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…
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…
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…
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…
By Olatoun Gabi-Williams To view it as beautifully written prayer guidelines would be to undersell its 249 pages. From the Acknowledgements, Preface, foreword, and Introduction, through the 14 chapters, epilogue, references, and End notes, what the author, Abisola Gabi-Williams, has produced is an inspired tapestry of doctrine combined with a prayer manual and fused with Read More…
Interview by Olatoun Gabi-Williams The life of Zakes Mda, the celebrated South African artist, composer, writer, and activist, is a testament to the power of resilience, belonging, and the indomitable spirit of a man born into a world overshadowed by apartheid. In this riveting personality feature article, we delve into the extraordinary journey of this Read More…
Part 1 of Keith Hart’s Self in the World is entitled Ancestors. It is divided into three chapters – Writing the Self: A Genealogy, Anthropology’s Forgotten Founders and The Anti-Colonial Intellectuals: Thinking New Worlds. The men he profiles here are his heroes (where are the women?). In their various fields, these personalities are world-renowned for Read More…
Written by Sarah Ladipo Manyika, and published in 2022 by Footnote Press, Between Starshine and Clay is a composition of encounters with 11 living and 1 deceased titan of modern history. Manyika, a British/Nigerian/American writer, has produced magnificent word portraits of these 12 luminaries. The spirit emanating from each portrait evokes the abundance of images Read More…
