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Cassava Republic Press
Founded2006; 18 years ago (2006)
FoundersBibi Bakare-Yusuf and Jeremy Weate
Country of originNigeria
DistributionNigeria: Yellow Danfo
UK: MPP
US: Consortium Books
Ghana: Smartline
South Africa: Pan Macmillan SA[1]
Key peopleBibi Bakare-Yusuf
Publication typesBooks
ImprintsCassava Republic Press; Ankara Press
Official websitecassavarepublic.biz/about-us-4/

Cassava Republic Press is a steering African book publishing company established in Nigeria in 2006 and headed by Bibi Bakare-Yusuf,[2][3][4] with a focus on affordability, the need to find and develop local talent, and to publish African writers too often celebrated only in Europe and America.[5][6] Cassava Republic's stated mission is "to change the way we all think about African writing. (...) to build a new body of African writing that links writers across different times and spaces."[2] The publishing house is considered to be "at the centre of a thriving literary scene" that has seen Nigerian writers in particular, as well as writers from elsewhere on the African continent, having considerable success both at home and internationally.[7][8] ThisDay newspaper has stated of the publishing house that "it is credited with innovation. From driving down the cost of books to using digital media to drive sales, Cassava has invariably sought to redefine the African narrative."[9]

After being based in Nigeria for a decade, Cassava Republic Press launched in London, England, in April 2016,[10][11] and in 2017 launched in the US,[12] becoming "the first African publisher to open a subsidiary outside the continent", as reported by the Financial Times.[13]

Authors taken on by Cassava Republic who are now internationally known include Teju Cole, Elnathan John and Sarah Ladipo Manyika.[14]

History

[edit]

In 2006, Bibi Bakare-Yusuf — previously an academic in the UK and Nigeria, holding a PhD in Gender Studies from the University of Warwick — set up a company, with her partner Jeremy Weate,[15] to produce high-quality African literature at a price that would enable it to be enjoyed by as wide an audience as possible.[5] They had no business or publishing experience, "just passion and a desire to see African stories written and owned by Africans. Inspirational figures in publishing such as Margaret Busby, co-founder of Allison & Busby, were our guide",[10] as Bakare-Yusuf has said: "The internet, Margaret Busby, and many mistakes were my greatest teachers!"[16] She recalls,

"When I moved to Nigeria as an academic, there were all these interesting African writers being published abroad, and they’re not available locally.... So I decided, ‘okay, I’m going to start a publishing company’. Cassava Republic Press. I knew nothing, nothing nothing nothing, about publishing! I knew everything about reading and writing, but nothing about the business of publishing. 150 million people. 77 million of them young people under 30. How do we get those people reading? Those are the people I’m actually interested in converting. We want to convert minds. We want to convert them to question who they are, and also question society."[17]

She has also said: "Visiting Nigeria and encountering the paucity and limited range of books in homes, libraries and bookstores was heart-breaking. I wondered what kind of civilization and cultural confidence could be built when so many homes are emptied of books or when the current books available rarely speak to or reflect the world the readers inhabit. I was struck deeply by this lack and decided to do something about it."[18] Explaining the company's name, she says: "Cassava is a relatively affordable but nutritious food crop found across West Africa and in the African diaspora. I wanted a publishing house that will connect Africa to itself and its diaspora and vice versa. The idea of a Republic implies the end of a monarchy and a fresh start.... The strapline or slogan for the company is 'Feeding the African Imagination', which fits nicely with our brand name."[5]

Bakare-Yusuf emphasises the need for Africans to be instrumental in publishing as well as writing books: "We started Cassava Republic Press because we wanted Africans to own the means of production, to be in charge of the storytelling and not just writing the stories but to own the facilities and the infrastructure for telling the stories."[19][20]

Headquartered in Abuja, Nigeria, Cassava Republic has built a reputation primarily for literary fiction (with authors including winners of the Caine Prize, Commonwealth Writers' Prize and Orange Prize)[21] but also for fiction in other genres, such as crime. In addition, the list includes books for children and young adults, and several titles have been on Nigeria's national curriculum.[22] Among notable authors published by the company are Sarah Ladipo Manyika, Lola Shoneyin, Teju Cole, Helon Habila, Elnathan John, Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani, Mũkoma wa Ngũgĩ, Chigozie Obioma, Abubakar Adam Ibrahim, Christie Watson, John Collins, Sade Adeniran, Toni Kan, Doreen Baingana, and others.[23][24]

