NaijaStories Anthology – A Review

History has just been made. I will not rubbish the significance of this anthology by neglecting to mention the accomplishment it stands for. The internet is changing our mainstream publishing and literary industry, and those who stick to the past may become victims of obsoleteness. Naijastories started out as an online literary portal, but has, before our very eyes, become a solid-pillared castle. It now has an anthology to be read. For comprehensiveness, NaijaStories is an online forum of aspiring writers and literature lovers. It was launched on March 31th, 2010 and has over the years gathered weight on the country's literary scale.

Apart from offering recognition to member-writers for their works, it has also inspired many through quarterly competitions of valuable prizes. This e-community is distinct, creative and borderless in a special way. What facilitates the connectedness of this community is the mutuality of purpose and interest of all members. There are quite a number of writers whom NaijaStories has nurtured to strength. I will call this a renaissance in our literature.  Armies of new writers are sprouting up on this website. Their voices are fearfully palpable. This anthology is a strong-drum of their resounding echoes and the dauntlessness of their courage. Hail NaijaStories members!

The NaijaStories anthology is not the first of online writing to be collected into a sellable anthology, but in Nigeria, it may be. What the NS anthology has confirmed is the reaches of the Internet, which can only be limited by the imaginations that drive it. Don't plod along, rush to NaijaStories.com and become a citizen of this new movement. It is engineering the progress of good Nigerian writing. I am a proud account holder of this big community and I do not gurgle to say that. My NS byline is Joseph Omotayo and I am honoured to be part of this.

I really can go on and on.  But my assignment is simple. Call this a spiel and I won't flinch a bit. I am only being part of a change that is perniciously sweeping out the conventional gatekeepers and those who have spurned and stifled the voices of developing Nigerian writers for long. The internet is bigger than them. NaijaStories anthology has just proved that with its array of thirty short stories.

These are stories of breathing themes. They are a good diversion from the sluggish usualness of some professional few. These short stories are not constrained by the need to attain fame. They all are, first of all, good works written with sharp perspectives that are related to various societal issues. There is a unique allure in every story. They have not been sifted through Western colander. Support this anthology and show that there is a worthiness of effort in putting it together. This anthology is indeed the birth of writers that have newly been empowered. Go get a copy for yourself.

A DIP: 10 of 30

Rachel's Hero (Henry Onyema)

There is no way Bright can have limbered up for this even if he has seen it coming. He is only left with the instinct to defend. This piece is not absolutely a fictional imagining of a writer. I fear it is a prophecy that shouldn't be allowed into reality. Boko Haram's assaults have been raging in the North. In this story, they have come to the South; to Lagos. No doubt; every patriotic prayer will be against what this piece foresees. In Rachel's Hero, the onslaught of terror on Rachel, a school in Lagos, is what Bright, the hero, is up against. Boko Haram's fusillades are irrepressible and Bright Omoregbe must stop them in bloods and deaths.

If Tears Could Speak (Salatu Sule)

However, tears speak. I do not mean the salty water that streams down the cheeks in response to bodily hurt. I speak of the invisible cries of solitary sufferings that only reverb its voices in mournful recollections of wounds healing and reopening. This contribution is a poignant account of a life hurriedly taken, the shoddiness of the country's security system and the multitudes of tears bearing words in letters to the lovely departed; updating him of the lives of Hassan, Walid, Faiza and the narrator-mother.

Can I Please Kill You? (Seun Odunkoya)

Let's come to think of it. Stereotypes are our stories. How they are told is what makes them an irritating burden. It is only when we speak of them in an uncreative ways that they soon begin reeking of fraudulent tendencies. Seun's piece deals with the usual in an uncommonly sterling manner. Is it with the adroit the plot is laid out, or in the fluidity of its confident words? Either way, Seun writes this well. This one is on the psychological tremor a lady goes through in between the decisions to keep a life forming in her and kill it before it is born.

Mother of Darkness (Rayo Abe)

This story is unpredictable. Hassana, Amaka, Opeolu and Osese toy with the spiritual power they are oblivious of. They will chant invocations to summon the Mother of Darkness. They won't know the Mother of Darkness answers their first call. It is only when Bola, their school's senior girl, scolds them again in their various homes that Osese will see how successful they are in their first spiritual endeavour in the school's common room.

Blame it on a Yellow Dress (Uche Okonkwo)

This reads frailly. It is fraudulent. It is only modeled after stories that insult our collective intelligence to seek empathy. The subject matter is exaggerated. It is in to appease the thirst of African blackness and gloominess.  I do not doubt the reality of the theme, but the writing losses the authenticity to back its claim up. There is really nothing new in this story. I would advise the writer to bed his creativity on issues that haven't been flogged into commonness. There is nothing exciting to explore in the story and I am indeed sorry to honestly submit this piece as that. It is about the sexual abuse a female child suffers in the hands of her father and how she lives with the trauma.

The Writer's Cinema (Bankole Banjo)

 The opening paragraphs of this story are intelligently deceptive. It initially reads essay-like. In truth, it is different from the way fiction is relayed. It binds the power of memoir writing with prose. The lines are curious, they fall into each other to reveal rinds of building suspense. The story accounts the struggle a writer lives with – those of his society and the imaginary turmoil he must conquer to survive as a writer.

