Top ten "on the move" books

Segun Afolabi was born in Nigeria and brought up in the Congo, Canada and Japan. His stories have been published in various literary journals including Granta, the London Magazine, Wasafiri and the Edinburgh Review. He was awarded the Caine Prize for African Writing 2005 for his short story, 'Monday Morning'. His collection of stories, A Life Elsewhere, including the prize-winning story, was published in 2006. Afolabi's novel, Goodbye Lucille, followed in 2007.

In 2005 he named his top ten "on the move" books for the Guardian. One title on the list:

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

1959. American missionary Nathan Price brings his wife and four daughters to the Belgian Congo, a country emerging from the blight of colonial occupation. Blind to the needs of his family and the Africans he has come to "save", he seems unable to halt his inevitable downfall. Told from the point of view of his wife and daughters, Price's voice remains absent, yet the power of the narrative is undiminished.

Read about the other books on the list.

The Poisonwood Bible appears on John Mullan's list of ten of the best snakes in literature.

--Marshal Zeringue