＂New-Generation African Poets is an ambitious, vital project that delivers exactly what it promises. . . . As a group, the chapbooks dispel stereotypes about African writing. They also illustrate what editors Dawes and Abani note about the many ways poets can understand or redefine their ties to Africa. These insights are poignant and valuable, especially at a time when millions around the globe find themselves somewhere between new countries and ancestral lands they’ve left behind.＂ —Washington Post, on the 2015 box set

＂Each poem has an edge that cuts deeply. . . . A collection pulsing with fresh talent in a series that poetry lovers worldwide should be grateful for.＂ —Shelf Awareness, on the 2015 box set

The limited-edition box set is an annual project started in 2014 to ensure the publication of seven to ten chapbooks yearly by African poets through Akashic Books. The series seeks to identify the best poetry written by African poets working today, and it is especially interested in featuring poets who have not yet published their first full-length book of poetry.

The ten poets included in this box set are: Yasmin Belkhyr, Victoria Adwukei Bulley, Chekwube O. Danladi, Mary-Alice Daniel, Lena Bezawork Gronlund, Ashley Makue, Momtaza Mehri, Famia Nkansa, Ejiofor Ugwu, and Chimwemwe Undi.

Kwame Dawes is the Ghanian-born, award-winning author of eighteen collections of poetry. He currently teaches at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.

Chris Abani, a Nigerian-born, award-winning poet and novelist, currently teaches at Northwestern University in Chicago.