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Dear Subscriber,
Welcome to MIDWEEK PAGES, our Wednesday newsletter dedicated to books and book related activities. We have an exciting line up of excerpts, book essays and news for you.
We publish a brilliant excerpt of After Tears, a novel by Niq Mhlongo here. A young man who had just dropped out of his Law studies at the University of Cape Town received a warm welcome on return home by his mother and family members as a hero before he could tell them that he had dropped out. He later meets Yomi, a Nigerian friend who helps him to figure out ideas about living in a country that does not favour him.
I wrote a review of Kunle Afolayan’s Swallow, it is titled ‘You can’t win in Lagos.’ The movie is an adaptation of Sefi Atta’s novel of the same name. In the review, I discuss Afolayan’s penchant for using breakout stars, Atta’s screenplay and other issues. The essay is available here.
Here at Bookartville.com, we are sold on the idea of archives. We visit materials that form our collective national history and re-examine them in the context of today. 26 years ago (meaning an entire generation ago), Kunle Ajibade was unjustly arrested by the junta. He was sentenced to life imprisonment by the military government. The sentence was later commuted to 15 years but thankfully, he was released after Abacha’s death. After his release, he published a memoir Jailed for Life which chronicles the events leading up to his arrest, the circumstances of his detention and the events leading to his eventual freedom. In light of recent events in Nigerian history, I reviewed the memoir here and concluded that ‘it must have taken a lot of mental courage for Ajibade to write about such a traumatic experience in elegant prose.’
There’s also a review of the memoir of Johnny Clegg, the South African musician, which appears here as a headline in Bookartville.com, but which is linked to Vivien Horler’s Books Page. Horler is a former Books Editor of the Cape Argus in Cape Town. Clegg, wo died two years ago, was popularly called the “White Zulu,” as his ethnically integrated musical collaboration with the country’s black, folk musicians in the late 20th century constituted a powerful statement against apartheid.
We have a list of bookshops in Lagos and Ibadan on our website. Click this link to view the list.
Lawyer and good governance activist, Ayisha Osori and Kunle Ajibade, a veteran journalist and editor will deliver the keynote addresses at this year’s Lagos Book and Art Festival. There are many thoughtfully curated panels with seasoned discussants and moderators at this year’s Lagos Book and Art Festival (LABAF). We have more information about the festival and the panels here, on our website. There is a panel about biographies, a subgenre of literature which is becoming more popular in Nigeria in recent times. There is also a publishers’ parley where the audience gets to engage their favourite publishers and hear the back stories of how the books they love are made.
We have a list of bookshops in Lagos and Ibadan on our website. Click this link to view the list.
If you want to write for Bookartville or you have comments, questions or enquiries about our essays, you can mail me on ayodele@bookartville.com or our publisher, Toyin Akinosho on toyin.akinosho@africaoilgasreport.com. We thank you for sticking with us as we continue to be the complete file on the arts. If you got this email from a friend, thank the fellow and subscribe to this newsletter on our website so you can get updates directly.
Ayọ̀délé Ìbíyẹmí
Staff Writer, Bookartville
