I had the pleasure of meeting Sarah at a book tour event hosted by the Black British Book Festival, where I volunteered. I enjoyed her session with the kids and loved the interactive and practical approach she adopted in interacting with the kids. I immediately knew that I had to invite her to share her incredible journey with us. I hope this interview inspires you to SHINE! Enjoy! 1) THE AFRO READER: Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your background? How did you get started on your writing journey? At what point did you realise writing was for you? Why Children and Young Adults? SARAH ..read more

It’s been almost a year since I made a post on my website and I am happy to announce my return with a review of Chimamanda’s latest work – Mama’s Sleeping Scarf! It also helps that today is her birthday and as her biggest fan, I am sending her all my love and wishes for the new year! A joyful exploration of family life, written by one of the most outstanding contemporary authors of our generation. This beautiful family story follows a young girl called Chino as she plays with her mama’s sleeping scarf through the day. Running with the scarf, Chino weaves together little incidentals of home lif ..read more

I have known Su’eddie for over five years now and I am so delighted to be speaking to him after my long hiatus from The Afro Reader. This is also very timely because his recently published collection of poems was shortlisted for the Nigeria Prize for 2022 . I hope you enjoy this interview! 1) THE AFRO READER: Hello Su’eddie. Thank you so much for agreeing to this interview. It’s been a long time coming. I know you personally – we’ve been friends for a long time and I have since followed your literary journey. But it will be great for the readers to get to know you. So please tell us a bit abou ..read more

I wrote part of this last year. I never got around to sharing it. Today felt like the perfect day to do so! Enjoy! * My family had a fortnightly ritual. On Saturdays of each fortnight, my mother would take my hand in hers and we would go to the hairdresser. There, Aunty SiSi, a nice chatty woman, would immerse my hair in a hair relaxer until my scalp was almost flattened. She would ask me to tell her when it hurt and in ten minutes, I would do just that. She would then sit me under a hair-drying machine for my hair to dry. When my hair dried, she would style it elegantly. This was culture and ..read more

Nothing prepared me for the deeply personal essay written by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. It was published in The New Yorker on the 10th of September, 2020 and I remember taking breaks to stop myself from breaking down. Reading it felt like she wrote for my past and future griefs. I understand completely the adoration one has for a father who has always been present. And so it does not matter at what age a loved one dies because like she said; at issue is not how old he was but how loved.  Today is Chimamanda’s 43rd Birthday and when I think about her, it is often with a big smile ..read more

Prior to reading The Mechanics of Yenagoa, I had never read any work by Michael Afenfia. However, in 2018, I bought one of his books – