The Publishing and Digital Dissemination of Creative Writing in Cameroon

Abstract

There is no denying that the publishing medium plays a role in the content of what gets published. The fact that African literature has depended for the most part on foreign publishers has certainly affected the kinds of stories that are written and disseminated. While multinational corporations exposed African writers to an international audience, they inadvertently stifled creativity and limited the creative arena. This is the point Kole Omotoso reiterates when he writes: One side effect of a foreign audience is that this audience can take only a few ‘phenomenal’ African writers at one time. There can only be one Achebe at a time and his way of writing also becomes the way African literature must be written. If another writer attempts to do something else, he upsets the foreign audience and there is an end. If our audience was home based, then we could have any number and variety of writers because, except there be deliberate attempt to court trouble, the sky is wide enough for two birds to fly in peace!1 Recently, there has been a similar accusation about the type of novels chosen for The Caine Prize for African Literature. While the Caine Prize for African Literature can be credited for launching a new generation of writers like Chimamanda Adichie, Helon Habila, Binyavanga Wainaina and NoViolet Bulawayo, the prize has been accused of promoting the Africa of war and poverty championed by Western media.