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So far 2015 has seen new releases from Okey Ndibe, Amir Tag Elsir and Jacques Strauss, and we still have works from Sarah Lotz, Ivan Vladislavić, Mia Couto and more to come. Well, the new releases just keep on coming!!!! 

Awaiting Cover Image
Blackass by A. Igoni Barrett
July 2015

Published by Vintage and described as a 'brilliant Kafka-esque satire', Blackass is a funny, fierce, inventive and daringly provocative. 

White skin, green eyes, red hair - black ass. Furo Wariboko - born and bred in Lagos - wakes up on the morning of his job interview to discover he has turned into a white man. As he hits the street of Lagos running, Furo finds the dead ends of his life open out wondrously before him. The world, it seems, is his oyster - except for one thing: despite his radical transformation, his ass remains robustly black ...

Making Wolf by Tade Thompson
September 2015

Published by Rosamrium Publishing, Making Wolf is a gritty thriller set in modern-day West Africa. Weston Kogi, a security guard in a supermarket in London , returns to his home in West Africa for his aunt's funeral. After catching up with his family, his ex-girlfriend Nana, and an old schoolmate over good food and plenty of beer, it seems like a bit of harmless hyperbole to tell people he works as a homicide detective. But when he is kidnapped by separate rebel factions to investigate the murder of a local hero, Papa Busi, Weston soon finds out that solving the crime may tip the country into civil war. A noir novel set in the blazing sunlight of the tropics, Making Wolf is an outrageous, frightening, violent, and sometimes surreal homecoming experience of a lifetime. 




There's also Elnathan John's novel A Star is Born, about the life of an Almajiri (the name often given to young children in Northern Nigeria who are qu'ranic students, but also sometimes beg for alms and food at times when not in school). 

It will be published by Cassava Republic later this year, with Jeremy Weate (of Cassava Republic) saying: " ... it's a human story of the pressures and difficulties of growing up in Northern Nigeria. This is the story of a child who grows up , a street child whom nobody knows. He joins a gang, his mother is ill and his brother have become Shia."

Not sure when it will be published, but Yewande Omotoso's second novel, The Woman Next Door, published by Chatto & Windus is also one to look out for. It's said to be a "surprising and endearing story of two women living in Cape Town". Here's a synopsis: 


Hortensia James and Marion Agostino are neighbours and sworn enemies. They share hedge and hatred and prune both with a zeal and vim that belies the fact that they are both over eighty. Marion, troubled by her inertia in the face of apartheid, nevertheless resents the intrusion of a black woman into her white neighbourhood. Hortensia, weary of the hypocrisies of South Africa and blind to her own, has no capacity for social graces or friendship.

But one day an unforeseen event forces the women together. Gradually the sniping and bickering softens into lively debate and memories shared and, finally, just possibly, into something that looks a bit like a (rather spiky) form of friendship. 
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"The Tejuosho bus stop is a stone’s throw from where I stand. It is a tangle of traffic – mostly danfos and molues – that one might be tempted to describe as one of the densest spots of human activity in the city, if only there weren’t so many others: Ojuelegba, Ikeja, Oshodi, Isolo, Ketu, Ojota". (Teju Cole, 'Every Day is for The Thief' p.150)

This month I'm celebrating Nigeria's literary history and my second post pays homage to the city where I was born and raised, which as the quote above shows can be pretty dense. I love cities and I've always been fascinated by them - probably why I study them in the context of development. I also love how you can learn about new cities through the work of fiction. So if you've never been to Lagos, what better way to explore the city than through the pages of a novel. 

For this list, I'm focusing solely on books in my library - which means I'll probably miss out on quite a bit (e.g. Odio Ofeimun’s Lagos of the Poets). As I'm looking at books published since 1960 I am unable to include Cyprian Ekwensi’s People of the City (1956). I also was not sure whether to include books that begin in Lagos and then spend the rest of the story in a different place (e.g. A Squatter's Tale by Ike Oguine and Eyo by Abidemi Sanusi). In the end, I decided to include the books that are either solely set in Lagos or at least spend a substantial amount of time there. 


These books tell tales of Lagos from Independence to present day, with the military years in between. There are stories of corruption, the stark contrast between rural and urban life, young love, slums and street life, the informal economy, challenging tradition, high society, power cuts, public transport and traffic. To borrow the title of the 2010 BBC documentary 'Welcome to Lagos'. I hope you enjoy it. 

