Clarke to edit new anthology ‘Growing Up African in Australia’

Black Inc. has announced it will publish a new anthology in 2019, Growing up African in Australia, which will be edited by Maxine Beneba Clarke, with assistance from writers Ahmed Yussuf and Magan Magan.

The anthology, which will be aimed at both general readers and high-school students, is the newest addition to a series of life writing that includes the forthcoming Growing up Aboriginal in Australia, edited by Anita Heiss, and 2008’s Growing up Asian in Australia, edited by Alice Pung.

Black Inc. is currently seeking submissions that ‘deal with any aspect of growing up as part of the African diaspora’. ‘People of African descent have been in Australia for at least 200 years, yet their stories are largely missing from Australian writing. What we hope to receive is honest, original and personal nonfiction,’ said the publisher in a statement.

Clarke said Growing up African in Australia will be ‘an incredibly timely book that contributes greatly to our understanding of black diaspora childhood experiences in Australia’.

‘It’s my hope that in addition to discovering new and exciting African diaspora Australian voices and publishing vibrant, interesting stories by more well-known personalities, this book will assist in dispelling some of the stereotypes and misconceptions that currently exist about black migrants to Australia,’ said Clarke. ‘Above all, it’s my hope that at the end of the process, I hold in my hand the kind of book I would have loved to read as an African diaspora young person growing up in Sydney’s suburbs.’

Submissions of between 1000 and 3000 words will be accepted until 1 June 2018.

For more information, click here.

Category: Local news