[13] Authors taken on by Cassava Republic who are now internationally known include Teju Cole, Elnathan John and Sarah Ladipo Manyika.
In 2006, Bibi Bakare-Yusuf — previously an academic in the UK and Nigeria, holding a PhD in Gender Studies from the University of Warwick — set up a company, with her partner Jeremy Weate,[15] to produce high-quality African literature at a price that would enable it to be enjoyed by as wide an audience as possible.
"[18] Explaining the company's name, she says: "Cassava is a relatively affordable but nutritious food crop found across West Africa and in the African diaspora.
[22] Among notable authors published by the company are Sarah Ladipo Manyika, Lola Shoneyin, Teju Cole, Helon Habila, Elnathan John, Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani, Mũkoma wa Ngũgĩ, Chigozie Obioma, Abubakar Adam Ibrahim, Christie Watson, John Collins, Sade Adeniran, Toni Kan, Doreen Baingana, and others.
[23][24] In 2014, an associated imprint called Ankara Press was launched, with titles available in digital form as e-books,[25] aiming to publish "a new kind of romance" that challenges conventional stereotypes, reflecting the lives and aspirations of modern African women and men:[26][27][28][29] "We want scenarios that discard dangerous notions of male dominance, control and manipulation.
"[9] In 2015 Cassava Republic Press announced plans to launch its titles in the UK in April 2016, with a presence at literary festivals as part of a partnership with the British Council.
"[3][33][34][35] Titles launched in the UK include Elnathan John's Born on a Tuesday, Sarah Ladipo Manyika's Like A Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the Sun, Leye Adenle's Easy Motion Tourist, H. J. Golakai's The Lazarus Effect and Abubakar Adam Ibrahim's Season of Crimson Blossoms.
[36] Cassava Republic further expanded sales of its titles with a distribution deal to make the company's books directly available in US bookstores in 2017, when Bakare-Yusuf was quoted in Quartz as saying: "[London and New York] give symbolic legitimization to African writing whether we like it or not and we are acutely aware if that.
"[12] In preference to the conventional route of selling publication rights to US publishers, Cassava Republic instead distributes its own editions to American booksellers through Consortium, a Minnesota-based distributor, and this represents "a significant new landmark for African literature", according to The New York Times: "Until now, much if not all of the African literature in the West has been filtered through the tastes of European and American publishers and editors, who often select works they judge to be historically significant, educational or prize worthy.
[39] Cassava Republic Press won the Independent Publishers Guild's Alison Morrison Diversity Award in March 2018.