I was again opportune to be at the Island on Saturday 26th June 2010 for two literary events: the Book Jam at the galleria and the review of Nnedi Okorafor’s ‘Zarah the Windseeker’.

For some, there might be […]

Every writer, I hear, gets to feel very much like a fraud now and then, that feeling of inadequacy, of pretending to be something he/she has little if no right to assume. Well, this is something I feel very much […]

Writing has its forgettable aspects – such as those misspelt words, grammar misses and all other unsavoury word smears that make even the best of us want to crawl and hide our head in shame. But then, only those […]

It would not be farfetched to declare that the literary scene in Nigeria is on fire. There might not have been any corresponding reverse in the reading culture of Nigerians as it is – yet. However, the […]

He took a step towards her, his manner menacing. She did not draw back like he thought she would, an apparently frightened child. Fear shimmered like a mask on her face; she shook with it but faced dread head on. […]

Most young writers in Nigeria fall into the fallacy of thinking they possess something that their forerunners did not. Adaobi Nwaubani the award-winning author of “I do not come to you by chance” demonstrated […]

I always had a morbid fear of snakes. Even as a child I shied away from the harmless green ones that are abundant in my village, which are actually seen as an assets for they help control the rodent population. […]

His heartbeat increased to a heightened tempo, deep in its cradle, his chest, its thump like a giant’s footstep trudging across a broken landscape. Leaning on the doorframe for support, he prayed for strength to […]

You were a little bit sceptical when you received an invite for a special edition of what usually was usually a monthly event, The Bookjam. This special edition was supposedly in honour of writer John C Maxwell […]

It was winter outside and the snow had been falling since yesterday, cloaking the environment with wool whiteness. I lolled under a thermal sheet, trying to recall the land I had left behind.

Sleep drew me […]

She walked in with a sort of overblown aplomb, lifting up the gloom that had earlier over shadowed the dingy room.

Unconsciously, she posed briefly by the door which opens inwards, that sensual smile of hers […]

Two can play that game

Bimbo drove into the parking lot of the governors’ lodge, her mind on red alert. She had giving much thought to what Sola told her, and tried to equate what she had learnt with her […]

My uncle was waiting for us when we got to his compound, a cluster of huts arranged in a semicircle behind his massive Obi. Impressive, as befits the first son of a great chief.

“My father,” he usually greeted […]

Lust

Balogun Kasim pulled into his expansive compound and parked the car near the entrance; he did not want to wake the entire household. Once again, he was grateful for his foresight in installing a new remote […]

As the old man pushed away from the bamboo pier, he turned to wave to the two-year-old boy for whom he was making this particular trip to the local government office – two hours down creek.

As he paddled, he […]

Contract killer

The big black Mercedes crawled lazily through the night-ridden street, bypassing cars of diverse make packed along a single lane potholed street. It was late, at about 1pm, a time when most of […]