Amalion

Amalion is an independent publishing house based in Dakar, Senegal, established in 2009 with a pan-African and multilingual orientation. Its publishing program focuses on making African scholarship, literature, social commentary, history, development research, biography, arts, and political writing available across linguistic and national boundaries. The house serves both academic readers and the broader public, reflecting an effort to connect specialized knowledge with wider debates about African societies, culture, history, economics, identity, and politics. Amalion began publishing in June 2009 with Give Me Room To Move My Feet, a poetry collection by Ugandan writer Mildred Kiconco Barya. Its subsequent list expanded across genres and regions. Historical publishing includes Stephen Adebanji Akintoye’s A History of the Yoruba People and Mahmud Modibbo Tukur’s study British Colonisation of Northern Nigeria, 1897–1914. Development and political economy are represented by La dette odieuse de l’Afrique, by Léonce Ndikumana and James K. Boyce, which examines relationships among African debt, capital flight, and development. The house has also published works addressing personal freedom, social experience, popular culture, and political expression, including Tina Okpara’s My Life Has a Price and Fatou Kandé Senghor’s Wala Bok: Une histoire orale du hip hop au Sénégal. Amalion’s literary program includes poetry and fiction by African writers, while its nonfiction list encompasses scholarly monographs, cultural histories, biographies, and public-interest studies. The house published The Promise of Hope, the final work of Ghanaian poet Kofi Awoonor, in 2014 as part of the African Poetry Book Series coordinated by poet Kwame Dawes. In 2016, Amalion released Tukur’s study of British colonial rule in Northern Nigeria. The publisher has also worked with Jacana Literary Foundation and other African publishing organizations on the Gerald Kraak Award and Anthology, a project launched in 2016 to promote writing concerned with gender and human rights. The brand’s visual identity uses a multicolored lion’s head, described as representing the diversity of the African continent. Amalion’s catalog and collaborations position it as a cross-border African knowledge and literary platform rather than a publisher limited to one national tradition. Available reference material does not identify a founder, corporate parent, owner, current executives, financial information, or an official website.

Amalion was created in Dakar in 2009 as an independent publishing house with a pan-African remit. From the outset, its stated purpose was to publish knowledge and creative work originating in different parts of Africa and to cross linguistic boundaries within the continent. This orientation distinguishes the house from a narrowly national publisher: its list brings together academic research, literary writing, cultural history, development analysis, biography, and political commentary for both specialist and general readers. The first Amalion book was published in June 2009: Mildred Kiconco Barya’s poetry collection Give Me Room To Move My Feet. The early list subsequently developed in several directions. Stephen Adebanji Akintoye’s A History of the Yoruba People, published in 2010, added a major historical work to the catalog. Tina Okpara’s My Life Has a Price, published in 2012, addressed the experience of modern slavery through a personal account of freedom and exploitation. In 2013, Amalion published La dette odieuse de l’Afrique by Léonce Ndikumana and James K. Boyce, a work examining the connections between African debt, capital flight, and development. The publisher also developed a visible interest in cultural and popular history. Fatou Kandé Senghor’s Wala Bok: Une histoire orale du hip hop au Sénégal, published in 2015, traces the development of rap and the emergence of youth activism in Senegal through an oral-history approach. This title reflects Amalion’s broader effort to treat contemporary African cultural practices and political expression as subjects worthy of sustained documentation and analysis. In literary publishing, Amalion released The Promise of Hope in 2014, the last work of Ghanaian poet Kofi Awoonor, as part of the African Poetry Book Series coordinated by Kwame Dawes. Awoonor died in the 2013 terrorist attack at Nairobi’s Westgate shopping mall. In 2016, Amalion published Mahmud Modibbo Tukur’s British Colonisation of Northern Nigeria, 1897–1914, extending its historical publishing into a detailed study of colonial rule in northern Nigeria. Beyond its own catalog, Amalion has participated in collaborative African publishing initiatives. In cooperation with Jacana Literary Foundation and other publishing houses around Africa, it was involved in the creation of the Gerald Kraak Award and Anthology, launched in 2016 to promote writing addressing gender and human rights. The collaboration illustrates the house’s role within a wider network of African literary and cultural institutions. Amalion’s published authors include Mildred Kiconco Barya, Louis Camara, Tina Okpara, Ibrahima Amadou Niang, Kofi Awoonor, Clifton Gachagua, Kevin Eze, Stephen Adebanji Akintoye, Anthonia Makwemoisa, Enyinna Chuta, Léonce Ndikumana, James K. Boyce, Jean-Bernard Ouédraogo, Rotimi Williams Olatunji, Beatrice Adeyinka Laninhun, Tope Omoniyi, Fatou Kandé Senghor, Mahmud Modibbo Tukur, Tade Akin Aina, Bhekinkosi Moyo, Fabrizio Terenzio, Antoinette Tidjani Alou, and Akwasi Aidoo. Reference material does not provide reliable information about Amalion’s founder, ownership, management, financial performance, or later corporate developments.