The Devil's Barter (Raymond Elenwoke)

Raymond entertainingly blends morality with artistry in this piece which teaches morals without being bland. It is Kevin's soul Satan has come to demand. There are various worldly gifts to be handed over to Kevin if he acquiesces to Satan's demand. Kelvin struggles to get past Satan's request. But in the end, only his willed power will decide if Satan will have his soul. It is jolting; you do not want to read this as a bed time story.

What Theophilus Did (Gbenga Otolorin)

Nigerian politics is a complex tapestry of its devilish making. I love this piece for lashing out at the duplicity that is a feature of the country's political structure. There are juices in politics and what Theophilus will do won't really matter much, in as much as his political ambition is realized. Otolorin spoils this piece with misshapen flashbacks that only stretch the plot meaninglessly.

A Glimpse in the Mirror (Yejide Kelanko)

This challenges convention in its entirety. Religion is not presented in forced dogma. Belief is thoroughly examined and it is clearly seen that the beauty and the devilishness of religion is not in the religion but in the practitioner. The story follows a psychological track in different slides. The first is Durosinmi's longing to understand the last stare in his father's eyes, while the other is the patience needed in his coexistence with Baba Ibeji and the solitariness he is in as he seeks meaning to (his) life.

A Kind of Bravery (Myne Whitman)

Individuality is a joyful thing. When we become fractions of another whole, the separateness of our being is lost. Zube's thirst to become a member of an unruly group is hurriedly short-lived. When Zube's financial responsibility to the group is demanded, he won't mind bearing the punches of Paul, the leader, to become free once more.

The Interaction of Web-links

Before this anthology goes viral, I would prefer every writer's name in a hyperlink to their individual profile on the website. What this will do is simple; it will enable readers to foster literary relationships with writers and thereby establish tracks on the progresses of such followed writers. Everybody on NaijaStories continuously horns his skill by each submitted post, following hyperlinks to writers' previous and updated works on the site will greatly engender a reader-writer communion.

You should really get this book now, sebi you know I have not been drooling all along?

***            ***           ***

To get a copy of the anthology, read the information below:

Read on NAIJASTORIES.COM - 200 NSpoints per story

Buy Paperback from the NaijaStories Createspace Store

Buy as Kindle and Print from Amazon.com

Buy the NOOK version from Barnes&Noble online

Buy the eBook from Smashwords.com                                                           

·         You can also read more book reviews on this blog or go HERE for some more.

We Temporarily Moved Them Here

Photo Credit: www.homerouterreview.com

I should be burying my pimply face in shame. In my culture it is utter shame when you forgo the first important thing in the year for other attention seeking matters. We so much hold anything of appreciative act in the highest regard. The important thing I failed to do is something I am even so ashamed to say now; saying it will only show how sloppily I have tendered the love you have showed me over the years on this blog, especially the gracious one you spoilt me with in the previous year. But it is often said in my language that when a sinner knows where and how s/he had fell short of expectations, s/he won't have to plead too long. There are two ways I am found wanting and I am willingly moved to redeem myself with this pleading post.

The first; it is February already and I have been sneaking around the cyberspace ever since the year began, when I should have come on this space to pour my heart of goodwill to you for the New Year. I hold this culture very important as it is a very affective medium mutual love is easily shared through. My apology is long overdue and it is weighing my heart burdensomely, please accept it from me and save my heart from wearing out. Phew… Thank you! Now my heart feels lighter and less clumsy to accommodate Val’s Loves (You know, I have really been thinking on the numbers of girlfriends to hook up with this Valentine. Don't say I am flirtatious. Some girls just confirmed that I am really too muah! I am only performing my dutiful role. 10/10 Shekena! ). I am also of the belief that if we are seeing or having a conversation for the very first time in the year, it is not totally out of order to share with one another our good wishes for the year. To this end, I wish you a fruitful, graceful, wonderful and other good adjectives + '-ful' in the New Year. There are so many things to accomplish this Year; activities are really going to stunningly change this year. I just can feel it already. Can you too?

You must have noticed over the time on this blog that reviews (both books and literary events) are more frequently posted than other opinionated articles and emotional scribbles. In the recent pasts, it shouldn't be hard observing that book reviews have been at the low on this blog. That is not to mean I have stopped what I enjoy doing well as an advanced reader (Yeah… that I really am. At times, I could feel some writers fear my attention on their books. *Deep Sigh…*). I have only just shifted the base for reviews to another location on the cyberspace. Oh Gawd! That makes sin number two… I am really sorry-sorry. I should have informed you about that too. Look at me as I prostrate on the floor, soiling my newly grown goatee in the sand. I beg, bikko, just indulge me some more. I have been reading, I mean reading hard and I have done some reviews to that effect as I was always striving to meet self-imposed deadlines in making reviews available.

I didn't so much gbadun the tired dominant theme of Roses & Bullets, find my thought on it here. Jude's Blackbird is one book I can march all out for if it does go out of prints, I really like this book, I made that known here. Teju Cole's Open City, a book not written in the conventional sense for traditional reading, I lost count on the times I searched through webpages and Encarta during the reading, the book is just so intellectually stimulating. Meh… Julius was the main man in the book. Read my notepad on it here. During my sabbatical, I guzzled so many short stories in two categories. One was African Roar 2011, an anthology of 14 different writers published by Ivor and Siguake. While the other was Voice of America, a collection of 18 short stories by EC Osondu. See the reviews here and here.

