• Home
  • About
  • List Reviews Series
    • List
    • Reviews
    • Series
  • Meet
  • ABC
  • Away

bookshy

Powered by Blogger.
There's still so much I wanted to look at in my celeberation of 52 years of Nigerian literature  - children's literature and literary awards for example - but in the final post I look at the Third Generation of Nigerian writers. I had no idea where to begin with Third Generation writers because there's just so much to mention and honestly there is no way I could do this period justice. So instead I've chosen to focus on works written since 2003, because some amazing debut novels (as well as second and in some cases third novels) have been released during this period and I think it also signifies exciting times in Nigeria’s literary history, with even more international recognition.

Probably the most famous of the new generation of writers is Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, who wrote Purple Hibiscus (2003) and Half of A Yellow Sun (2007) but other works published since 2003 include Chim Newton's Under the Cherry Tree (2003), Akin Adesokan's Roots in the Sky (2004), Unoma Azuah's Sky-High Flames (2005), A Igoni Barett's From the Caves of Rotten Teeth (2005), Jude Dibia's Walking with Shadows (2005), Obodinma Iweala’s Beasts of No Nation (2005), Segun Afolabi's A Life Elsewhere (2006), Diana Evans 26a (2006), and Sarah Ladipo Manyika's In Dependence (2008). Even this year alone, there have been new releases from Chika Unigwe The Night Dancer and Eghosa Imoseun Fine Boys as well as debuts from Chibundu Onozu, Yejide Kilanko and Emmanuel Iduma to name a few. Way too many to mention, but here's a look at some works from 2003 to date.
2003
2004
2005
 
2006
 2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
 
Nigeria (like much of Africa's) literary scene is also changing with a resurgence of local publishing houses (Farafina Books, Cassava Republic, and Paressia),  "new" genres (Sci-Fi, Crime and Romance), and on-line platforms and literary magazine (NaijaStories, Saraba magazine and Sentinel Nigeria).




There's still so much I wanted to write and I also know that more generally I have missed out on so many writers like Karen King-Aribisala, Biyi Bandele, Chuma Nwokolo, Malik Nwosu, Ben Okri, Ola Rotimi and Ahmed Yerimah for example, but as it's the last day of October, I must end my celebration of 52 years of Nigerian literature. I do hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have and I look forward to what the current and next generation of Nigerian writers have in store for booklovers like myself. 
15:42 No Comments
In the fourth post celebrating 52 years of Nigerian Literature, I am taking a look at literature from Northern Nigeria. While authors like Zaynab Alkali, Abubakar Gimba and Labo Yari made up the second generation writers, I am looking instead at Hausa Popular Literature, which is also known as Kano Market Literature (as most are written and sold in Kano, the second largest city in Nigeria and the heart of Northern Nigeria), and in Hausa as littattafan soyayya (books of love/romance literature). These novels, which are romantic pulp fiction written in Hausa, began in the 1980s and while they have faced some criticism for not being serious literature and for morally corrupting young girls, they are pretty feminist. Soyayya novels are mainly written by women and explore themes of love and marriage, as well as other issues which are relevant to women and girls in the contemporary Northern Nigerian society - polygamy, forced marriages, purdah (seclusion), and female education.  If you want to know more this article on contemporary Hausa literature gives some insight into it, there's an interview here with a Soyayya author, the blog A Tunanina also has information on Hausa literature (and film), and SOAS has a pretty extensive Hausa Popular Literature Database.


 
 
*Images sourced from SOAS Hausa Popular Literature Database

Recently, Indian publisher, Blaft, published an English tranlation of Hajiya Balaraba Ramat Yakubu's 1990 novel Alhaki Kukuyo Ne (Sin is a Puppy). Balaraba Ramat Yakubu is one of the earliest, and most popular, Soyayya writers and you can find out more about her here. And if you are the slightest bit curious about reading Hausa Popular Literature, there is a link to an excerpt of Sin is a Puppy on Blaft's blog here.

16:52 1 Comments
For the third post in the series looking at 52 Years of Nigerian Literature, I want to look at the second generation writers - those whose first works came out between the 1970s and the late 1980s. While the first generation writers were interested in challenging the images and stereotypes of Nigerians (and Africans) that were perpetuated during colonial rule, second generation writers wrote highly critical literature and seemed to be more concerned with contemporary Nigeria. They also seemed to have been influenced by the Nigerian Civil War (1967-1970). In fact, the civil war generally affected Nigeria's literary scene. Christopher Okigbo, a first generation poet, for instance died fighting in the war, while many novels like Elechi Amadi's Sunset in Biafra (1973), Chukuemeka Ike’s Sunset at Dawn (1976), and Flora Nwapa’s Never Again (1976), were inspired by the war. 