In 2014, an associated imprint called Ankara Press was launched, with titles available in digital form as e-books,[25] aiming to publish "a new kind of romance" that challenges conventional stereotypes, reflecting the lives and aspirations of modern African women and men:[26][27][28][29] "We want scenarios that discard dangerous notions of male dominance, control and manipulation. Above all, we want writers who will allow African women to see the best version of themselves in print."[30] Founder Bakare-Yusuf has said: "I felt that our ideas about African literature needed to be more diverse.... We don’t think of African literature in terms of genre fiction. Yet, genre fiction is the mainstay of many publishing houses all over the world."[9]

Expansion into the UK and US

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In 2015 Cassava Republic Press announced plans to launch its titles in the UK in April 2016, with a presence at literary festivals as part of a partnership with the British Council.[3][17][31][32] Founder Bakare-Yusuf, now based in London, has described the move as "unprecedented: an African publishing house establishing a base in the UK after nearly ten years in Africa rather than the reverse. This is the birthing of African publishing onto the world stage."[3][33][34][35] Titles launched in the UK include Elnathan John's Born on a Tuesday, Sarah Ladipo Manyika's Like A Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the Sun, Leye Adenle's Easy Motion Tourist, H. J. Golakai's The Lazarus Effect and Abubakar Adam Ibrahim's Season of Crimson Blossoms.[36]

Cassava Republic further expanded sales of its titles with a distribution deal to make the company's books directly available in US bookstores in 2017, when Bakare-Yusuf was quoted in Quartz as saying: "[London and New York] give symbolic legitimization to African writing whether we like it or not and we are acutely aware if that. But we are always saying even if they are the centers for legitimization, the means of production must be owned by Africans."[37] She also said, as reported by Publishers Weekly: "Our aim is to show the broader reading audience that there is more to African life and literature than what you might read in the news."[12]

In preference to the conventional route of selling publication rights to US publishers, Cassava Republic instead distributes its own editions to American booksellers through Consortium, a Minnesota-based distributor, and this represents "a significant new landmark for African literature", according to The New York Times: "Until now, much if not all of the African literature in the West has been filtered through the tastes of European and American publishers and editors, who often select works they judge to be historically significant, educational or prize worthy. Now, for the first time, an African publisher is choosing which books get exported, and as a result, Western readers are gaining access to a greater variety of titles, ranging from contemporary African romance and hard-boiled crime to epic fantasy and children’s books."[38]

Plans for Cassava Republic to launch an African-language imprint were announced by Bakare-Yusuf in November 2019.[39]

Awards

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Cassava Republic Press won the Independent Publishers Guild's Alison Morrison Diversity Award in March 2018.[40] At the London Book Fair in April 2018 Cassava Republic Press received the Inclusivity in Publishing Award, supported by The Publishers Association.[41] In September 2020, Bakare-Yusuf won the Distinguished Africanist Award from the African Studies Association of the United Kingdom.[42]

In October 2019, Cassava Republic Press was announced as one of five African organizations each to have been awarded a $20,000 grant from the African Publishing Innovation Fund in order to launch innovative projects that will develop literacy, book accessibility, and the use of indigenous African languages in literature.[43]