Let me say this again, Happy Fruitful Year. It's almost Valentine, how man days to go now? (I am really counting… tick, tick, tick…)

Catch ya later…

Moving Technologies in 2011

 

As the year gradually winds up I began rummaging through my activities on the cyberspace and my relationship with technology. In looking at the effects technology has had on my life so far, I also took to consideration the changes users of the web should very much look forward to in the coming year. In this post, activities web users should stay off from are also touched.

Since a larger percentage of computer and smart phone users run Microsoft Windows, it is important you are informed of this: Microsoft has just released a plan to go ahead updating all its older versions of Internet Explorer to the newest version in 2012. This action, they averred, is in the interest of the users who will most likely fall preys to hackers posing as the company to offer update with the intention to steal users’ personal details. You may want to know how Microsoft intends doing this. They have planned updating all older IEs with what they’ve termed “Silent Update”. This means users wouldn’t know when the update is going on until it is installed and ready for use. So, it is incontestable many users will be kept in the dark on this development. This plan is no magical however; it will certainly run over the Internet. Another question is what users without Internet will face. Users not connected to the internet would really not be bothered because of their minimal security porosity, as all threats are dominantly carried out over the web. In the foregoing, Microsoft shouldn’t also be expecting a 100% success as a sizeable number of users without internet connection will be side-tracked in the process.

My question to Microsoft thus is this; how do they plan to respect the privacy right of users in the absence of downloading prompt during the update exercise? For users who still surf with the older IEs of version 5 and 6, expect to be silently updated on in 2012. You have no say in the matter as Microsoft needs everything to go silent.

I never really had the preference for Mozilla. I just considered it unnecessary in the midst of three other installed browsers on my computer. I only saw the use of it months ago, when some platforms wouldn’t just run on Opera and Chrome due to page-incompatibility. At present, there are two browsers I constantly use; the first is Chrome and the other is Mozilla, with Chrome being my most used. Since I adopted Mozilla Firefox, I have observed how it always snails to starting up. Also combined to this is the large CPU strength it consumes while working. Anytime my notebook is working on battery and needs conserving power for longer operation, Mozilla crashes and freezes up irritatingly. Having to restart the browser and incessantly reload webpages utterly angers me. The good news now is, recently, an end was moderately put to this scourge. With the renewed partnership between Google and Mozilla, the company released a newer version 9.0.1 some days ago. They promised this to be 30% faster than before. You should try it out soon.

Honestly, I have been using the version for some days and I can confidently avow that real changes have indeed been done. For most users, the doubt will still remain. This isn’t the first time new releases of Mozilla are published with lofty assured improvement; assurance that only did little at making the browser a user friendly in the past.

I loathe putting up with people who are only capable of whining on the social media against some gripes they are discontented about. It is such an inanity to live with. I consider it hypocritical too. If they truly want to bring about real changes, social media should only be the information disseminator and be followed up with relevant physical actions. In the coming year, there are some facebook friends to be unfriended for this attitude. These sets of friends; all they do is run amok on Zukerberg’s pages claiming they are some activist or instrument of change. On how to make effective changes happen, toeing the example of B4RN planners will be a good step. Not for once in the media did I read about this particular group wasting precious planning time disturbing cyberpeace before they started the B4RN (Broadband for the Rural North) movement. Go to their website and read how far they have gone. Download their PowerPoint master plan on their webpage and you would be awed at how they have planned bringing broadband connection to their neighborhood. This people have in a short reasonable while gathered momentum to their cause through individual self-help and qualitative actions. That is the kind of gesture I admire, not the toothless rampaging tigerism on Social Networking Sites.

Internet has affected my life in numerous ways. This year I have been a writing prize winner and election campaigner; all of these on the web! I once wrote here on how my worlds are divided between the cyber and the earthly. The internet is changing. The sooner one realizes that, the safer one is. How do you imagine this; that one day your prospective employer wouldn’t demand a CV but go online scrounging for the activities you have been up to. A veritable tool in doing this will be Google, which will really prove an effective way in collecting the data that will point to the kind of personality you possess. This has always been mooted in the past, and may even have been done in some advanced countries. Until now, that mightn’t have been easy in this part of the world without the current facebook-timeline newly introduced weeks ago. Timeline is one easy show-pages of who you are online. Instead of the previous profile that hides things about you under clickable options, timeline spreads your whole life on a single page divided into two major columns. With it, none of your activities is hidden from your friends. Friends can go as far as knowing what your first activity was on the site. With this new tweak, only a dumb will continue in stupid indulgences, after being aware of the ease his activities could be searched and viewed by. Check here to see how my timeline looks. It is no longer your profile on facebook, it is now your life timeline on the web.

