A focus on some of the pioneers of African literary creation.This special issue of African Literature Today is devoted to some of the pioneer voices of African fiction in the twentieth century: Bessie Head, Cyprian Ekwensi, Dennis Brutus, Ezekiel Mphahlele, Flora Nwapa, Ousmane Sembène and Zulu Sofola. The contributors explore the development of these influential writers and their impact on the continent and beyond, through a study of their writing, sources and influences. Some focus on case studies of specific works which are particularly important in the creative development of the author. The contributions of these writers to the growth and development of modern African Literature are highlighted. These are also writers whose works, in the words of Chimalum Nwankwo in his Introduction 'have defined for their time a deep engagement and commitment with the pulse of the people...' Ernest Emenyonu is Professor of Africana Studies at the University of Michigan-Flint, USA; the editorial board is composed of scholars from US, UK and African universities Chimalum Nwankwo [Guest Editor] Former Chair of the Department of English, North Carolina A & T State University, Greensboro, USA, and Professor of English and World Literatures, is currently on sabbatical at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria. Nigeria: HEBN

Editorial Article - Chimalum NwankwoGender Politics, Home & Nation in Zulu Sofola's King Emene: Tragedy of a Rebellion - Maureen N. EkeThe Militant Writer in the Early Fiction of Ousmane Sembène: From Le docker noir to L'Harmattan - Kwawisi TekpeteyPsychological Violence in Bessie Head's Maru & A Question of Power - Blessing Diala-OgambaConstructing the Destructive City: Representations of Lagos in Cyprian Ekwensi's People of the City - Louisa Uchum EgbunikeHistory, Progress & Prospects in the Development of African Literature: A Tribute to Dennis Brutus - Sophia O. OgwudeDispelling the Myth of the 'Silent Woman': The Nigerian Igbo Woman in Flora Nwapa'sEfuru - Shalini NadaswaranInterrogating Dichotomies, Reconstructing Emancipation: Bessie Head's Vision on Gender Issues - Hellen Roselyne L. ShigaliEskia Mphahlele's Enduring Truth in Down Second Avenue - Joyce AshuntantangA Tribute to Cyprian O.D. Ekwensi (26 Sept 1921 - 4 Nov 2007): The Writer, the Man & his Era - Ernest N. EmenyonuReviews - James Gibbs