Further reading

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References

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  1. ^ "Contact Us", Cassava Republic.
  2. ^ a b "About Us", Cassava Republic website.
  3. ^ a b c Abrams, Dennis (30 November 2015). "Nigeria's Cassava Republic Press to Launch in the UK". Publishing Perspectives.
  4. ^ "Bibi Bakare-Yusuf" Archived 2018-09-29 at the Wayback Machine, Aké Arts & Book Festival.
  5. ^ a b c Umaisha, Sumaila (17 May 2008). "Rebuilding the reading and writing culture (interview)". New Nigerian.
  6. ^ Bridle, James (1 June 2010), "Cassava Republic", booktwo.org.
  7. ^ Ogunlesi, Tolu (6 October 2015), "A new chapter in Nigeria’s literature", The Financial Times.
  8. ^ Adebisi, Yemi (12 February 2011), "Nigeria: Cassava Republic Captures Book Industry", Daily Independent (Lagos). AllAfrica.
  9. ^ a b Elusoji, Solomon (27 February 2015), "Cassava Republic's Inventive Prowess", ThisDay. Archived 3 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine.
  10. ^ a b Wanner, Zukiswa (May 2016), "Bibi Comes to London", New African, Vol. 561.
  11. ^ "Nigerian Publishing House Cassava Republic Comes to the UK This April", What's On Africa (Royal African Society), April 2016.
  12. ^ a b Nawotka, Ed (30 June 2017), "Cassava Republic Brings Africa to America", Publishers Weekly.
  13. ^ Fic, Maggie (27 November 2016). "Publisher's expansion brings Nigerian writers to world stage". Financial Times.
  14. ^ Piesing, Mark (6 December 2016). "Nigeria's Bibi Bakare-Yusuf: 'Our Brand Is Growing'". Publishing Perspectives.
  15. ^ Otas, Belinda, and Tolu Ogunlesi (27 April 2010), "Feeding the African Imagination: Nigeria’s Cassava Republic", Publishing Perspectives.
  16. ^ Mang, Riley (2019). "Interview with Bibi Bakare-Yusuf". Los Angeles Review.
  17. ^ a b Jennifer (25 November 2015), "A Renewed Interest in Literature from Africa: Trailblazer Cassava Republic Press to Launch in the United Kingdom", Books Live.
  18. ^ de Chamberet, Georgia (22 August 2021). "Interview | Bibi Bakare-Yusuf, Cassava Republic Press | Indie Publisher of the Week". BookBlast. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  19. ^ "Bringing African writers to the public", BBC News, 14 October 2019.
  20. ^ Kirkbride, Jasmin (13 May 2016). "'One country at a time, one book at a time': An interview with Bibi Bakare-Yusuf from Cassava Republic Press". BookBrunch.
  21. ^ "Cassava Republic hosts Christmas Fair", Geosi Reads, November 2011.
  22. ^ "Bibi Bakare-Yusuf, 2012", Yale World Fellows.
  23. ^ "Meet the authors", Writing a New Nigeria, BBC Radio 4.
  24. ^ Shercliff, Emma (8 December 2015) "Five Nigerian novelists you should read", Voices – British Council.
  25. ^ Murua, James (20 November 2014). "Cassava Republic unveils Nigeria's newest romance imprint". Writing Africa. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
  26. ^ "Ankara Press, new romance imprint from Cassava Republic Press", The Chimurenga Chronic, 15 December 2014.
  27. ^ Shercliff, Emma (15 December 2014), "Ankara Press: A New Kind of Romance", Africa is a Country.
  28. ^ Carpenter, Caroline (17 December 2014). "New 'empowering' romance imprint from Cassava Republic". The Bookseller.
  29. ^ Edoro, Ainehi (14 January 2015). "Ankara Press Debuts 6 African Romance Novels That are Better Than Mills & Boon". Brittle Paper.
  30. ^ Onwualu, Chinelo, "Introducing Ankara Press", Cassava Republic website.
  31. ^ Barratt, Jess (24 November 2015), "Cassava Republic to launch in the UK in April 2016", FMcC.
  32. ^ Felix, Chad (25 November 2015), "Cassava Republic Press to publish leading African authors in the UK", Melville House.
  33. ^ Onwuemezi, Natasha (24 November 2015). "African publisher Cassava Republic to launch in UK". The Bookseller.
  34. ^ "Leading African Publisher to launch in the UK introducing the finest new voices from the continent", Africa in Words, 6 December 2015.
  35. ^ Bagnetto, Laura Angela (20 January 2016). "Nigeria: Abuja-Based Publishing House Cassava Republic Opens UK Office". Radio France Internationale.
  36. ^ Quadri, Zaynab (26 November 2015). "Leading African publishing house to launch in the U.K". Pulse.
  37. ^ Edozien, Frankie (12 May 2017). "How a boutique Nigerian book publisher is breaking into the US market". Quartz Africa.
  38. ^ Alter, Alexandra (23 November 2017). "A Wave of New Fiction From Nigeria, as Young Writers Experiment With New Genres". The New York Times.
  39. ^ "Cassava Republic Press to Start African Language Imprint with $20,000 African Publishing Innovation Fund Grant", Brittle Paper, 2 November 2019.
  40. ^ "IPG Independent Publishing Awards honour 2018 winners", IPG (Independent Publishers Guild). Archived 3 June 2019 at the Wayback Machine.
  41. ^ Obi-Young, Otosirieze (2 May 2018). "Cassava Republic Wins London Book Fair's 2018 Inclusivity in Publishing International Excellence Award". Brittle Paper.
  42. ^ Anderson, Porter (14 September 2020). "New Honors for Bibi Bakare-Yusuf in the UK, Walter Mosley in the States". Publishing Perspectives. Archived from the original on 15 September 2020. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
  43. ^ Teoh, Jacqulyn (30 October 2019). "Cassava Republic Press, OkadaBooks Receive Inaugural $20,000 Grants Each from the African Publishing Innovation Fund". Brittle Paper.
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