Several changes have happened to Google this year. There have been Google+ and other unnoticed ones. The grand technological revolution Google introduced is the Google Ngram. Google Ngram is a new and efficient way to carry out researches . This is how it works; Google Ngram shows how cultures have been changing since 1800 to 2008 around the world through the use of words. For instance, with the word ‘sex’ typed into the Ngram bar, a plotted graph comes up showing how the use of this word has declined or increased over the years. With this, you can track how the use of this word has affected cultures. Ngram scans through 5 millions books collected for this purpose, books that have been written since 1800 to 2008, to bring about this result. For more details on this, the video presentation of Erez Lieberman Aiden & Jean-Batiste Michel on TED will very much do.

****

I know your Christmas was greatly celebrated; happy Celebration. For the New Year; I wish you a prosperous one.

Reporting Book 'n' Gauge 6

It has become so trite to say African timing always plays the undertone in matter that should be held sacrosanct for proper effectiveness. Such utterance is exhaustible that one finds lateness a usual thing. I knew I would be the early caller at the November's edition of Book 'n' Guage reading. When I straddled motorcycle from Ikorodu to Mile 12 to beat traffic, before boarding the Fadeyi plying BRT en route Yaba, I was sure of arrival at the event's venue minutes before the official time. When I arrived at Debonair Bookshop, the venue for the programme, the chairs were grinning white, all still begging to be sat on. I wouldn't be angered. My time wouldn't be trifled with. I had to reinvest the moment in prospecting books that would later gobble the thousands I had. Sometimes, the unpunctuality that trailed event of this makeup leaves one to wonder about the tattered seriousness people couple their actions of empowering reading culture with. We could adeptly espouse theories about the beguiling matter of bad reading culture; but what is it with the tardy way we strategise solutions to it? Ayodele Arigbabu was honest enough. He later revealed what brought about his belatedness to the event; a reason contrary to the previous tenuous excuse of traffic difficulty that was made up for him. He had been watching TV with his siblings for a proper mood adjustment, even when timeliness was paramount. Let's not call that inane. I wouldn't be frustrated anyway. Ayodele is creative than that adjective. The creatural issues of the two writers' worlds later spruced up the event into the engaging interactions that eventually commanded full attention.

Writers are stereotypically a bore denuded of social activities and inclinations. Such fixed image follows them persistently. At Book 'n' Guage 6, Ayodele Arigbagbu (author of A Fistful of Tales and publisher of Dada Books) and Ebi Akpeti (authored the film adapted book, The Perfect Church) quite exuded other characteristics. In their worlds were pressing issues of Censorship, Publishing, Writing and Morality; foundational matters cementing the societal features of our own world.

Having published a book that was role cast into film, Ebe Akpeti explored the encounter she had with Wale Adenuga, the movie producer of The Perfect Church:

"I never had any pre-connection with Adenuga… It only started when I was watching a series of SuperStory on TV. I realized what the man's vision was. He wasn't just trying to input one foreign culture into another. He really was producing the real African story.  And I thought of the script of The Perfect Church. I took it to him. He rather received me coldly. It was later I got to know he constantly receives up to a thousand scripts daily. That night he called me to come over the next day to discuss how the film will go about. From his account; I got to know how impressed he was with my story that he had to sit in his car some while when he got home to finish the reading. After which he passed it to his wife and daughter. Both of whom confirmed that it was good to go"

When asked what age group she writes for and if she had no worry kids could pick up her work to read, she chirped; "My books are for adult. If it were to be for children, there will be a note informing that it is a children's fiction."

Ayodele's response went the other way round Ebi's view of censorship in literature. In his opinion, Ayodele posits; "The book has a life of its own. All I do is write and let it gets its own life. I don't censor my writing. I only write and allow the book find its group… "

Among the audience, which was largely peopled by writers seeking publication of numerously rejected manuscripts gathering dust, muscles tightened and fists clenched as Ayodele's tutelage untied the knotty subject of Mainstream Publishing and Self Publishing.

''If you can promote your book and go through the hassles; then self publish… There are known authors that self published before getting a publisher. If I were to publish you, getting your royalty might take years after the debt I incurred in producing your work must have been settled. But when you self publish, you get to take the profit yourself and also get instant feedbacks on your work directly… It depends on the kind of career you have in mind. If yours doesn't grow with self-publishing; then get a publisher. Mind you, publishing has processes, there are editing and marketing too…"

In supporting Ayodele's stance on the issue, Ebi cited the resilience of Adichie in the face of almost a hundred rejections from publishers. She more of backed the good virtue mainstream publishing has to offer.

Ayodele didn't believe in anything called Writer's Block. He called it a phantom and a fiery monster in the deep sea that is only talked about but never really seen. He wouldn't admit ever succumbing to it once in his writing career. He countered;

"…That I have not written for months does not mean anything. Any time I want to write, I just keep everything aside and focus on the writing only. Meanwhile, I don't just write anything. So, I don't get stuck in the middle of the writing and dump it half way. I write when I am ready."

Ebi's contribution was more factual. She rather was of the view that one should only write what one knows and can see. She stressed the fact that one rarely shuts down during writing when the issue is not farfetched. Only that her perspective called to attention the place of science fiction of far-drawn imaginativeness.

Ebi's time frame for the completion of the book was 6 hours. Another proof she supported true writing with. She knew what she was going to write on and wrote it expressively, though she admitted the first publication was fraught with unforgivable errors. However, her honesty to the story she set out to tell paid off in the long run.

