Since its rise to world stature in the early 1960s, the African novel has offered both literary invention and bitter insight into the post-colonial experience. Such authors as Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, and Ngugi wa Thiong'o have helped define the novel of political engagement at the dawn of African independence. More recently, a group of younger African writers has joined them, embracing the tradition of literary protest while testing the limits of narrative form.

Derek Wright's New Directions in African Fiction examines the recent work of both generations, providing readers with a lively, lucid introduction to today's African novel.

This study explores twenty-one of the most innovative English-language novels written by Africans over the past thirty years. Rather than basing his selection on an overarching theme, Wright presents a broad range of works and offers an in-depth reading of each on its own terms, guiding readers through contemporary African fiction in all its specificity and diversity.