Open Country Mag : Africa : Books, Film and TV, Culture

Books

The Rovingheights Bestseller List 2023: Presented with Open Country Mag

The 100 bestselling books of 2023 in Nigeria: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, self-published, and children’s books.

Momtaza Mehri’s Fluid Diasporas

Having traversed regions, her poetry, including the Forward Prize-winning Bad Diaspora Poems, interrogates a race- and class-conscious world — and her place in it as a Muslim Somali woman.

A Poet Imagines Dreams for the Displaced

In Exodus, his debut collection, ‘Gbenga Adeoba threads the histories, migrations, and traumas of people forced to sea.

“I Used to Think Stories Only Had Artistic Value if They Were Tragic”: Feel Good Hums with Queer Joy

Editors Daniel Orubo and OluTimehin Kukoyi, and contributors Olakunle Ologunro, Innocent Ilo, Edwin Okolo, Fareeda Abdulkareem, and Ani Kayode, on the freedoms and radicality of fictionalizing happiness for LGBTQ+ Nigerians.

Orji Victor Ebubechukwu

New Writing & Excerpts

“Thinking Through Tremor”

Morality as an uncanny city in Teju Cole’s second novel: “And if we are to think of music as a sort of shield for him, then we are invited to think of his dead friend as having once played that same role in his life.”

Reyumeh Ejue

“‘Our Literature Has Died Again’: Nigerian Writing in the Era of the Nomadists”

As conversations sethe about the “death” of Nigerian literature and the loss of authenticity in its poetry, a writer counters for the growing japa-MFA subculture: “I call them the Nomadic Generation because of their complication of nationalism.”

Kanyinsola Olorunnisola

“Creating a New Tradition in African Poetry”

20.35 Africa Vol. VI, edited by Nick Makoha and Safia Jama, is introduced by the series’ managing editor Precious Okpechi: “The poets understand that history evolves with us.”

20.35 Africa

“The Quality of Mercy”

Following The Theory of Flight and The History of Man, the Windham Campbell Prize winner concludes her City of Kings trilogy: “Her unsolved murder made what he needed to do now very difficult.”

Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu

Book Reviews

This Motherless Land

Nikki May

★★★★★ 3.5/5

When We Were Fireflies

Abubakar Adam Ibrahim

★★★★★ 3.7/5

I Am Still with You

Emmanuel Iduma

★★★★★ 3/5

Imagination’s Many Rooms

Amatoritsero Ede

★★★★★ 2.5/5

My Seven Black Fathers

Will Jawando

★★★★★ 3/5

God’s Children Are Little Broken Things

Arinze Ifeakandu

★★★★★ 5/5

Shop

The Stone Breakers

Emmanuel Dongala

In the fifth novel by Dongala, a major figure in Francophone African literature, Congolese women, working as stone crushers at a gravel pit, demand higher wages.

Ghost Season

Fatin Abbas

This sweeping tale of the breakup of Sudan explores the porous and perilous nature of borders ― national, ethnic, or religious ― and the profound consequences of crossing them.

Gaslight

Femi Kayode

The second novel in a mystery series following investigator Taiwo Philips, who tries to crack a conspiracy around a religious leader accused of murder.

Whites Can Dance Too

Kalaf Epalanga

A reflection on and celebration of Angolan music, the intertwining of cultural roots, freedom, and love.

Film & TV

How Tolu Obanro, Nollywood’s Top Composer, Crafts the Sounds of Its Biggest Hits

Hopping between genres, his scores are heard in almost every major recent box office and streaming success, including A Tribe Called Judah, Jagun Jagun, Gangs of Lagos, and Battle on Buka Street. “I’ve been trusted by filmmakers,” he said.

Paula Willie-Okafor

The 10 Best Films & TV Series of the Year

In a storied year for Nigerian cinema, our inaugural list prioritizes the realization of narrative, and these features stand out.

Otosirieze

The 10 Best Acting Performances of the Year

In a year of ensembles, in which it fell on collective performances to elevate stories, these actors stood out — among the films and TV series we saw.

Otosirieze

“It’s the Fact That We Did It Our Own Way”: How Yahoo+ Captured a Desperate Side of Internet Fraud

Director, producer, and screenplay writer Ebuka Njoku and producer Lorenzo Menakaya on their professional journeys and the making of their Netflix No. 1 hit.

Orji Victor Ebubechukwu

Film & TV Reviews

A Tribe Called Judah

Funke Akindele

★★★★★ 4.5/5

Jagun Jagun

Adebayo Tijani & Tope Adebayo

★★★★★ 4.5/5

The Real Housewives of Lagos

Bravo and Livespot 360

★★★★★ 4.0/5

Battle on Buka Street

Funke Akindele and Tobi Makinde

★★★★★ 4.3/5

The Trade

Jade Osiberu

★★★★★ 3.5/5

King of Thieves (Agesinkole)

Adebayo Tijani and Tope Adebayo

★★★★★ 3.3/5

Streaming

Sarah Masiyiwa & Line Talla

The Muslim Highlife of Alhaji Waziri Oshomah

Alhaji Waziri Oshomah

BBC: The Reich Lecture 2022: The Freedom of Speech

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Nsukka Is Burning

Deborah Shorinde

Issues & Covers

Culture & Industries

“A Richness of African Consciousness”: How a Spiritual Novel Influenced a Music Album

Booker Prize winner Ben Okri, author of The Famished Road, and Ghanaian rapper Delasi, with the EP The Audacity of Free Thought, in a deep, rare reflection on storytelling, art forms, and their quests for origins.

Michael Chiedoziem Chukwudera

Nonzo Bassey’s Songs of Heartbreak

On his debut album Diary of a Loverboy, the Nigerian singer and actor channels frustration, anger, and love.

Orji Victor Ebubechukwu

The Communal Fates and Faith of a Chess Master

In five years, Chess in Slums Africa brought hope to thousands of children and became a charity phenomenon. But to get there, its founder Tunde Onakoya had to survive terrors: “It’s the kind of things that you see in movies, and you’re, like, ‘This is really bad,’ but then you’re seeing it, the real consequences of poverty.”

Otosirieze

“Thrilling and Innovative Ideas”: Open Country Mag Names 6 Curatorial Fellows

The $6,000 initiative, sponsored by Africa No Filter, will fund and support five projects representing West, East, and Southern Africa: a musical and art exhibition, 3D fashion and storytelling, a mixed media project on Nok terracotta, a podcast on LGBTQI+ issues, and a documentary on Nollywood.