Fifteen writers from Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa and Zimbabwe talk about their own work and about writing in general. Interviews with Kofi Anyidoho, Kofi Awoonor, Mohammed ben Abdallah, Chinua Achebe, Odia Ofeimun, Ben Okri, Wole Soyinka, Micere Githae Mugo, Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Mazisi Kunene, Njabulo Ndebele, Essop Patel, Mongane Wally Serote, Tsitsi Dangarembga and Musaemura Bonas Zimunya. Among the subjects discussed in these lively interviews are the role of literary institutions, language policies, the development of written and oral cultures, and the social and political problems of post-colonial Africa.