Most westerners probably couldn’t pick out Botswana on a map, but when you think of the quintessential African landscape, Botswana checks the boxes. 

A landlocked country in Southern Africa, Botswana is better known for its diverse wildlife than it is its literature, but that doesn’t mean that the country is completely devoid of English translations.

As is common with African nations, Botswana has a history of indigenous folklore, mostly passed down by oral story telling, however Botswana is also known for it’s ancient rock art, where indigenous peoples created artwork as a form of storytelling.

Botswana was eventually colonized by the British, which suppressed many of the art by the indigenous peoples of the region, and as expected, most of the writing of that time was from British colonialists.

Botswana gained its independence in 1966, and during this time more authentic African art began to emerge. In the case of Botswana, the most notable writer from that era was Bessie Head. Although she was born in South Africa, she is considered a Botswanan author. 

Today, despite it’s relatively large geography, Botswana is only home to 2.5 million people, this combined with their ongoing battle with the AIDS epidemic, it hasn’t been a recipe for high literary output, although Botswana’s economy has been one of the fastest growing in all of Africa since gaining their independence.

Despite these challenging factors, English is the official language of Botswana, and there are talented writers coming out of the country, particularly because Bostwana’s literacy rates have absolutely flourished since 1966.