"It only took me six hours to write The Perfect Church. It was on a Saturday at work. I started in the morning and finished in the afternoon…"

On why she has chosen to write about the church, exposing the histrionics behind the façade of preen up Christianity, she spoke defensively. A defense that only showed the weak level of confidence she has as a writer. She read from her dedication note in the book;

"To the Giver of all Good things. I have nothing to prove but your grace upon my life."

I have read The Perfect Church; it isn't clearly a taunt at Christianity or the church. It only speaks about the awful mixes co-opting fake holiness. So, why the defensive notice in the book?

Ayodele's read Lacerations, a story in the collection, A Fistful of Tales. When his attention was called to the incompatibility of the pictorial illustration to the lead character of the story, his rejoinder was trivial. If his cartoonist drew the opposite of what he meant in the book, then the connection is lost. His reply that the cartoonist has the independence of interpretation is ill-informed. What then is the artistic partnership between him and his cartoonist if the later interprets something else?

Ebi gave a taste of the book to the audience when she read few pages from it. Through the reading, the book's exposition was known.

During the intermezzo of DTone, the audience is serenaded with love blues as he incandescently crooned Sun Kun Ife and Katikati. But when Femi Kayode versified philosophical in Questions and ended up positing there is nothing in the world. He was informed there are still books. Isn't that why we were holding a reading?

Book 'n' Guage is a worthy platform encouraging art and celebrating writers and their works. However, for literature to be reviltalised and bad reading culture put a paid to; more readings of this nature would have to be initiated. Not just on Saturdays in tucked-away bookshops but in open streets and schools around the country. Book 'n' Guage effort is only a contributing exertion solving some part of the enormous tasks. Others should follow suit. Let's have readings in the 36 states of the nation and observe how things will gradually improve. 

On Maroko, Writing and “Blackbird”: A Talk With Jude Dibia

Jude Dibia has authored three novels. He wrote the well acclaimed and daring novel, Walking with Shadows in 2005. His second book, Unbrilded (2007), was awarded the 2007 Ken Saro Wiwa Prize for Prose and was also a finalist in the 2008 Nigeria Prize for Literature (sponsored by NLNG). His recent work, Blackbird (2011), is still receiving reviews from its readers and critics.

In this interview, Jude Dibia speaks enthusiastically about writing and Blackbird among other related issues.

^^^^^

 

True Talk: How well have you fared on the path of your writing career over the years?

Jude Dibia: I have managed to write three novels, a couple of short stories and bag a couple of writing awards, and critical acclaim while at it. My journey has not been too bad, but still, I feel I could do more if writing was all I did.

 

TT: In your opinion, how has the internet been shaping writing and book publishing in Nigeria and Africa?

JD: The internet has helped closed the huge gap that existed between writers and readers. Writers have become much more accessible in general. Publishing, too, has changed with the advent of the internet. There's now desktop publishing and everyone can own a blog or website, thus making their work accessible to a wider audience. Also, aspiring writers can join online writing workshops, learn from more experienced writers and share their work.

 

TT: What bent should an African writing take to remain African? Can you say you have ever practiced one?

JD: This is an unusual question, and one I find rather prescriptive. Writers should simply write. We all have different interests. Africa today is different from the Africa of fifty years ago or one hundred years ago. Africa is ever evolving and her writers will too.

 

TT: What kind of agenda do you think African writers should set for the continent? Should writers keep portraying an unstable polity or continue piecing together a picture of future bliss?

JD: This whole idea of "agenda" worries me. It sounds like writers come together in secret forums and start charting the course of the continent. This is not the way it works. There are different genres in writing; most writers write within the genre they feel most comfortable in. There are some writers who are versatile and write in more than one genre.

 

TT: What is your expectation of a Fiction? Is there any constraint for you as a writer on how much of a reality should be shown when writing Fiction?

JD: I have a very simple expectation of fiction; it should be well written, it should tell a compelling story and it should be truthful to the characters, to the subject matter and to the era/time it is portraying. There is always a constraint for me or many other writers to show reality in our writing, especially if I am writing within a period that has historical significance. However, like I did with 'Blackbird', I can invent fictitious places within a real place and thus create a parallel reality that readers can still relate to.

 

TT:

How linkable is the prologue in Blackbird to the entire story even when the rationale behind the assassination of Katherine was never known in the book? Did you do that intentionally?

JD: Blackbird was not written as a thriller. The core of the story rests on the shoulders of a quartet of characters i.e. Omoniyi, Maya, Edward and Nduesoh. I did not want to start the story focusing on one character, as it could make readers think one character was more important than the order or that one character was the sole protagonist. Katherine's killing was simply the catalyst that propelled the story forward.

 

TT: Reading Unbridled and Blackbird, I quite observed the length at which you went in commenting on the socio-economic defectiveness of the country, would you want to be perceived as a political commentator with literature as his tool?

JD: I guess Nigeria has always been the 'second' character in most of my writings. I write as I see it, I don't care so much about labels.

 

TT: Can literature be separated from political commentary or are they entwined?

JD: Must literature always be labeled as 'political commentary' when a writer tries to be true to his material? Literature, far and wide, deals with people and how they handle conflicts. These conflicts could be love, could be embarking on a difficult journey or even surviving in through a difficult period, and of course, there are more forms of conflicts.