1. 2016Publication of British Colonisation of Northern Nigeria, 1897–1914

   Amalion releases Mahmud Modibbo Tukur’s historical study of British colonial rule in northern Nigeria.

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2. 2016Launch of the Gerald Kraak Award and Anthology collaboration

   Amalion participates with Jacana Literary Foundation and other African publishers in a project promoting writing on gender and human rights.

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3. 2015Publication of Wala Bok

   Fatou Kandé Senghor’s oral history documents the evolution of hip hop and youth activism in Senegal.

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4. 2014Publication of The Promise of Hope

   Amalion publishes Kofi Awoonor’s final work within the African Poetry Book Series coordinated by Kwame Dawes.

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5. 2013Publication of La dette odieuse de l’Afrique

   Léonce Ndikumana and James K. Boyce examine African debt, capital flight, and development.

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6. 2012Publication of My Life Has a Price

   Amalion publishes Tina Okpara’s account concerning freedom from modern slavery.

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7. 2010Publication of A History of the Yoruba People

   The catalog expands into African history with Stephen Adebanji Akintoye’s study of the Yoruba people.

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8. 2009Amalion is established in Dakar

   An independent, multilingual publishing house with a pan-African orientation is created in Dakar, Senegal.

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9. 2009First publication

   Amalion publishes Give Me Room To Move My Feet, a poetry collection by Ugandan writer Mildred Kiconco Barya.

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An independent, multilingual, pan-African publisher connecting African scholarship, literature, cultural history, and public debate across national and linguistic boundaries.

• Academic and historical monographsAcademic publishing2009

  Amalion publishes research-oriented books on African history, colonialism, societies, and cultures. Examples include A History of the Yoruba People by Stephen Adebanji Akintoye and British Colonisation of Northern Nigeria, 1897–1914 by Mahmud Modibbo Tukur. These works support the house’s goal of circulating African scholarship across linguistic and national boundaries.

• Development and political economy booksSocial sciences2013

  The publishing program includes analysis of African economic and political conditions. La dette odieuse de l’Afrique by Léonce Ndikumana and James K. Boyce addresses the relationships among debt, capital flight, and development, illustrating Amalion’s interest in research with implications for public policy and debates about Africa’s economic future.

• African literature and poetryLiterary publishing2009

  Amalion publishes literary fiction and poetry by African writers from different countries and language traditions. Its first release, Mildred Kiconco Barya’s Give Me Room To Move My Feet, established poetry within the list, while The Promise of Hope by Kofi Awoonor connected the house to the African Poetry Book Series.

• Cultural and social historiesCultural studies2015

  The catalog includes books documenting cultural movements and social experience. Wala Bok: Une histoire orale du hip hop au Sénégal by Fatou Kandé Senghor uses oral history to examine Senegalese rap, its evolution, and its relationship to youth activism, demonstrating the publisher’s attention to contemporary popular culture.

• Biographies, memoirs, arts, and political writingGeneral nonfiction2009

  Amalion’s broader nonfiction list covers biographies, memoirs, arts, politics, gender, and human rights. These books complement its academic titles and make social and historical subjects accessible to readers beyond universities and specialist research communities.

1. Amalion