Guanya Pau: Story of an African Princess by Joseph Walters Jeffrey, first published in 1891, is a rare manuscript, the original residing in one of the great libraries of the world. This book is a reproduction of that original, which has been scanned and cleaned by state-of-the-art publishing tools for better readability and enhanced appreciation. Restoration Editors' mission is to bring long out of print manuscripts back to life. Some smudges, annotations or unclear text may still exist, due to permanent damage to the original work. We believe the literary significance of the text justifies offering this reproduction, allowing a new generation to appreciate it.

The first book of long fiction by an African to be published in English, this novel tells the story of a young woman of the Vai people in Liberia. Guanya Pau, betrothed as a child to a much older, polygamous man, flees her home rather than be forced into marriage, and the novel recounts her subsequent efforts to reach the Christian community where the man she loves awaits her. Joseph Jeffrey Walters was a Vai man who converted to Christianity, and this, his only novel, is a remarkably complex work, embracing both Christian beliefs and a deep pride in his African heritage. This Broadview edition includes a critical introduction that locates the novel in the context of Vai culture and the history of African missions, and a rich selection of historical documents relating to the education of African women, the Vai writing system, and the author’s life.

The first book of long fiction by an African to be published in English, this novel tells the story of a young woman of the Vai people in Liberia. Guanya Pau, betrothed as a child to a much older, polygamous man, flees her home rather than be forced into marriage, and the novel recounts her subsequent efforts to reach the Christian community where the man she loves awaits her. Joseph Jeffrey Walters was a Vai man who converted to Christianity, and this, his only novel, is a remarkably complex work, embracing both Christian beliefs and a deep pride in his African heritage. This Broadview edition includes a critical introduction that locates the novel in the context of Vai culture and the history of African missions, and a rich selection of historical documents relating to the education of African women, the Vai writing system, and the author’s life.

Here is an introduction to the history of English writing from East and West Africa drawing on a range of texts from the slave diaspora to the post-war upsurge in African English language and literature from these regions.

Since its founding by the American Baptist Home Mission Society in 1865, Virginia Union University has nurtured its students for nearly 150 years. Its first campus was established on the site of the Lumpkin slave prison in what was then the notorious Shockoe Bottom district of Richmond, Virginia, thus replacing a horrific purpose with one dedicated to education and enlightenment. Four historically black institutions came together into one university: Richmond Theological Seminary, Wayland Seminary, Hartshorn Memorial College for African American women, and Storer College. Overcoming Jim Crow laws and racial adversity, Virginia Union University became the center of a renowned theological school and a focal point during the civil rights movement, matriculating leaders such as Wyatt Tee Walker, Walter Fauntroy, and Elizabeth Rice and igniting the Richmond Campaign for Human Dignity in the wake of the arrest of the Virginia Union 34 during the 1960 sit-ins. Today, Virginia Union is a vibrant urban university offering graduate education in ministry, Christian education, and divinity and undergraduate degrees through the Schools of Business, Humanities & Social Sciences, Education, Psychology & Interdisciplinary Studies, and Mathematics, Science & Technology. Under the leadership of Dr. Claude Grandford Perkins, Virginia Unions 12th president, the university carries on its proud legacy of achievement.

Includes articles, annotated filmography, interviews, creative writing, and book reviews.

This volume reflects one of the new areas of English Studies as it broadens to take in non-western literatures, and places more emphasis on the contexts and broader notions of `writing'. In discussing writing from and about Africa, this collection touches on studies in black writing, colonialism and imperialism and cultural development in the third world. It begins by providing a historical introduction to the main regional traditions, and then builds on this to discuss major issues, such as oral tradition, the significance of `literature' as a western import, representations of Africa in western writing, African writing against colonialism and its themes and politics in a post-colonial world, popular writing and the representation of women.