53 years of Nigerian Literature Nigerian Civil War Literature

53 Years of Nigerian Literature: Books Based on/Inspired by the Nigerian Civil War

by bookshy - 09:21

Biafran Refugee Camp
http://www.nairaland.com/582396/biafra-nigerian-civil-war-pictures

Believing I would be able to get tickets to Half of a Yellow Sun at the BFI London Film Festival, a few weeks ago I read the book so everything would be fresh in my mind when I watched the movie. Obviously I didn't get any tickets - it was sold out by the time I went to book - but it does inspire my first Independence celebratory posts.

It has been said that Nigeria's Civil War (or the Biafran War), which was fought between 1967 - 1970, spawned a large body of literature in Nigeria. In a post I did last year, I briefly mentioned this when I listed Elechi Amadi's Sunset in Biafra (1973), Chukuemeka Ike’s Sunset at Dawn (1976), and Flora Nwapa’s Never Again (1976). I won't be going into the themes and sub-themes these texts explore - although, if you want more detail read this excellent article on The Nigerian Civil War and the Literary Imagination. As usual this is not an exhaustive list, but if you're interested in finding out more about Nigeria's civil war, here's a look at some of the literary works over the last four decades that have been inspired by the war and its aftermath.