Mention Nigerian literature and the first names likely to spring to mind are Chinua Achebe, the author of “Things Fall Apart”, or the venerable Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka. But Africa’s most populous nation has a new crop of writers whose work is a far cry from the post-colonial era of their esteemed predecessors.
Olumide Popoola’s novel “When We Speak Of Nothing”, for example, tells the story of a gay teenager seeking the father he never knew in the southern oil city of Port Harcourt. Read more
“IT IS time that our stories are told by us.” That was the narrative projected on Saturday as BlackBird Books hosted a dialogue that spoke about young female writers in South Africa.
The dialogue took place at Xarra Books in Midrand with a panel that included Chwayita Ngamlana who recently published her debut book If I Stay Right Here, Yamkela KhozaTywakadi who has published a number of educational works with the department of Education and Department of Arts and Culture and author Tumelo Moleleki, the author of a four-part book series including Her Heart and Their Hope and the master of ceremonies, a Bookworms Book Club member Lorraine Sithole. Read more
There’s no doubt about Omotola Jalade Ekeinde’s star quality in Alter Ego, which has wound down at Cinemas last August.
The film has a meaningful message; the passionate law attorney, Ada Igwe (Omotola Jalade Ekeinde), focuses her law practice on seeing sex offenders, especially child rapists, go to jail. Read more
Nseobong Okon-Ekong reports on a recent seeming insignificant event at Freedom Park which has the potential to resolve a long-standing conflict and enrich the Afrobeat environment in Nigeria
Dede and the Underground System
When word went out that Afrobeat musician and Thespian, Dede Mabiaku would perform at the Freedom Park, Lagos on the bill of its Big Band Friday, not a few saw it as a mighty step towards reconciling the musician with his estranged friends, Yeni and Femi, the children of Afrobeat god, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti who Dede openly adores. Read more
Okwui Enwezor and the Idea of the Curator as God
By TOYIN AKINOSHO
I had a brief encounter with Okwui Enwenzor, before he became a GOD.
It was at the Second Johannesburg Biennale, TWENTY ONE YEARS ago, in 1997.
I have attempted to update the story, more so since the subject went on to become the director of Documenta XI, the most powerful job in all of contemporary art and subsequently moved to higher stratospheres, becoming the most influential curator of contemporary art anywhere on the planet. Read more
By OLAKUNLE OLAFIOYE
SOMOLU in Somolu Local Government Area of Lagos State is unarguably the hub of commercial printing in Nigeria with thousands of commercial printing presses both small and medium scales doting the length and breadth of this bustling business community. Although her position in Africa and indeed the world as one of the leading enclaves of printing business remains a subject of debate, not a few stakeholders in the Nigerian printing industry are of the opinion that Somolu commands a respectable position in league of leading printing communities not only in Africa but also in the world. Read more
By Chimeka Garricks
We did not play football that day.
As we burst through the bamboo thicket onto the beach, we were stopped by an apparition. We stared in disbelief. There were fishing boats on the Maracana! The once pristine beach was cluttered with nets, baskets and other fishing gear. Fishermen idled, ingroups, by their boats, hard frowns on their faces.
It was an unwritten rule in Asiama that the fishermen only operated from the nearby Ofirima Island, and not from Asiama Town itself. From the beach we could see Ofirima Island, across the restless ocean, just off our left. Every single boat was now over on Asiama Town. The fishermen’s shacks were completely deserted. Ofirima Island looked sad and lonely. We turned our gaze to Ashawo Village on our right. We could make out movements; Ashawo Village seemed to be okay. Read more
By Alaa Al Aswany
He burned with longing to know whether this was the officer who had supervised his torture in detention, but he had not been frank with Mahgoub about this desire in case the latter should feel uneasy about him and exclude him from the operation.
Taha kept staring at the building entrance, the memories rushing past in front of him, and then the officer appeared. He looked the way they had described him—portly with a pale complexion, the traces of sleep and his hot bath still on his face, walking calmly and confidently, a cigarette dangling from the comer of his mouth. Read more
Europe’s book publishers say that their industry is the continent’s largest cultural industry.
Although nowhere in a newly released report by the Federation of European Publishers, is a comparison of business figures in the publishing industry with those of other cultural products, the sales statistics produced in the report, the first attempt of its kind-according to the authors- to collect such a wide range of data focusing on book publishing, are quite staggering. Read more
