is now Zimbabwe.
11. The Aya Series by Marguerite Abouet
Marguerite Abouet is an Ivorian writer of graphic novels best known for her Aya series.
The series is one of the few works of postcolonial African fiction that focuses almost entirely on the middle class. Although not entirely autobiographical, the story is based on the author's life in Côte d'Ivoire. It was adapted into a critically acclaimed animated film, "Aya de Youpougon".
12. Prison Diary by Fatima Meer
Fatima Meer is a South African writer, academic, screenwriter, and prominent anti-apartheid activist.
This diary, written by an anti-apartheid activist during her incarceration in the Old Fort in Johannesburg in 1976, begins with her arrest and ends after her release and arrival back in Durban. Details about living conditions, treatment by female guards and visits with her daughters are provided. Her 113 days in captivity are recounted, including how she the practised her Muslim faith and read the Quran.
13. Eyebags & Dimples by Bonnie Henna
Bonnie Mbuli was born in Soweto, South Africa.
"From child star to mother and wife. From abuse to transcendence. From public figure to piercing private pain. 'Eyebags & Dimples' is a portrait of a woman healing by owning every part of who she is. Bonnie's bravery and vulnerability exemplify the kind of new personal narratives that will inspire the women of South Africa to self-reflect, reclaim and change the emotional status quo of our lives as well as that of our society." – Lebo Mashile
14. Becoming by Michelle Obama
Publication date: November 13 2018 — we're promised an intimate, powerful and inspiring memoir by the former first lady of the U.S.
15. Winnie Mandela: A Life, by Anne Mare du Preez Bezdrob
Everyone has an opinion about Winnie Mandela, and usually a strong one. She has been adored, feared and hated more than any other woman in South African history. But few people know much about the life behind the headlines, myths and sound-bites. This biography is an in-depth and intimate look at Winnie Mandela's personal and political life and takes the reader on a remarkable journey of understanding.
