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Featured Articles
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Testimonials
"Nana D has shown me how writing can heal whilst also helping re-conceptualise and rethink the way in which we engage with the world around us. Nana’s writing has, for the longest times, pushed boundaries and allowed folks the cognitive space to go beyond the ways in which they approach things. Nana’s writing (and the subsequent space it creates) is deliciously engaging and life saving. I am here for it, completely."
Tiffany Mugo, author of Quirky Quick Guide to Having Great Sex.
Nana is one of my favourite writers. I would read her all day. Clever, compassionate, very funny and a bit naughty – what else do you want? Reading her writing is like having a drink with your most brilliant, sexiest feminist friend. You do it once, and you ask: girl, what are you doing tomorrow? She's done us all a great service by writing an entire book – especially in this confusing, stressful, socially-distanced time: we need more Nana, and now we can all have her.
Claire Provost, Global Investigations Editor, openDemocracy
There is no subject off limits for Nana. But she is not preachy or judgmental. Her writing is clear and engaging, and you end up wondering why you ever thought a topic was taboo.
Liz Ford, Women’s Rights & Gender Equality Lead, The Guardian
Nana Darkoa’s writing is fresh and necessary, exploring the realities, aspirations and interior lives of African women and queer people with courage, humour and a delightfully frank honesty.
Olutimehin Adegbeye, Writer, Speaker and Advocate.
Mark my words: when our daughters pay tribute to the African feminist giants whose shoulders they stand on, Nana Darkoa will be high on their list. Not just because she has made it possible for hundreds of African womxn to shamelessly explore their sexuality, but also because she has empowered us to break the taboo and speak freely about the very issues we had been told should remain unexpressed: desire and pleasure.
Françoise Moudouthe, CEO, African Women’s Development Fund
Nana Darkoa writes in a way that helps readers access parts of themselves they didn't even know were yearning to be articulated. Thanks to the critical, playful and frank cadence to Nana's writing, upon reading her one feels as though one had taken part in a ritual with a feminist coven, or a fierce political discussion with feminist activists, or a soothing conversation with feminist grandmothers. Whichever the mood, it is always a liberatory experience.
Minna Salami, feminist theorist, blogger and author of Sensuous Knowledge.
I have been a fan of Nana Darkoa ever since I saw her at the Africa Utopia festival in 2017. She’s a unique thinker and her capacity to challenge and provoke appeals to me. I hope many more will get to read her and discover her important ideas.
Sulaiman Addonia, author of Silence is my Mother’s Tongue.
Nana is a rare human being, whose passion for change, vision of social justice and feminist activism is elevated by humour, love, and a stunning creativity. Reading her book will be a treat I'll look forward to.
Theo Sowa, Independent Advisor
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Book Reviews
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
In these emotionally charged and refreshingly honest essays, this collection gives literal shape to women's sexuality and desires. Nothing less than stunning. Essential read! I couldn't put it down
Nicole Dennis-Benn, bestselling author of Patsy and Here Comes the Sun
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Reading these stories is a reminder that the sexuality of African women is far from a monolith... a refreshing and emotional read.
The Continent
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Simply unparalleled and right on time.
Charlene A. Carruthers, author of Unapologetic: A Black, Queer and Feminist Mandate for Radical Movements
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Touching, joyful, defiant - and honest.
The Economist, A Best Book of the Year
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Overflowing with candor, vulnerability, and juiciness, this collection of raw, tender stories that Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah has so lovingly gathered will upend all of your assumptions and stereotypes. These mothers, activists, writers, sex workers, and others share painful truths, evolving glories, and journeys toward love and freedom, in their own words. They are trans, queer, heterosexual, kinky, and say, 'To hell with labels.' Facing down dangers and double standards, they are healing. The Sex Lives of African Women captures the breadth and depth of the Diaspora with the intimacy of looking in a mirror. Marvelous!
Deesha Philyaw, author of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Its stories are raw, unencumbered, exhilarating and, at times, enraging
The Independent
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Dazzling… An astonishing report on the quest for sexual liberation
Publishers Weekly
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Sekyiamah’s book seeks to provide the roadmap to recovery through a collection of shared experiences...readers will resonate with the honesty of these stories, and hopefully feel more courageous to live their truth each day
BUST
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
A book like none you will have read before... With sensitivity, this book has facilitated astonishing breaking of silences. ... Sekyiamah has delivered an extraordinarily dynamic work, true to her own precept that 'Freedom is a constant state of being … that we need to nurture and protect. Freedom is a safe home that one can return to over and over again.
Margaret Busby, The Guardian
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah is changing the way African women talk about sex.
Harper’s BAZAAR
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Groundbreaking volume… The result is a candid, subversive and empowering read
Ms. Magazine
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
An ambitious, moving account of women controlling their bodies and their destinies
Kirkus
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Talking about sex is still taboo in most cultures and communities and these personal stories reveal a mind-blowing variety of sexualities, sex lives and relationships.
Bernardine Evaristo, The Times UK
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
The stories, as written by Sekyiamah, are mesmerizing. The women shared with her, and by extension with us, with true generosity.
Glamour
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
These intimate confessions come from pansexual women, polyamorous women, queer women, trans women and those who identify as heterosexual. Some of their stories are heartbreaking, while others are liberating. Instead of having their stories told for them, they take the reins and find freedom in that, something that every woman deserves.
Del Sandeen, Sisters from AARP
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
This collection affirms what we’ve known all along: African women are reclaiming their bodies and taking ownership of their sexual destinies. Every single story leaves you feeling deliciously empowered
Lola Shoneyin, author of The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Everyone will come away standing a little taller and breathing a little lighter, buoyed by the affirmation that we are all normal and that the marginal is central. The Sex Lives of African Women is a safe space: it is pure, unadulterated freedom.
Jane Link, Big Black Books