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A Mwindo Bookshelf

Good Books for Getting Into Africa’s Mwindo Epic from the Congo (Zaire)

By Aaron Shepard


For more treats and resources, visit Aaron Shepard at www.aaronshep.com.

Copyright © 2006, 2014 Aaron Shepard. May be freely copied and shared for any noncommercial purpose as long as no text is altered or omitted.


There aren’t many books on Africa’s Mwindo epic, but here they are!

The Mwindo Epic: From the Banyanga (Congo Republic), edited and translated by Daniel Biebuyck and Kahombo C. Mateene, University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1969. (Banyanga means “the Nyanga people.”) This is a translation of the fullest, most complete, and most satisfying version of the epic available to us.

Hero and Chief: Epic Literature from the Banyanga, Zaire Republic, by Daniel P. Biebuyck, University of California Press, Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London, 1978. Translations of several shorter, widely differing versions.

Book cover

The Magic Flyswatter: A Superhero Tale of Africa, retold by Aaron Shepard, Skyhook Press, Olympia, Washington, 2008. My own retelling. (The full text can be found on my Web site.)


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