No Longer At Ease by Chinua Achebe (1960)

The story of Obi Okonkwo, the grandson of Okonkwo from Things Fall Apart who returnd to Nigeria after four years studying English in England. He gets a job as a civil servant in Lagos and here is where corruption (which is made all the more easier by the moral and physical isolation of family in a big city like Lagos) comes a-knocking. There's also a focus on how the growth of post-Independent Lagos is money and the desire for prosperity and money - something not found in rural Nigeria.



The Joys of Motherhood by Buchi Emecheta (1979)

Through the life of Nnu Ego, 
The Joys of Motherhood explores what it means to be a mother (and a woman) in a Nigeria where traditions and customs are changing. Largely set in Lagos, we also get to see the contrast between rural Ibuza (traditional values and lifestyles are maintained here) and urban Lagos (traditional values succumb to the pressures of Western education, capitalism and the mixing of different ethnicities and cultures. 


Waiting for an Angel by Helon Habila (2002)

Set in Lagos in the 90s during military rule, Waiting for an Angel is based around Lomba - a young aspiring writer and poet working for a local newspaper and now political prisoner. Through a number or interconnected short stories we not only learn about Lomba's life as a prisoner, but also his life prior to becoming one. Like the Lagos neighbourhood of 'Poverty Street' where he lives and his neighbours, as well as general life in Lagos during the military regime - curfews, petrol scarcity and subsequent queues, jungle justice. To further show the ability of literature to introduce you to aspects of a city's history, there is a part in the story where Lomba visits the old slave port of Badagry.


Graceland by Chris Abani (2004)

Elvis, is a teenager living in the slums of Lagos with his father, his girlfriend and her kids. He spends his days not in school but on the beach trying to make a living as an Elvis impersonator. As his job as does not seem to make him enough money, he turns into a life of crime - thanks to his friend Redemption. More than life in a Lagos slum, this one shows the influence of American culture (music, film ... Elvis) on a young boy in Nigeria. 


Everything Good Will Come by Sefi Atta (2005)

Set in Nigeria (well Lagos) and then the UK and then back to Nigeria again, Everything Good Will Come (told through Enitan) is about an unlikely friendship between Enitan and Sheri which starts from childhood and continues to adulthood. Their friendship may form the backdrop, but this novel gives a sense of life in Lagos and of Lagosians. Similar to Waiting for an Angel, it is set during a time of military rule in Nigeria. 



Every Day is for The Thief by Teju Cole (2007)
Part-fiction, part-memoir, Every Day is for The Thief is an account of a Nigerian returning home - to Lagos - after many years in the States. It explores the narrators experiences of contemporary Lagos life. Power cuts, noisy generators, traffic, bus conductors, bookshops, corruption, the Muson centre, the Jazzhole and the slave trade. Possibly one of my favourite books on Lagos. 
London Life, Lagos Living by Bobo Omotayo (2011) 

This is a collection of 37 short Lagos-life observations turned 'stories'. If you ever wanted to know how the other half lives. By that I mean the wayfarer wearing, Veuve Clicquot drinking, social climbers in Lagos high society this satire on today's Lagosians - where image is everything - does just that. 

The Spider King's Daughter by Chibundu Onuzo (2012) 

A tale of young love in modern-day Lagos. 17-year old Abike Johnson is the daughter of the Spider King - Olumide Johnson, a business tycoon. On the other side of the city is Runner G, a street hawker selling ice-cream ob the busy Lagos roads. An unlikely friendship develops between Abike and Runner G which blossoms into love. The novel comes alive in its descriptions of Lagos and portrayal of a street hawker's life, the informal economy, the surroundings in which hawkers and most of the urban poor in Lagos live in. 

Love is Power, or Something Like That by A. Igoni Barrett (2013)

There are nine stories in this collection and while not all are set in Lagos (or even Nigeria - one is set in Nairobi), Lagos does run through Love is Power. There's The Dream Chaser  about a young boy who spends his days in a cyber cafe pretending to be a woman and online and possibly one of my favourite short stories on Lagos, My Smelling Mouth Problem, on the daily troubles a young commuter faces getting around Lagos thanks to his 'smelling mouth'.



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As I mentioned last week on Facebook, I found out a week or so ago I had two copies of two new releases. I was not sure what to do with them, until my younger sister suggested I do a giveaway. So a big thank you to my sister for that great idea. The books on offer are Love is Power or Something Like That by A Igoni Barrett and We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo. My review on Love is Power can be found here. I haven't had a chance to read We Need New Names yet, but a synopsis can be found here.



