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Features

November 21, 2022

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

November 15, 2022

The Mystery of Sofia Samatar

The enigmatic American-Somali novelist, poet, and academic on her new memoir The White Mosque, literary hybridity, and the “dystopian hypocrisy” of social media.
Diriye Osman
Sofia Samatar by PETER A. DUFFY for WIRED

November 6, 2022

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 AMAAs Best Actress winner Egbuson, “to process our pain and become stronger, and transform, ascend.”
Otosirieze
In YE!, Dakore Egbuson-Akande plays Stellar, a member of the Ajumose. Supplied.

November 4, 2022

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.”
Paula Willie-Okafor
A visitor at Centre for Memories, Enugu.

November 2, 2022

“They Don’t Know How We Feel Inside”: Families of SARS Victims Speak in Devastating Documentary

Awaiting Trial finds the emotional core of police brutality and the End SARS protests in Nigeria. It is “a deliberate telling of the consequences of the death and damage dealt on all of us,” said narrator and executive producer Chude Jideonwo.
Otosirieze

November 2, 2022

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
Love Like This still

October 31, 2022

Nollywood Has a Storytelling Problem. Adapting These 20 Novels Can Help.

Nigerian literature has the global acclaim that Nigerian cinema need only draw from. But will filmmakers look?
Emmanuel Esomnofu
A scene from Half of a Yellow Sun film

October 31, 2022

Writing Omo Ghetto: The Saga, Nollywood’s Highest Grossing Film of All-Time

Collins Okoh, co-writer of the ₦636 million box office juggernaut starring Funke Akindele, tells us about his research of ghetto culture and the need for creative freedom for screenwriters. “I never thought that a gun would be referred to as ‘English’ until I started writing the movie,” he said.
Uzoma Ihejirika
Omo Ghetto: The Saga

October 25, 2022

Emeka Ugwu, Newly Named Art Director of OCM, on Creating a Visual Language of Africanness

The multidisciplinary designer, whose clients include NASA, UNESCO, and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, makes work that is “unusual and unique.”
Otosirieze
Emeka Ugwu, Art Director of Open Country Mag

October 15, 2022

It’s a Continent Is a Popular History Podcast. Now It’s Also a Book.

Chinny Ukata and Astrid Madimba on how their “conversational approach to the book and podcast allows us to reach audiences who wouldn’t typically engage with such content.”
Paula Willie-Okafor
Chinny Ukata and Astrid Madimba, hosts and authors of the podcast-turned-book It's a Continent. Image supplied.

September 17, 2022

Introduction to 20.35 Africa Vol. V: “An Adoption of Language to Contain This Violence”

These “conversations are as absurd as they are beautiful,” writes the poetry series’ managing editor Precious Okpechi. “This is what literature does: bare life’s absurdity and beauty.”
20.35 Africa
20.35 Africa Vol. V

September 17, 2022

The UnSerious Collective Announces 2022 Fellowship Winners

Each of the five fellows will receive N50,000.
Open Country Mag
The Origin of Name; photo by Adedayo Agarau.

September 10, 2022

Arinze Ifeakandu Leads Shortlist for $50,000 Kirkus Prize

The debut Nigerian author’s short story collection, God’s Children Are Little Broken Things, has seen him compared to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Zadie Smith and praised by Damon Galgut.
Emmanuel Esomnofu
Arinze Ifeakandu by Bec Stupak Diop.

September 7, 2022

Booker Prize: NoViolet Bulawayo Is the First Woman to Be Shortlisted for Her First Two Novels

With Glory, the Zimbabwean joins Nigeria’s Chigozie Obioma and India’s Rohinton Mistry in an elite group.
Otosirieze
NoViolet Bulawayo

August 27, 2022

The $100,000 NLNG Prize Announces Youngest Ever Shortlist

In an unusual decision that has surprised and delighted observers, the final three poets—Romeo Oriogun, Su’eddie Vershima Agema, and Saddiq Dzukogi—come from the younger generation.
Uzoma Ihejirika
Romeo Oriogun by Romeo Oriogun

August 13, 2022

Biyi Bandele, Literary Voice Who Peaked as a Major Nollywood Director, Is Dead at 54

He leaves behind a solid legacy, including the movie Fifty, the Netflix series Blood Sisters, a Fela Kuti documentary, and adaptations of work by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Wole Soyinka.
Paula Willie-Okafor
Biyi Bandele. Credit: @biyibandele on Instagram.

August 4, 2022

Troy Onyango on Lolwe & Literary Magazine Publishing in Africa

The platform, founded and edited by the Kenyan writer, is building a conversation between Africa and the Black diaspora. It is his second venture after the defunct Enkare Review.
Socrates Mbamalu
Troy Onyango by Jagero.

July 28, 2022

NoViolet Bulawayo’s Political Allegory Glory on Booker Prize Longlist

It is the Zimbabwean’s second novel to be longlisted, after her 2013 debut We Need New Names reached the shortlist.
Uzoma Ihejirika
NoViolet Bulawayo

July 28, 2022

Jumi Bello’s Debut Novel Was Dropped for Plagiarism. New Details Show It’s Serial.

An investigative feature in Airmail traced the American Nigerian writer’s history of taking without attribution.
Paula Willie-Okafor
Jumi Bello by Saman Assefi via Airmail.

