Books

Ike Okonta
“The Situation in Africa Today Is So Urgent”: Ike Okonta on Fiction, Journalism, and Diagnosing the Nigerian Condition

“There is a place for irony and satire in fiction. But the situation in Africa…

Riding the Storm
“Riding the Storm” Review: What Does Africa’s Response to COVID-19 Teach Us?

The strength of Riding the Storm lies in the affirming facts it shows us about…

A Siege of Owls
Uchenna Awoke’s “A Siege of Owls” is a Masterpiece About Nigeria’s Volatility

A Siege of Owls is a thoroughly multidimensional novel with multidimensional characters whose survival in…

The Termite Colony
“The Termite Colony” Review: Ike Okonta’s First Novel Bears Witness to the Making of Nations

The Termite Colony does not restrict itself to the Nigerian problem; Ike Okonta casts his…

Colonial Lagos
Understanding Colonial Lagos: Seven Books to Read

All seven books that I have included here cast a solid light on colonial Lagos.…

Grace
Chika Unigwe’s “Grace” Exposes the Line Between Wanted and Unwanted Pregnancy

Grace is an immensely provocative story that asks questions about the rightness or wrongness of…

Jollof Rice and Other Revolutions
“Jollof Rice and Other Revolutions” Review: Omolola Ijeoma Ogunyemi’s Debut Is a Triumph of Voice Storytelling

Omolola Ijeoma Ogunyemi presents an array of women, each caught up in events seemingly bigger…

Jonathan Kariara
The Legacy of Jonathan Kariara, Kenya’s Foundational Poet and Editor

Jonathan Kariara became foundational not by speaking the loudest, but by enabling others, mentoring, editing,…

Gemspread
Literary Merit or Not: Nigerian Publishing and Gemspread’s Attempt

Since the cost of book printing contributes more to the retail price of books, one…

The Naming
Of Cities and Ancestors: A Review of “The Naming” and “African Urban Echoes”

[In The Naming,] Chinua Ezenwa-Ohaeto wants to say something of his Igbo background. . .…