Abraha to launch groundbreaking new black history series

Jacaranda publisher Magdalene Abraha will launch a groundbreaking non-fiction black history series next year. 

A Quick Ting On will launch with eight titles in October 2020 with works from Zainab Kwaw-Swanzy, Chanté Joseph, Tobi Kyeremateng, Rui Da Silva , Tskenya-Sarah Frazer and Franklyn Addo and Christian Adofo, with all the authors under 30 and making their publishing debut. 

Abraha, who was named a Bookseller Rising Star earlier this year, said: “A Quick Ting on will provide a space that can celebrate, pay homage and explore culture. It’s about the everyday conversations that we have about art, music, hair, history, politics, food and so much more.

©Alicia Canter/The Guardian

"There’s nothing like this series out there – that’s one of the reasons why I wanted to create it. The subjects that can be explored are limitless, it can last forever, there are never going to be too many topics to cover.”

The series, to be published by indie Jacaranda, will cover topics from music to bamboo earrings, plantain to the black British power movement, Afrobeats to black British business. 

Adofo, who will write a book in the series called A Quick Ting On Afrobeats, said: "Growing up in the UK whilst having roots in Africa and the Caribbean is a nuanced and ever-shifting experience especially as you reach the age in which your parents migrated here and you begin to emphasise the enormity of sacrifice and foresight for your own future. Led by the passion of Magdalene Abraha this A Quick Ting On series is a seed which allows us to represent ourselves unapologetically and as a collective lean on each other in an organic fashion where we are heard."