The second-generation includes plays like Tunde Fatunde's No More Oil Boom (1985) and Oga Na Thief Man (1986), Olu Obafemi's Night of the Mystical Beast (1986), Wale Ogunyemi's The Divorce (1975), Femi Osofisan's The Chattering and the Song (1977), Kole Omotoso's The Curse (1976), and Bode Sowande's A Sanctus for Women (1979); poetry collections like Femi Fatoba's Petals of Thoughts (1984), Niyi Osundare's Songs of the Marketplace (1983) and Moonsong (1988), Odia Ofeimun The Poet Lied, Funso Aiyejina's A Letter to Linda (1988), and Tanure Ojaide's Children of Iroko (1973) and Labyrinths of the Delta (1986); and novels like Chris Abani’s Masters of the Board (1985), Abubakar Gimba's Innocent Victims (1988), Festus Iyayi Violence (1979),  Isidore Okpewho's The Victims (1970) and Last Duty (1976), Kole Omotoso, who also wrote novels like The Combat (1972) and Just Before Dawn (1988), Ken Saro-Wiwa's Sozaboy (1986), and Labo Yari's Climate of Corruption (1978). Women writers also became more pronounced during this period, with works from this period including playwright Osonye Tess Onwueme's Trial of the Beautiful Ones (1985), poet Omolara Ogundipe-Leslie's Sew the Old Days (1985) and authors like Zaynab Alkali's The Stillborn (1984) and The Virtuous Woman (1985), Buchi Emecheta's Second-Class Citizen (1974), The Bride Price (1976), and The Slave Girl (1977), and Helen Obviagele who wrote Ebvu My Love, Forever Yours and Fresh Start for the popular Pacesetter series.



15:51 No Comments
Newer Posts
Older Posts

About me

Founded in 2011, bookshy represents two things: the young me who was so shy I escaped through books, and the older me whose shelf is always one book shy of being full.

bookshy is a space where I celebrate, promote and recognise contemporary African literature - although sometimes I go back in time to commemorate the greats. It is about the books I love, the books I have read and the books that I am dying to read.

Follow

recent posts

Blog Archive

  • ►  2020 (7)
    • ►  October (2)
    • ►  May (3)
    • ►  April (2)
  • ►  2019 (14)
    • ►  December (3)
    • ►  July (1)
    • ►  June (3)
    • ►  February (2)
    • ►  January (5)
  • ►  2018 (31)
    • ►  December (3)
    • ►  October (5)
    • ►  August (1)
    • ►  July (4)
    • ►  June (4)
    • ►  May (2)
    • ►  March (6)
    • ►  February (2)
    • ►  January (4)
  • ►  2017 (42)
    • ►  October (1)
    • ►  September (1)
    • ►  August (6)
    • ►  July (6)
    • ►  June (6)
    • ►  April (7)
    • ►  March (3)
    • ►  February (5)
    • ►  January (7)
  • ►  2016 (72)
    • ►  December (7)
    • ►  November (2)
    • ►  October (13)
    • ►  September (9)
    • ►  August (8)
    • ►  July (3)
    • ►  June (7)
    • ►  May (4)
    • ►  April (10)
    • ►  March (6)
    • ►  February (2)
    • ►  January (1)
  • ►  2015 (54)
    • ►  December (8)
    • ►  November (4)
    • ►  October (12)
    • ►  August (5)
    • ►  July (4)
    • ►  June (5)
    • ►  May (2)
    • ►  April (3)
    • ►  March (1)
    • ►  February (5)
    • ►  January (5)
  • ►  2014 (71)
    • ►  December (14)
    • ►  November (5)
    • ►  October (8)
    • ►  September (9)
    • ►  August (8)
    • ►  July (6)
    • ►  June (4)
    • ►  April (4)
    • ►  March (2)
    • ►  February (5)
    • ►  January (6)
  • ►  2013 (76)
    • ►  December (2)
    • ►  November (3)
    • ►  October (5)
    • ►  September (6)
    • ►  August (6)
    • ►  June (13)
    • ►  May (8)
    • ►  April (11)
    • ►  March (10)
    • ►  February (6)
    • ►  January (6)
  • ▼  2012 (169)
    • ►  December (12)
    • ►  November (12)
    • ▼  October (13)
      • 52 Years of Nigerian Literature: The Third Generation
      • 52 Years of Nigerian Literature: Hausa Popular Lit...
      • 52 Years of Nigerian Literature: The Second Genera...
      • Book review: Nnedi Okorafor's "Zahrah the Windseeker"
      • 52 Years of Nigerian Literature: Onitsha Market Li...
      • Book Review: Chiga Unigwe's "The Phoenix"
      • 52 Years of Nigerian Literature: The First Generation
      • 52 Years of Nigerian Literature: A Belated Indepen...
      • Throwback: Tales by Moonlight
      • Book Review: Abidemi Sanusi's "Eyo: African Lolita"
      • Animal Narrators in African Literature
      • Book Review: Myne Whitman's "A Heart to Mend"
      • A Year in Lagos
    • ►  September (5)
    • ►  August (13)
    • ►  July (13)
    • ►  June (17)
    • ►  May (17)
    • ►  April (17)
    • ►  March (17)
    • ►  February (14)
    • ►  January (19)
  • ►  2011 (20)
    • ►  December (20)

Popular Posts

  • 20 Short Story Collections by African Women Writers
  • #100AfricanWomenWriters: 8. Rashidah Ismaili AbuBakr
  • Look at that Cover! Queer Africa 2

Get in touch!

Created with by ThemeXpose