CAS LT Seminar Series 2026 - 'Literary Activism: Practice, Praxis and Production in Contemporary Africa' - Prof Madhu Krishnan, University of Bristol

This talk considers the contours of what has come to be called 'literary activism' in the context of 21st century Africa. Contested in its meaning, literary activism has become shorthand both for the work of championing the literary, specifically, as a site of social production and, alternatively, as the act of opening pathways and spaces for the generation of new, material modes of literary creation.

In this talk, I draw on over a decade of field-based research with African literary collectives, loosely termed 'independent', though this is, of course, a contested term. I trace the mateiral histopry of literary activism, such as it has played out on the African continent over the long 20th century, to set the stage for its contemporary guises. In so doing, I discuss the ways in which discussions of the 'world republic of literatures' occludes the often less visible spaces of literary creation which are lived, real and materially evident, whilst still holding a significant sway in their contours.

Madhu Krishnan is Professor of African, World and Comparative Literatures at the University of Bristol, where she was previously Director of the Centre for Black Humanities. Her research explores the lived realities and material contours of African literary production, with an emphasis on Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Kenya, Uganda and Nigeria. She is author of a number of monographs, including Contingent Canons: African Literatures and the Politics of Location (2018), Writing Spatiality in West Africa (2018) and Can Higher Education be Decolonised? (2025). Her current research explores the interrelationship between post-work theory and cultural practice on the African continent, and she was recently PI of and ERC funded project 'Literary Activism in Africa: Commons, Publics and Networks of Practice'.

Please note that exceptionally, the CAS seminar series will take place on Tuesdays from 16:30 to 18:00 throughout Lent Term 2026.

All are welcome to attend. An informal drinks reception will be held after the talk.