The rapid upsurge of writing by African women has been one of the most dynamic, phenomenal trends of African literature at the end of the twentieth century.

African women writers have come a long way since the 1960s when they were hardly acknowledged or noticed as serious writers. In the past four decades their works have been steadily rising in quantity and quality. Today these writers are seriously redefining images of womanhood, providing new visions, and reshaping erstwhile distorted characterizations of African women in fiction.

ERNEST EMENYONU is Professor of the Department of Africana StudiesUniversity of Michigan-Flint.

North America: Africa World Press; Nigeria: HEBN