In 2016, Cassava Republic Press, co-founded and directed by Bibi Bakare-Yusuf, branched out from its headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria to open offices in London. Taking place only ten years after the press first launched, this was an extraordinarily bold move: “the first African publisher to establish a subsidiary outside of the continent”.^[i]What is the Cassava Republic Press? How were they able to make this move? And what might the significance be for the African publishing industry both in and outside of Africa?

Named as one of the “most radical indie publishers”^[ii], Cassava Republic Press is on a mission “to change the way we all think about African writing”.^[iii]It is committed to sharing diverse African stories that engage with questions about the past, present and future of African writing. Bakare-Yusuf has said, “when I go into the archive of African letters, I think it’s not as full as I would like it to be”.^[iv]In resistance to this, Cassava Republic publishes a wide range of fiction, short stories (it recently established a Shorts imprint), non-fiction and children’s literature; its list features Abubakar Adam Ibrahim’s Season of Crimson Blossoms, Elnathan John’s Born on a Tuesday and Yemisi Aribisala’s memoir, Longthroat Memoirs: Soups, Sex and Nigerian Taste Buds. Cassava Republic even boasts a romance imprint called Ankara Press which, in Bakare-Yusuf’s words, produces innovative stories by putting “African or black women at the centre of the narrative and African men as a love object”.^[v]Here, unlike other romances found in the Nigerian literary marketplace, the women’s desire is at the centre. 

Receiving a $20,000 grant from the African Publishing Innovation Fund means Cassava Republic can now realise Bakare-Yusuf’s “dream” of launching an imprint dedicated to African languages.^[vi]To begin with, they will focus on commissions of children’s literature in Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa; translations of current stories will come later.^[vii]By proclaiming the value of non-English literatures (especially to children as a way of fostering confidence in their mother tongue), Cassava Republic is asserting the demand for books in these languages, making them more accessible to Nigerian audiences, and resisting the way meanings and nuances become lost in English translations. 

Bakare-Yusuf, who had no prior experience of the publishing industry when she started up Cassava Republic in 2006,was inspired to open an office in London because it is “home to many Africans”, and the location would enable the press to simultaneously “reach out to the global market” and welcome African writers into the publishing house.^[viii]The move is so significant because it has traditionally been the case that English and American presses set themselves up in Africa and then strengthen control over the kinds of African narratives that enter the Western literary market. Bakare-Yusuf therefore proclaimed launching the London base as “an intervention” into the Western publishing industry.^[ix]By introducing diverse writings from Africa into the Nigerian and Western literary spheres which might otherwise not reach mainstream readerships, Cassava Republic challenges England and America’s monopoly of the industry. In particular, the ‘Big 5’ trade publishers have a reputation for only accepting a narrow range of African writers who they simplistically uphold as voices of the continent; in Jeanne-Marie Jackson’s phrase, “a handful of star “Afropolitan” names are at the forefront of global trade publishing”.^[x]From their position in the UK, however, Cassava Republic is empowered to influence how Nigerian trade publishing might develop and to shape the consumption of African writing in England. This is not a solo mission on Bakare-Yusuf’s part nevertheless; she works with Emma Shercliff, former employee of Macmillan English Campus and Hodder Education, whose knowledge of Nigerian publishing was gained through working with Cassava Republic in Abuja for two years.^[xi]

There are numerous distinctions between the publishing industries in Nigeria and Europe or America. Many of these inhibit smaller African presses from expanding, prevent African writers being noticed, and help Western publishers control what kinds of African writing are consumed in the global market. These include:

• issues of expenses – “books are often too expensive for the average Nigerian”,^[xii]
• many ‘African’ books published in America and Europe are not available in Nigeria,
• independent African publishers often don’t have the economic capital to risk investing in new voices,
• the high degree of self-publishing in Nigeria means small local presses may feel it is safer to invest in books that are already established successes^,[xiii]
• the difficulty for many African writers of attracting the attention of agents and publishers is combined with the fact their writing might not cater to “Western tastes”.^[xiv]

It is difficult to predict how many other African publishing houses will have the resources and confidence to follow Cassava Republic’s example. It may be some time. For now, however, Bakare-Yusuf’s press is expanding understandings of the global literary marketplace and giving a platform to African writers who might struggle to access it. Jeanne-Marie Jackson asks, “Who gets to document African realities? Who are the “gatekeepers” of African publishing traditions?”^[xv]One answer might be that Cassava Republic is working to decentre the attempts of Western publishers to occupy this gate-keeping role by publishing distinct stories of Africa which resonate with wider audiences in a rapidly changing world. Does an expansion to America beckon next?

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Endnotes

^[i]Kit Caless, “Inside the UK’s most radical indie publishers, Part Three: Cassava Republic,” huck, May 8, 2018, https://www.huckmag.com/art-and-culture/books-art-and-culture/cassava-republic-inside-uks-radical-indie-publishers/.

^[ii]Ibid.

^[iii] Natasha Onwuemezi, “African publisher Cassava Republic to launch in UK,” The Bookseller, November 24, 2015, https://www.thebookseller.com/news/african-publisher-cassava-republic-launch-uk-317035.

^[iv]Anshuman Iddamsetty, “Vanguard: Meet the Nigerian Publisher Heating Up African Romance Novels,” Shopify, August 19, 2019, https://www.shopify.co.uk/blog/vanguard-nigerian-publisher-african-romance-novels.

^[v]Ibid.

^[vi]Jacqulyn Teoh, “Cassava Republic to Start African Language Imprint with $20,000 African Publishing Innovation Fund Grant,” Brittle Paper, November 2, 2019, https://brittlepaper.com/2019/11/cassava-republic-press-publishing-director-bibi-bakare-yusuf-plans-to-start-african-language-imprint-with-20000-african-publishing-innovation-fund-grant/?fbclid=IwAR1vwaExKspcgRuXXrxTEnOoUB-cY5VMS831UQRdNU7Dwg2sFsctTZJ28N4).

^[vii]Ibid.

^[viii]Kit Caless, “Inside the UK’s most radical indie publishers, Part Three: Cassava Republic,” huck, May 8, 2018, https://www.huckmag.com/art-and-culture/books-art-and-culture/cassava-republic-inside-uks-radical-indie-publishers/.

^[ix]Natasha Onwuemezi, “African publisher Cassava Republic to launch in UK,” The Bookseller, November 24, 2015, https://www.thebookseller.com/news/african-publisher-cassava-republic-launch-uk-317035.

^[x]Jeanne-Marie Jackson, “New African literature is disrupting what Western presses prize,” The Conversation, October 9, 2017, https://theconversation.com/new-african-literature-is-disrupting-what-western-presses-prize-85206.

^[xi]Natasha Onwuemezi, “African publisher Cassava Republic to launch in UK,” The Bookseller, November 24, 2015, https://www.thebookseller.com/news/african-publisher-cassava-republic-launch-uk-317035.

^[xii]Yomi Kazeem, “There are bookshops in Nigeria – but nowhere near enough,” Quartz Afirca, February 3, 2018, https://qz.com/africa/1196458/chimamanda-adichie-and-nigerias-bookshops/.

^[xiii]Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani, “African Books for Western Eyes,” The New York Times, November 28, 2014, https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/30/opinion/sunday/african-books-for-western-eyes.html.

^[xiv]Ibid.

^[xv]Jeanne-MarieJackson, “New African literature is disrupting what Western presses prize,” The Conversation, October 9, 2017, https://theconversation.com/new-african-literature-is-disrupting-what-western-presses-prize-85206.