The giveaway is open only to followers of the blog or anyone who has liked the Facebook Page. So for a chance to win one of these two new releases all you need to do is:
Leave a comment either on this post OR on the Facebook update for this post saying either "Love is Power" or "We Need New Names" for the book you would prefer. You can also simply just like the Facebook update.
The giveaway is open until July 14th. The winner will be announced on July 15th. 
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It's either I'm starting to like short stories, or this is a just a really good collection. Out May, Love is Power or Something Like That is a new collection of nine short stories by A. Igoni Barrett. I would also like to say a big thank you to Chatto & Windus for providing me with a review copy.

Nigeria forms the backdrop of this collection in which an ailing old woman, an internet fraudster, an impoverished young boy, a corrupt police officer, a commuter, a wealthy civil servant and a traveller all show us the different ways love, or "something like that" manifests itself. 

In the opening story The Worst Thing That Happened an ailing old woman, who has to make her way yet again to an operating room, travels across town to visit her daughter. But what she feels on arrival is abandonment in spite of "all the years she had given, the sacrifices, the worrying, the love" (p.16). In The Dream Chaser, all is not what it seems, as a young boy spends his days in a cyber cafe pretending to be a woman online. The Shape of a Full Circle, shows another young boy, but in different circumstances - he is responsible for his family. The title story takes us into the world of a corrupt, abusive police officer trying to understand his different actions as a police officer and a family man. My Smelling Mouth Problem tells of the daily troubles a young commuter faces getting around Lagos as a result of literally his smelling mouth. The Little Girl with Budding Breasts and a Bubblegum Laugh might be a mouthful of a title, but it tells of forbidden love.  From pre-Independence, through Nigeria's many coup d'etats, the Nigerian Civil War, and even the "War Against Indiscipline" (WAI) a family's story is told in Godspeed and Perpetua. This isn't a rags-to-riches story, but one of a man who goes from being a wealthy senior civil servant to a lesser version of himself. Through it we see the impact all these events have had on him, his wife, and their relationship (with each other and also with their daughter).

These different characters and stories show that whether real or fake, right or wrong, one thing that cannot be denied is love's presence in people's lives. Love really is power, or something like that, but what we do with it is an entirely different story. And one that I think this collection of stories captures quite well. 

4.5 out of 5
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Two new books to look out for in 2013 - Taiye Selasi's Ghana Must Go and A. Igoni Barrett's Love Is Power, or Something Like That. Enjoy!

In 2005 LIP Magazine published Bye-Bye Barbar, Taiye Selasi's essay on Afropolitans (a new generation of Africans), and her story The Sex Lives of African Girls was published in Granta. Ghana Must Go is her debut novel published by Viking and set to be released March 2013.

Ghana Must Go is the story of the Sai family. The death of Kwaku Sai brings together the family he abandoned years before. The family gathers in Ghana, at their mother, Fola's new home. The eldest son and his new wife, the twins, and their baby sister all come together for the first time in years, each carrying secrets of their own. What is revealed in their coming together is the story of how  they came apart. Ghana Must Go shares the truths hidden, lies told and crimes committed in the name of love. It is at once a portrait of family and an exploration of the importance of where we come from and our obligations to one another. In one sweeping narrative that  takes us from West Africa to New England to London, Ghana Must Go teaches that the stories we share with one another can build a new future.  Synopsis from Penguin.com.


US Cover 
A. Igoni Barrett, author of From Caves of Rotten Teeth, new collection of short stories will be released May 2013 in the US and June 2013 in the UK. 


UK Cover
In Love is Power or Something Like That when it comes to love, things are not always what they seem. In contemporary Lagos, a young boy may pose as a woman online, and a maid may be suspected of sleeping with her employer and yet still become a young wife's confidant. Men and women can be objects of fantasy, the subject of beery soliloquies. They can be trophies or status symbols. Or they can be overwhelming in their need. 

In these wide-ranging stories, A. Igoni Barett roams the streets with people from all stations of life. A man with acute halitosis navigates the chaos of the Lagos bus system. A minor policeman, full of the authority and corruption of his uniform, beats his wife. A family's fortunes fall from love and wealth to infidelity and poverty, as poor choices unfurl over three generations. With humour and tenderness, Barett introduces us to an utterly modern Nigeria, where desire is a means to an end, and love is a power as real as money. Synopsis from Graywolf Press. 
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I am always celebrating the amazing female African writers out there, but today I thought I'd switch it up. It is Father's Day after all. From Achebe to Tutuola and Abani to Cole, there are some amazing Nigerian authors (and playwrights) out there and I just wanted to share some of their amazing works. Enjoy!!! And to my father, and all the other father's out there. Happy Father's Day!!!




 
 
 
 


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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.

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