 

TT: How long can a story be told before it becomes stereotypical about a particular people?

JD: When you think of it, there are no new stories. Writers have to find creative ways of retelling familiar stories, bringing out new insights on things that otherwise may be viewed as stereotypes.

 

TT: Jude, I love your books in the way they stir untold matters coupled with effortful researches into debate. Do you consider the success of a book on the subject it is written upon or on the creativity brought to play?

JD: The success of a book, for me, is on how well it is written. Subject matter and creativity play a huge role as well, but on their own they don't do much.

 

 

TT: Why have you chosen to write on the Maroko incident in Blackbird? Do you think literature can effectively fight against an ill policy that displaced approximately 300,000 people over two decades ago? Do you seek closure with Blackbird?

JD: I was interested in the story. I remember how heated things were during that period, but I was also thinking about the ordinary people that were affected by the mass displacement. How did this affect people that have no choice? And then, there are the people that things like this don't bother; people that wouldn't notice if the price of bread went from ten naira to one hundred naira. People from these two divides must coexist.

 

TT: Was writing on Maroko a spur of the muse-flurry or a dedicated effort to tell a story that has over the years been delegated to dessert papers that are left to gather dusts at various institutions' archives?

JD: Well, I found inspiration there.

 

TT: Do you think the Oniru's family's contribution to the 1990 Maroko eviction exercise was well intended?

JD: I cannot comment on this, but in time we will all know.

 

TT: You have been tagged a female apologist in the manner your last two books were effused with feministic affinity. Don't you think if your next work features more Whites in the antagonism, you might be labeled a budding racist?

JD: I'm many things, but certainly not a racist. I have tried to show in my writing that you don't have to be a certain race to be good or evil. Humans have a huge capacity to love each other or cause major harm toward each other; it has nothing to do with race or gender.

 

TT: Do you fear your works being misinterpreted?

JD: No. I understand that people will take away different things from a piece of writing and bring unique interpretations to it. Why should my works be any different? It is to be expected.

 

TT: You published your latest on a writers' collective platform, Jalaa. Is a Writers' Collective the answer to the publishing need of the country and a solution to her literature?

JD: There are a lot of issues with publishing in Nigeria, far too many. There is no single solution to our publishing needs, and writers' collectives will play their role in getting books published and distributed.

 

 

TT: Your book was among a finalist of two books in the NLNG literature prize. What impact has the prize had on literature in Nigeria?

JD: The NLNG has made a lot of people aware of Nigerian writing. The prize money has continued to draw a lot of interest to writers and literary enthusiasts.

 

TT: In Walking with Shadow, you wrote about gay. However, Blackbird speaks about such in a subtle way. Does that mean readers' past observations whittled down your confidence in giving it a full blown exposure in Blackbird?

JD: Blackbird in no way was like my first novel. Both books hardly share anything in common. I will revisit the themes I explored in Walking with Shadows in another novel. I still think there is more to be written on the subject of same gender coupling in our society.

 

TT: Why would you want to write another book on homosexuality? One primary thing Literature does is to speak about familiar matters identifiable with the very people it focuses on. Is homosexuality itself not foreign to the African culture?

JD: Why would you think my first novel was on homosexuality? The novel's central character, Adrian, is gay, other than that, generalizing the entire novel as a book on homosexuality only goes to show how disturbing our views are on anything that centers remotely on sexuality. It is interesting you should state that 'literature speaks about familiar matters identifiable with the very people it focuses on', I will like to add to that as well; literature in many instances speaks for the voiceless in a society. This whole argument on what is or isn't African culture coming especially from people who have no idea what African culture is, is not only lazy, but also exposes the deep state of denial that plagues us. I want to revisit the themes I explored in Walking with Shadows because I hardly scratched the surface. It is my understanding that people are prone to fearing and hating what they do not understand, so maybe in my own little way, I can help with my stories.

  

TT: Some words for the blog.

JD: I will like to thank you for this opportunity. It has been wonderful having this discussion. This is an interesting blog and I commend the work you all are doing to keep literature alive and thriving.

 

TT: Thank you, Jude.

JD: You are welcome.

Synopsis - "Tales from Different Tales" by Nana Awere Damoah

Everyone has a price and… their broom. You either name the price or find the broom that sweeps them off their feet!

 

 

October Rush

 

The new academic year has started and school is under siege. Reason? 'October Rush'. Heads keep turning as students struggle to juggle academic work with relationship wahala. The freshers are tagged New Stock, sophomores as Reduce to Clear while final years are Buy One Get On Free. Follow 'October Rush' as it tells the intricate story of University romance. For some, it is learning the ropes, for others it is a do or die affair.  Find your feet in this hot, intense, and pacey affair. The Rush is on!

 

 

Truth Floats

 

It is true that the one who you save the bullet for might be the one pulling the trigger. So the story goes that Kweku Ananse took the meat right out of his bosom friend, Akoto's, mouth when he stole Ama Adoma from him. But it is also true that when they lie they will lie again because the deception never end. Amidst the lies and disloyalty truth comes to light like a calabash that has been forced in water. All said and done, did Ama fall for Kweku? How did Akoto find out about his fiancé, Ama's, true love for him? This story teaches the values of patience, perseverance and love in the face of lies.

