When I joined Substack a couple of years ago, I was excited to be in a space with so many writers. It felt like being at a cosy little café (because at that time, Substack did feel that way), and everywhere I turned, I bumped into someone who appreciated writing as much as I did or who experienced similar writing challenges. And it was great!
But when I took the novelty-tinted glasses off, I realised how inundated Substack was with Western culture. So I began to crave people like me in this little café. Then I found a BIPOC community, and it was also great! Yet, I craved more.
As a Substack newsletter writer, a lot of my pieces captured my experiences as a Nigerian girl, born and raised here. I wanted an audience that could relate to what I wrote. And as a reader, I wanted more newsletters that I could relate to. I wanted to see myself on the pages, at least to an extent. I was tired of reading about cultures and experiences distant from mine. I craved familiarity; I craved home.
Only if there was a door in this café that led to a room with others like me – African writers. If that were possible, maybe I would have found fellow literature lovers that knew beyond Achebe and Adichie, who understood my attachment to that one obscure Ghanaian novel they made us read in secondary school. Or maybe I would have found personal essays that made me wonder how the writer could have experiences so similar to mine. Or maybe I would have found new writers that looked like me and talked like me, whom the Substack algorithm hid, writers that made me wonder where they had been all my life. Maybe I would have made a new friend or accessed a creative network that made creating all the better.
But that door didn’t exist for me.
However, a couple of years later, the A-List is here, the answer to my ‘only if’.
If you’re like I was then, lost, searching for people who understand, who relate, and looking for a taste of home on an American platform, I present the A-List. You’re not alone here. We dey here. Plenty.
So, congrats! You have access to this list that is an assortment of African writers. Use it fully. Check out the different genre categories and discover amazing writing. Share it with your friends. If you’re also a writer, apply to be a part of it! And remember, you’re not alone.