July 23, 2022

In Conversation with Lan Samantha Chang, Director of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop

The influential Chinese American novelist on running the famed program, new African writing, MFAs, literary genres, and her novel The Family Chao. “There is the possibility of creating the conversation that brings in as many voices as possible,” she said of the Workshop.
Otosirieze
Lan Samantha Chang by IfeOluwa Nihinlola

November 21, 2022

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

November 15, 2022

Sofia Samatar by PETER A. DUFFY for WIRED

The Mystery of Sofia Samatar

The enigmatic American-Somali novelist, poet, and academic on her new memoir The White Mosque, literary hybridity, and the “dystopian hypocrisy” of social media.
Diriye Osman

November 6, 2022

In YE!, Dakore Egbuson-Akande plays Stellar, a member of the Ajumose. Supplied.

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 AMAAs Best Actress winner Egbuson, “to process our pain and become stronger, and transform, ascend.”
Otosirieze

November 4, 2022

A visitor at Centre for Memories, Enugu.

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.”
Paula Willie-Okafor

November 2, 2022

“They Don’t Know How We Feel Inside”: Families of SARS Victims Speak in Devastating Documentary

Awaiting Trial finds the emotional core of police brutality and the End SARS protests in Nigeria. It is “a deliberate telling of the consequences of the death and damage dealt on all of us,” said narrator and executive producer Chude Jideonwo.
Otosirieze

November 2, 2022

Love Like This still

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

October 31, 2022

A scene from Half of a Yellow Sun film

Nollywood Has a Storytelling Problem. Adapting These 20 Novels Can Help.

Nigerian literature has the global acclaim that Nigerian cinema need only draw from. But will filmmakers look?
Emmanuel Esomnofu

October 31, 2022

Omo Ghetto: The Saga

Writing Omo Ghetto: The Saga, Nollywood’s Highest Grossing Film of All-Time

Collins Okoh, co-writer of the ₦636 million box office juggernaut starring Funke Akindele, tells us about his research of ghetto culture and the need for creative freedom for screenwriters. “I never thought that a gun would be referred to as ‘English’ until I started writing the movie,” he said.
Uzoma Ihejirika

October 25, 2022

Emeka Ugwu, Art Director of Open Country Mag

Emeka Ugwu, Newly Named Art Director of OCM, on Creating a Visual Language of Africanness

The multidisciplinary designer, whose clients include NASA, UNESCO, and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, makes work that is “unusual and unique.”
Otosirieze

October 15, 2022

Chinny Ukata and Astrid Madimba, hosts and authors of the podcast-turned-book It's a Continent. Image supplied.

It’s a Continent Is a Popular History Podcast. Now It’s Also a Book.

Chinny Ukata and Astrid Madimba on how their “conversational approach to the book and podcast allows us to reach audiences who wouldn’t typically engage with such content.”
Paula Willie-Okafor

September 17, 2022

20.35 Africa Vol. V

Introduction to 20.35 Africa Vol. V: “An Adoption of Language to Contain This Violence”

These “conversations are as absurd as they are beautiful,” writes the poetry series’ managing editor Precious Okpechi. “This is what literature does: bare life’s absurdity and beauty.”
20.35 Africa

September 17, 2022

The Origin of Name; photo by Adedayo Agarau.

The UnSerious Collective Announces 2022 Fellowship Winners

Each of the five fellows will receive N50,000.
Open Country Mag

September 10, 2022

Arinze Ifeakandu by Bec Stupak Diop.

Arinze Ifeakandu Leads Shortlist for $50,000 Kirkus Prize

The debut Nigerian author’s short story collection, God’s Children Are Little Broken Things, has seen him compared to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Zadie Smith and praised by Damon Galgut.
Emmanuel Esomnofu

September 7, 2022

NoViolet Bulawayo

Booker Prize: NoViolet Bulawayo Is the First Woman to Be Shortlisted for Her First Two Novels

With Glory, the Zimbabwean joins Nigeria’s Chigozie Obioma and India’s Rohinton Mistry in an elite group.
Otosirieze

August 27, 2022

Romeo Oriogun by Romeo Oriogun

The $100,000 NLNG Prize Announces Youngest Ever Shortlist

In an unusual decision that has surprised and delighted observers, the final three poets—Romeo Oriogun, Su’eddie Vershima Agema, and Saddiq Dzukogi—come from the younger generation.
Uzoma Ihejirika

August 13, 2022

Biyi Bandele. Credit: @biyibandele on Instagram.

Biyi Bandele, Literary Voice Who Peaked as a Major Nollywood Director, Is Dead at 54

He leaves behind a solid legacy, including the movie Fifty, the Netflix series Blood Sisters, a Fela Kuti documentary, and adaptations of work by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Wole Soyinka.
Paula Willie-Okafor

August 4, 2022

Troy Onyango by Jagero.

Troy Onyango on Lolwe & Literary Magazine Publishing in Africa

The platform, founded and edited by the Kenyan writer, is building a conversation between Africa and the Black diaspora. It is his second venture after the defunct Enkare Review.
Socrates Mbamalu

July 28, 2022

NoViolet Bulawayo

NoViolet Bulawayo’s Political Allegory Glory on Booker Prize Longlist

It is the Zimbabwean’s second novel to be longlisted, after her 2013 debut We Need New Names reached the shortlist.
Uzoma Ihejirika

July 28, 2022

Jumi Bello by Saman Assefi via Airmail.

Jumi Bello’s Debut Novel Was Dropped for Plagiarism. New Details Show It’s Serial.

An investigative feature in Airmail traced the American Nigerian writer’s history of taking without attribution.
Paula Willie-Okafor

July 23, 2022

Lan Samantha Chang by IfeOluwa Nihinlola

In Conversation with Lan Samantha Chang, Director of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop

The influential Chinese American novelist on running the famed program, new African writing, MFAs, literary genres, and her novel The Family Chao. “There is the possibility of creating the conversation that brings in as many voices as possible,” she said of the Workshop.
Otosirieze

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