 

 

Dribble de Zagidibogidi

 

Vengeance is of God but can the human mind truly forgive and forget? Zagidibogidi (Randy) is accused of brutally raping Rose, the only lady he would catch the moon for. As things turn out, Rose is the only one who could save him from going to jail. Wicked twist? Rose has fallen into coma.  But help comes from strange places. Babyface, Randy's lawyer, vowed to do his best to prove his client's innocence. Will justice be denied by it being delayed? Could there be some unfinished business with Babyface on Get Even Day? Revenge must be sweet when served cold and slowly…it is payback time! Yes, a broken mirror can be patched but the crack will forever be there.

 

 

Hope Undeferred

 

The elders say women are supposed to sell garden eggs not gun powder. But Araba's heart aches for Kwesi. What risks can a young lady take in making her love known to the man she loves? Should she go ahead and propose love? For the most haunted spinster in Assin Kabrofo, it is only a matter of time before she loses heartthrob Kwesi. This unwritten law in African setting is eating away this beautiful village queen. But do African gods condone breaking gender ranks? Hope can only be held onto with hands and feet. And with prayer that it is not dashed to pieces as pottery on the rocks that line the banks of River Ankobra.

 

 

Kojo Nkrabeah

 

The only stories villagers hear of the city is that of glamour with streets paved with gold, money hanging on trees and the taps overflowing with milk and honey. This story shatters the dream of city life for Kojo Nkrabeah and Akwasi Poku. Akilipee has come to Moseaso from the city with well embellished stories. These stories lured the orphaned Kojo Nkrabeah and his friend, Akwasi Poku. In their haste to escape their mundane village lives, they learn the hard way where the  grass is green. This is not your ordinary village-to-city story but one that immerses the reader into the best of both worlds.

 

 

Guardian of the Rented Well

 

Akos is a married woman who wants her book published. Benson wants everything in skirt. How does he draw the line between pleasure with this taken lady and the business at hand? This story shows the resolve of married women and the extent to which they go to show or betray love and trust.

 

Was it Akos who coveted Benson to get her way? Or it was Benson who risked his life guarding the rented well. What has all this got to do with Lieutenant Patrick Atiemo? Something has to give, but what? Follow this maze of a crazy love affair gone terribly wrong …

 

 

Face to Face – Trotro Palaver

 

If you have not taken a trotro, aka troski in Ghana, then either you are not a Ghanaian or haven't visited Ghana. The ordinary man's means of transportation in Ghana comes with lots of hustle and drama. The tight seating arrangements, the conversations, the potpourri of smells the laughter, gossips, the political debates as well as the twists, turns and trickery to outwit the police. This adventure brings you face to face as we take a short winding yet hilarious ride in the old Morris troski, with registration number ABC 4037. Join Akwasi the aplanke (drivers mate) who holds a PhD in cunning, slippery mathematics and his master, Massa Kojo, the man who uses a toothpick in his mouth like a ceiling brush, as they drive us from Pig Farm to Circle.... vroooooommmmmm.......Away bus!

 

 

Project Akoma

 

When the heart decides, it is the mind that plans. A message sent to the mind simply reads: "I have found my desire—my missing rib," and sets the brain in motion. Stories of human love always go with sorrow, joy, deceit, unfailing dedication and jealousy. To win the heart of this striking beauty of eve's daughter, he must climb the seven skies and back, he must scale the China wall to profess love and win her heart. A moving rollercoaster of a love story which takes readers through the steps to win Adjoa's heart. This was so delicate and complicated it had to be handled like a final year project work on a University campus. Was this another happily ever after tale or a masterpiece of storytelling with sting at the very end?

 

 

 

• 
  Tales from Different Tails will be launched on 1 December 2011 at the Teacher's Hall Complex near Workers' College and Tigo Headoffice, Adabraka, Accra, at 6pm. This is Nana Awere Damoah's third book, the first two being Excursions in My Mind (2008) and Through the Gates of Thought (2010). Please, if you can make to Ghana, join Nana. Let's support Literature.

 

Synopsis Credit: Abubakar Ibrahim/Kofi Akpabli

With Sentinel and Saraba (2)

We started reviewing these literary magazines here. Please go and read the prequel of this post to follow the trend well and appreciate this series of post more.

***

With every issue, Saraba and Sentinel present written works of peculiar standpoints exhibiting starling performances from the established, the molting and the budding. After going through the rundowns this post will be featuring, follow the provided links of these sites to know how true my proclaimed assertions are. I make no panegyric. Your hard-drives on your reading gadgets are slipcases of these two magazines. Just go and read from them whenever you are online, their arrays are beautiful crafts of innovative minds.

The efforts that go into each issue of these two are gutsy and heroic. Of great allure are their artistic productions when you consider that they are delivered pro bono for the intellectual pleasure of the reading public. In expression of my dedication to the expensiveness of lateral thinking involved in art, especially in the written words, I have recently made personal commitment towards creating awareness for their existence through online and offline platforms. The online part I began fulfilling from the phase one of this review.  Offline: there are friends I have started various discussions with using these questions; "Do you know Saraba? Have you ever read from Sentinel?"

