Under An African Sky

An anthology of short stories by African writers from a dozen countries. The subjects range from war and politics to problems with domestics and African humor. Some stories were written in English, others are translations from Arabic, French and Portuguese. All were written in the latter part of the 20th century.

A collection of science fiction tales set in a futuristic African continent features the writing of Vernor Vinge, Gregory Benford, Bruce Sterling, Kim Stanley Robinson, Howard Waldrop, and Mike Resnick. Original.

The author has been visiting the same village in Mauritania on the remote edge of the Sahara for over twenty years. This is the story of his most recent journey there—an intense and engaging day-by-day account through which global change and inequality are made human. The Sahel—the "shore" of the Sahara—is where cultures, customs, and climates meet, merge, and clash. Through the numerous characters we meet and from the obviously deep and sympathetic nature of the relationship the author has with the local people, with whom he now runs agricultural projects, we learn of the realities of life in one of the harshest, most marginalised, but also quietly inspiring corners of the world. Searingly honest and refreshing, this is a superbly written piece of travel writing about a little-known part of the world. The author gets under the surface and gives a sensitive account of what life is like. He understands not just the culture and complex social dealings but also how economics and geo-political forces that can profoundly affect the lives of people in a remote community. Illustrated with maps and line drawings, Under an African Sky is a unique journey for the armchair traveler and those interested in development, climate change, global politics, and economics. Peter Hudson has traveled widely in Mauritania and other parts of West Africa and has written several books including Leaf in the Wind, Travels in Mauritania, and Two Rivers.

UNDER THE AFRICAN SKY is the story of Krishna, a nine-year-old Indian-American boy who struggles to reconcile his Indian heritage with his American identity. In this story, Krishna travels with his parents to Kruger National Park in South Africa for a safari. Krishna can hardly contain his excitement to discover wild animals in their natural habitat. When he gets there, Krishna realizes that while nature can seem tough and unforgiving, amazing experiences await those who are patient and attentive. He strikes up a surprising and touching friendship with Broken Tusk, an elephant who resides in the Park among his herd. Through this friendshipand a nocturnal adventure full of magicBroken Tusk shows Krishna the real splendor of the African wilderness, of nature everywhere, and of Krishnas own unique heritage and experience.

Under the African Sky provides you with the history of a family following their dream against the backdrop of a stunning and often surprising continent, which is Africa. Their travels take you on a breathtaking journey of peril, hardship, and love into the heart of Africa.

Western literature has become more influential in Africa since the independence of many of that continent's countries in the early 1960s. In particular, Greek tragedy has grown as model and inspiration for African theatre artists. This work begins with a discussion of the affinity that modern-day African playwrights have for ancient Greek tragedy and the factors that determine their choice of classical texts and topics. The study concentrates on how African playwrights transplant the dramatic action and narrative of the Greek texts by rewriting both the performance codes and the cultural context. The methods by which African playwrights have adapted Greek tragedy and the ways in which the plays satisfy the prevailing principles of both cultures are examined. The plays are The Bacchae of Euripides by Wole Soyinka, Song of a Goat by J.P. Clark, The Gods Are Not to Blame by Ola Rotimi, Guy Butler's Demea, Efua Sutherland's Edufa, Orestes by Athol Fugard, The Song of Jacob Zulu by Tug Yourgrau, Femi Osofisan's Tegonni, Edward Kamau Brathwaite's Odale's Choice, The Island by Fugard, John Kani, and Winston Ntshona, and Sylvain Bemba's Black Wedding Candles for Blessed Antigone.

Just like the title of the book 'Under The African Sky,' this book is a collection of stories to help promote some African culture to the outside world. The society we are currently living in is filled with many wicked, disobedient, disrespectful, corrupt, rude, proud and greedy people. I believe in the saying "charity begins at home." Most of the character which people demonstrate outside of their homes is the result of what they have learned from their homes as they were growing up. Being raised in an environment that is lacking in love, kindness, and in the caring for others and the world that surrounds them, young impressionable minds are often corrupted in their reasoning and doings as they mature into adults. I believe if children can acquire a good upbringing from their homes it will go a long way toward cleansing our societies, our world and environments of these problems.A balanced society in which love, kindness and the sharing of abundance is always demonstrated will encourage the development of a kind, considerate and thoughtful character in the individual, (Story-One). It is of great benefit for our younger ones to listen to their parents' and elders' advice and teachings as they mature so that they will succeed in life, (Story-two).It is also a great benefit for the younger ones to know that they will only be able to succeed in life if they read, study very hard, and diligently apply themselves in acquiring a good education in school rather than depending upon any form of cheating and malpractice in the pursuit of education, knowledge and wisdom,(Story-three).Vainglorious pride destroys character worse than anything else can. A proud person will never learn from his or her mistakes in life. Overarching pride and vanity ruins a person, (Story-four). It is also important to know that the combination of strength and wisdom work together better than independently of each other. If you depend solely on strength alone without wisdom you might end up doing foolish things in life, (Story-five). Learn to trust and believe in God for assistance. Whatever you are doing, make sure you do it well so that God and the people in the society will honor you, (Story-six). The book also contains questions at the end of each story to refresh the readers' mind back to what he/she has read. In this way the reader will learn correctly how to better comprehend what was read and answer questions in English language. Dictionary work is also included to enhance smooth reading and comprehension.Aside from the lessons this book provides for our younger generation, it will also help to enlighten and bring them up into the fascinating and wonderful world of literature - what it takes to think, read and write. This book is not only for entertainment purpose. It is also targeted at teaching young ones good moral and ethical behaviour in their society. Adamu Donald