Chigozie Obioma’s “The Road to the Country” emerges as a sweeping narrative set against the backdrop of Nigeria’s civil war. The story centres on Kunle, a university student in Lagos, who embarks on a perilous journey to save his missing brother amid the chaos of conflict. Obioma’s prose, described by The Wall Street Journal as Read More…
Book Choice
Echoes of Resilience: The Girl with the Louding Voice
“The Girl with the Louding Voice” by Abi Daré unfolds an arresting tale entrenched in the unyielding determination of Adunni, a young Nigerian girl navigating a life marred by poverty and societal limitations. This profound debut novel resonates with Adunni’s resolute spirit as she endeavours to transcend the confines of her circumstances and societal norms. Read More…
Teju Cole’s ‘Tremor’: A Multifaceted Literary Odyssey Redefining Art, History, and Humanity
Teju Cole’s “Tremor” stands as a testament to his multifaceted talents, blending seamlessly his roles as a novelist, essayist, critic, and photographer into a narrative that defies the confines of traditional categorization. Within its pages, Cole’s distinct capabilities from his previous works — the storytelling finesse of “Every Day Is for the Thief” and “Open Read More…
Nigeria’s Silent Struggles
As with her lauded debut Stay With Me, in Ayòbámi Adébáyò’s second novel domestic strife and the political tensions of modern Nigeria bristle against each other. Early in A Spell of Good Things, we encounter the protagonist Eniolá’s father staring at an almost empty tin of garri. Racked with shame at the poverty his family Read More…
Isaac Fadoyebo’s WWII Odyssey: From Nigeria to Burma, A Tale of Triumph and Tragedy
Book Review by Olatoun Gabi-Williams It is 1941. We are in the Yoruba town of Owo, a model colonial town in southwest Nigeria. Can you hear it? The British army’s bugle? It is blowing. Dispirited by academic scores too low for the exalted studies of his dreams, Isaac Fadoyebo is almost 18 when he joins Read More…
Beyond Borders: The Uncharted Odyssey of Noo Saro-Wiwa
The paraphrase of an interview by Olatoun Gabi-Williams Noo Saro-Wiwa, the daughter of the renowned activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, emerges as a distinctive figure whose life is interwoven with the cultural arras of Nigeria, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Her narrative unfolds against the backdrop of a remarkable familial legacy, a tale of struggle Read More…
Neighbours of the Soul: The Woman Next Door
Review by Olatoun Gabi-Williams The Woman Next Door is Yewande Omotoso’s comically dark second novel published in 2016 by Random House, South Africa and by Farafina in Nigeria. The story unfolds in what appears to be the first decade of the 21st century against a backdrop of a South Africa in the throes of being Read More…
The Meursault Investigation: A Bold Literary Response to Camus’ ‘L’Etranger
Review by Olatoun Gabi-Williams The Meursault Investigation” is the dark wonderland Kamel Daoud has created as a searing rejoinder to L’Etranger”, probably the most famous of Albert Camus’ novels. If Camus rejected the word “existentialism” to define his novels, Daoud surely does not. Dealing extravagantly in the currency of existentialism, “The Meursault Investigation” must be Read More…
Bessie Head: A Literary Journey of Self-Discovery
Review by Olatoun Gabi-Williams Up until “A Woman Alone”, I had not read any of Bessie Head’s books. The image I carried of one of Africa’s finest writers was not of a producer of literary works but of a mixed-race woman in a black-and-white photograph. Her swarthy face would be matronly were it not for Read More…
Exploring the Dark Heart of Lagos: A Review of “Lagos Noir”
Lagos Noir, meticulously edited by Chris Abani and published by Akashic Books in June 2018, is a captivating anthology of thirteen stories that takes readers on a literary journey into the heart of Lagos, Nigeria. With 224 pages of evocative prose, this anthology introduces readers to a city with a population of over 21 million, Read More…