After this post, when you must have been made acquainted with the offerings these online literary portals churn out, I know you would readily become an initiate bent on winning more avid readers for Saraba and Sentinel. It is only then would you begin thinking through this tittle-tattle of mine in the reasonable sense. I thump my feet to affirm again; Saraba and Sentinel are proficient hands arranging the pieces of the marquetry of new Nigerian writing with new generation technology.

Slices from Saraba 9 Food Edition

As the norm is with Saraba, Dami and Iduma set the pulse for the collective works in the issue 9 with their opening editor's note. Their co-written editor's note always goes to reflect the mortise that exists between them, one which affixes suitably the different literary joints from the two co-publishers.

In this issue, Food is romanced with in varying works that try eliciting the importance of Food to human and how literature could come as close to it in analogy when the human mind is involved.

"Dodo and A Notebook" (Chika Unigwe)

How long will you go maintaining a habit? How far can you go in professing it? Chika writes about the favourite food she's been fixated on since childhood. Hers is Dodo, the fried chop of plantain. She also likes reading, a long time trait that balances well with her Dodo. Instead of smarting out of Dodo as adulthood tends to pare infantile obsessions to the minimum, she rather nurtures it into maturity. There is only one thing that accompanies Chika's Muse whenever she scribbles on her notebook – Dodo is it. When she claims Dodo is the food for Muse, I shake my head bitterly; wondering where my favoured palm oil-cooked beans with Agege bread stand if Dodo is ranked over them.

"Creativity of the Stomach" (Olaoluwa Akinoluwa)

There can never be a better personality without food. What you have is a despondent and forlorn look of utter dejection when you stay without it. Olaoluwa never thinks so when he sharpens his bladed weapon of creativity with the file of hunger-strike. He hopes to be the better for it as he settles down to work on his novel with only fluids replacing solid food. At the end of his self-imposed fast, Olaoluwa bitterly realizes that going without food can't make him more creative than he is. He comes to this understanding as various packs of juices litter his trashcan and numerous descriptive languages of food smear his writing during the period.

"Food, Again" (Novuyo Rosa Tshuma)

Novuyo bears her mind in a lapidary state. The way she philosophizes with Food makes one ponder on the complexity of Food in its various forms. The close borderline Novuyo draws between the smugness of the Western capitalist and the servile needy Africans is textually appropriated in the few words she crams her view into. Every time I read this piece, I pick out different slides of meanings from it. Novuyo's piece is one with a well related ambiguous tendency.

"The Pleasure of Swallowing" (Kola Tubosun)

Kola's nonfiction appreciates the very art that goes into making swallow of molded food. He details the arithmetic that takes place between the different regions of the mouth before such food is digested. Kola's contribution is an ode to his loved food of pounded yam.

Download Saraba 9 Food Edition here

Reading Sentinel Nigeria Issue 7

Sentinel 7 is a matured collection without making forced claims of its fittingly-matched contributions. With few submissions in each genre of literature, it radiates with the great depth that is not usually accorded to compactness.

"Purple Hibiscus – Adichie's Debt to Achebe?" (Ahmed Maiwada)

Contrary to the comments that have been trailing this review, I love its clinical dissection of Adichie's first novel. The perceptiveness of the review displays the rich effort Ahmed includes in his research before arriving at his calculated conclusion on Adichie's Purple Hibiscus. On the first encounter with this review, I had this to say about it on facebook;

"A beautifully illustrated juxtaposition of Adichie's Purple Hibiscus with McCullough's The Thorn Birds. Analytic and straight forward. Polemic yet with astounding breakdown that uproots the bases of past purportedly incorrect evaluations about Adichie's first novel…"

"Pinchomie, the Distinguished Loot and the Banana Republic" (Esien Ekpe-Ita)

This is a real satire, unrefined! The humor in the story is well blended. Lengthiness in this story is quickly forgiven as the reader is taken through bouts of laughter that could result in permanent hiccups if not medically checked. This story is hilarious in its entirety just like Nigerian rulers are incredible in their governing. Esien speaks through a child to amusingly capture the shared banditry among Nigerian parliamentarians. The main theme is the recent matter on their state-fund-ripping remuneration.

"Late Twenties Woman" (Osayi Osar-Emokpae)

I consider poetry too arcane for my chewing. In the hands of the confused, poetry is a cloak of messy things covered, left to the perspired search of a committed reader. I dislike most poetry for this inclination. Osayi's poetry is really written with the vigour at the very centre of the matter it dwells on. Her messages are clear and not mangled in the transience of the verses they are in. Late Twenties Woman runs through the fulfillment a woman gets with the pride of locating her space.  It versifies the worthiness of a woman's wholeness in her own unpaired self, her wistfulness of things sacrificed to blasé disregard and joyfulness in the hindsight of the action she takes in her late twenties.

Read Sentinel Issue 7 now >>>

Still on this same road

True Talk isn't through with this yet. There are still some literary sites I am obliged to in kind and reviews.  By the way, do you know what NaijaStories is? What about StoryTime, can you tell me anything about it? Come around soon and let's get to those places I've just mentioned. Wouldn't you love that?

Do you know of any online literary sites? In the comment box, drop a few you think might interest me too.