and I was there… Drove to the Salamander cafe with the trio of Richard Ali, Gimba Kakanda and Abdulaziz Abdulaziz (some pair). Place brought memories. The last time I had come with a mentor of mine and we had met Tricia Adaobi Nwaubani. We were too early, it was 18:30hrs and the event was billed … Continue reading »
Filed under BOOK THOUGHTS …
OKIGBO – MYTHMAKER & TOWNCRIER AT HEAVENSGATE by Hyginus Ekwuazi
Osofisan recounts this incident about how Okigbo took him to Mbari club one night to work. He was barely out of the secondary school and Okigbo was mentoring him. How for a few hours he managed to bang away at the typewriter before falling asleep. How in his sleep the smell of the midnight oil … Continue reading »
Wordsmiths in Nigeria: Relics of a lost age? by Chika Nwakama
Art is life. Life’s art. Writing is an art, it could also be a life. What else captures the details of the past, intertwining it with the occurrence of the present, yet plodding the way for the future but writing. With just a few words, your imagination travels between time and space, thus making geographic … Continue reading »
HOW TO BE A NIGERIAN WRITER by Elnathan John
You know the value of books. The process of making them intrigues you. You want your name on the front cover of a book and, like an earthworm inches through dirt into the ground, you want to make your way into people’s homes, heads and hearts. I am here to help you achieve … Continue reading »
Unedible Bones: A Review of Unoma N. Azuah’s Edible Bones By Kurannen Baaki
Read Edible Bones, and have a smooth ride, like a professional chauffeur cruising you around town in a limousine. Only that Kaitochuckwu has taken us on a turbulent wander across America, Unoma Azuah’s delivery is exquisite, done in simple language, and a free-flowing narrative that is, for me, reminiscent of the moment with Eddie Iroh’s … Continue reading »
THE PARTICULAR AND THE UNIVERSAL: A CONVERSATION ON THE UNIVERSALITY OF ART
Conversants: Ada AGADA[i] and Su’eddie Vershima Agema[ii] Contributors: Maik Ortserga[iii] and Samuel Okopi[iv] Ada AGADA: A famous European critic once correctly argued that both Achebe and Hardy are particular. While Achebe is a literary denizen of his Igbo environment, Hardy is domiciled in his Wessex (or Dorset) environment. Both wrote about village life. Both missed … Continue reading »
RAMBLINGS ON THE WRITER’S DEPTH
There is something about the depth of the artiste – it is only gotten by going into the heart of this one. Several years ago, I would marvel at the profoundness of the works of lots of literary maestros. The depth of their creative springs and reaches left me bedazzled. I started writing, churning out … Continue reading »
A GLIMPSE OF NIGERIA’S COMPULSORY SERVICE YEAR PEN-WISE: THOUGHTS ON JOSHUA AGBO’S BEYOND THE DARK CLOUD
The story of the Nigerian compulsory one-year graduate service is one that means different things to different people. The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) – the name of the service body – brings memories to everyone who has undergone the service. Now, I wouldn’t bore you with the long history of its formation but let … Continue reading »
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON (THOUGHTS) by Su’eddie Vershima Agema
TITLE: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button AUTHOR: F. Scott Fitzgerald. THINKER: Su’eddie Vershima Agema F. Scott Fitzgerald is one of the biggest writers ever. His The Great Gatsby is noted as one of the classics of literature. It is acknowledged as one of the greatest American novels of the 20th century. Not too many … Continue reading »
DAMN YOU (LETTER TO NIGERIAN LITERATURE AND ALL INVOLVED)
(SMALL NOTE TO NIGERIAN LITERATURE AND ALL INVOLVED: DAMN YOU!) __________________________________________________________________________ Yup, damn you! I am usually conservative but even for that, damn me! Nigerian writers and its literature is largely uncelebrated in the country – for most of that, damn Nigeria! Nigerians prefer to read foreign books – damn Nigerians! Readers would rather read … Continue reading »
