Our Daughter, Who Art in America - Compiled by Mukana Press - ★★★.½

EDITOR: Mukana Press

GENRE: OwnVoices Anthology

PUBLICATION DATE: April 15, 2024

RATING: 3.6 stars

In a Nutshell: An OwnVoices anthology from indie writers hailing from the African continent. Some amazing stories herein dealing with complex yet realistic human situations. I would have loved to see a greater number of and a greater range of stories.

Mukana Press was established two years ago "to discover Africa's most promising writers". I had read the first two short story anthologies by this publisher in 2022 and found both a delight to read. As such, I picked up this collection with high hopes. The stories matched my expectations in terms of quality, but not in terms of range or quantity.

The publisher stated that they received 564 submissions from 23 countries last year. This number is promoted on the blurb as well as in the foreword of this collection. Imagine my disappointment then to see that the book contains only ten stories, and of these, one was repeated from their earlier collection, ‘Send Her Back and Other Stories’ by Munashe Kaseke.

With the talent that these writers possess, I would have loved to see double the number of stories in this anthology. Ten is too few!

I loved the foreword. This is exactly the kind of introduction I love to see in anthologies: one that offers a clear idea of the intent behind the collection, the editorial and selection process and the theme of the shortlisted tales.

The ten stories here explore a gamut of human emotions. However, almost all of the stories have women in key roles, making it a somewhat lopsided depiction. I suppose women exhibit a larger range of emotions without inhibitions, thereby making them the optimal gender for an emotion-oriented anthology. But I wish the diversity of the tales had extended to other genders and social themes as well.

There is an undeniable African tang to the writing. The culture, the beliefs, the gender bias, the social mores, the superstitions – all come intermingled with the picture of modern Africa with its cities and environmental-focussed initiatives and ambitious citizens. A couple of the stories have a delicious undertone of irreverence, but most of them are dramatic in flavour, and even when they have some light moments, they are more satirical than comic.

The endings of the stories are mostly satisfying, though not neat or happy. They do justice to their plots, and that’s what matters most in short fiction.

The stories have been divided into two sections. The foreword specifies that the first part (with seven stories) has easy-to-read, lighter stories, while the second part (with the remaining three stories) tackles more serious issues. However, the “lighter” tales aren't necessarily happy or relaxing stories. They also have weighty themes, and many of them deal with darker human experiences, though admittedly, not as dark as the final three tales. So “lighter” is a very relative word in this context.

The shortlisted authors hail from Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, with three authors’ country of origin left unspecified. I wish the author bios had included this data clearly; it is so important in a collection that stresses on the OwnVoices background of the author. Also, the included bio should have been placed immediately after the story rather than being pooled together at the end. This helps us in checking out the other works of the authors whose stories we enjoyed without having to flip back to the index to see which story was theirs.

As always, I rated the stories individually. Every single story crossed the three-star mark for me, meaning I hated none of them. These were my favourites from this book:

🌍 Little Woman - Favour Ahuchaogo: A beautiful story about a woman much larger than her physical size. Didn't expect it to go the way it did, but was a memorable journey nonetheless. - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

🌍 The Ripening - Gloria Mwaniga Odary: A bittersweet story from a little girl's point of view, telling us how she lost her best friend due to the "ripening" of certain things. Loved how it takes a dark subject matter and gives it a lighter tough thanks to the choice of narrator. - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

🌍 Market Craze - Delight Chinenye Ejiaka: A tragicomic story about the tussle between two priorities. Loved the ending; it’s a sharp comment on human behaviour. - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

🌍 The Way We Bend – Milred Barya: A touching story about an African American woman who wants to embrace her roots in Africa but finds herself struggling. Very poignant! - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Overall, I enjoyed this collection, though not as much as I had hoped. It has a strong African flavour in its content as well as its voice: the benefit of reading OwnVoices writing.

Recommended to readers who would enjoy authentic OwnVoices short stories from Africa or stories about the human psyche as affected by social restrictions.

3.6 stars, based on the average of my ratings for each story.

My thanks to Mukana Press and NetGalley for the DRC of “Our Daughter, Who Art in America”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.