Anansi: New & Ancient African Tales by Ivana Akotowaa Ofori

Book Review

Elloise Hopkins

Anansi is and always has been a trickster. He is cunning, playful, smart and anarchistic. Immortal. A breaker of rules. A teller of tales. A player of words. He takes on many roles, from messenger to leader, from teacher to humble student. Above all, Anansi embodies resilience and independence, and reminds us to do the same.

Anansi: New and Ancient African Tales is an absolutely stunning hardback that delves into the histories and controversies of the Anansi stories, and then expertly places them in today’s world.

We learn about the journey the Anansi stories took, travelling with slaves from West Africa to Jamaica, and how the character was adapted for a new set of folklore and tradition, eventually finding itself on school curriculums, and filtering into popular culture, courtesy of Neil Gaiman among others.

As well as examining Anansi’s characteristics, and the fluidity of the character across continents, including his gender-swapping, and different name spellings, this book also explores the characters who recur in Anansi stories and the roles they play, be it as family members, victims of his antics, or as antagonistic gods or humans that cross his path.

This book is rich with Anansi stories, with classics such as Ananse and the Beautiful Dish, teaching us where some of the recurring tricks and moral lessons originated, and then modern interpretations such as Ananse City Dawn, in which Ananse as a spider wakes from a hundred year sleep to find himself in a modern city.

Ofori and her collaborators bring us a truly rich deep-dive into a much-loved character. This is a very rewarding several hours of reading, and an eye-opening exploration of familiar folklore. Flame Tree books has a whole series of these Myths, Gods and Immortals books, so far, including characters from Greek myths and Arthurian legend. Highly recommended.