1960s: Kenyan writer Ogot and Nigerian writer Flora Nwapa are the first African women writers to have their works published by major publishing companies such as East African Publishing House and Heinemann African Writers Series.

Today: Dozens of women writers in Africa publish in their own countries as well as abroad and have received critical attention commensurate with male African writers such as Chinua Achebe and Ngugi Wa Thiong'o.

1960s: African writers Achebe, Ogot, and Ngugi write books aimed to create a politicized literature based on the common experiences of colonialism, national independence movements, the movement from traditional to modern forms of society, and the psychological and economic effects of these changes on men and women.

Today: The literature produced by writers living in former colonized nations has become part of a growing body of artistic works called postcolonial literature and is an area...