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

Books

A Poet’s Walk of Pain Ends, Finally, in Acclaim

Before his manuscript won the 2022 Sillerman Prize, Tares Oburumu faced seemingly interminable hardship in his personal life. “The act of survival, for me, is a lot more inspirational than anything,” he said, “trying to put yourself in a place where there’s no place for you.”

Emmanuel Esomnofu

The 60 Notable Books of 2022

From Warsan Shire, Romeo Oriogun, and Safia Elhillo to Arinze Ifeakandu, Akwaeke Emezi, NoViolet Bulawayo, and Chinelo Okparanta: our second annual highlight of the top titles of the year by African writers.

Open Country Mag

Chinelo Okparanta Is on the December 2022 Cover of Open Country Mag

Seminal storyteller of queer love, satirist of race, literary icon.

Otosirieze

African Comics Cross into Literature

Pearl of the Sea and KARIBA started as animation but ended as graphic novels—the former the first by Triggerfish Studios. Graphic novels are a “three-dimensional experience of literature,” said their publisher, Catalyst Press’ Jessica Powers. “Maybe we’re on the cusp of a trend across the African continent.”

Otosirieze

New Writing & Excerpts

“Black and Female”

The first essay collection from the PEN Pinter Prize winner and Booker Prize-nominated novelist: “That which is dead does not feel. We are not dead while we protest.”

Tsitsi Dangarembga

“Sankofa”

The third novel from the Nigerian sees a woman search for her father: “The man in the picture was the darkest tint in the human spectrum.”

Chibundu Onuzo

“We Once Belonged to the Sea”

In the Somali writer’s debut novel, a tense dynamic between a gifted reclusive lesbian artist and her punk hijabi protégé.

Diriye Osman

“Biracial Britain: A Different Way of Looking at Race”

The Nigerian Polish writer, who lives in the UK, offers his experiences as a mixed-race person.

Remi Adekoya

Book Reviews

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

★★★★★ 4/5

Black Paper: Writing in a Dark Time

Teju Cole

★★★★★ 4/5

Exodus

Gbenga Adeoba

★★★★★ 3/5

Sankofa

Chibundu Onuzo

★★★★★ 2.5/5

Shop

Black and Female

Tsitsi Dangarembga

A philosophical, urgent first collection of essays, by the iconic novelist, on race, gender, imperialism, and artistry.

How to Write About Africa

Binyavanga Wainaina

The late literary icon’s pieces on sexuality, art, history, and contemporary Africa. With introduction by Chimamanda Adichie.

Nearly All the Men in Lagos Are Mad

Damilare Kuku

The bestselling collection of stories set in Lagos, Nigeria’s cultural capital.

Black Paper: Writing in a Dark Time

Teju Cole

The great essayist returns with his second collection, addressing ethical questions about humanity and bearing witness.

Film & TV

How Mami Wata Swam to Sundance

The fantasy revenge thriller is Nigeria’s first indigenously produced film to go to Sundance, a first it already notched at Venice. “We tapped into something beyond us while making this one,” said producer Oge Obasi. “Hopefully, that opens more doors for Nigerian filmmakers,” said director C.J. Obasi.

Otosirieze

Agoodjie: Studiocanal Orders 8-Part Drama Series on Dahomey’s All-Female Army

Created by Didier Lacoste and Joy Fleury, with screenplay by Ukamaka Olisakwe, Adachioma Ezeano, and Jude Idada, it will focus on the two Franco-Dahomean Wars of 1890-94. The story, said Olisakwe, looks at “how this impacted lives and the Kingdom’s long rivalry with its neighbors.”

Emmanuel Esomnofu

How Dakore Egbuson-Akande and Tony Okungbowa Traverse Trauma in YE!

The brief feature, by director John Adekoje, works memory, spirituality, and pain. “That’s indicative of the growth women have access to now,” said Egbuson-Akande, “to process our pain and become stronger, and transform, ascend.”

Otosirieze

Adeola Osunkojo on Directing the Characters and Romances of Love Like This

“Love is a good point for telling stories because it brings out all the other emotions of pain, happiness, joy, euphoria, and sadness,” she said of the warmly received Ndani TV web series. “And it’s what our audience—a lot of them—want in their lives.”

Uzoma Ihejirika

Film & TV Reviews

Prophetess

Niyi Akinmolayan

★★★★★ 3.5/5

Blood Sisters

Biyi Bandele and Kenneth Gyang

★★★★★ 3.3/5

La Femme Anjola

Mildred Okwo

★★★★★ 4/5

Swallow

Kunle Afolayan

★★★★★ 2.5/5

Ife

Uyaiedu Ikpe-Etim

★★★★★ 2.5/5

Nne

Victor Iyke

★★★★★ 3/5

Streaming

BBC: The Reich Lecture 2022: The Freedom of Speech

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Storytalk with a Nigerian Girl

Augustina Okpechi

Nduka Talks Igbo Stuff

Issues & Covers

Culture

How Centre for Memories Conserves Igbo History and Culture

The Enugu-based hub, whose exhibitions, screenings, and lecture series have drawn 7,000 visitors, is, executive director Iheanyi Igboko says, “grooming a generation of young people who are not only grounded in their history and culture but proud of their Igbo identity.”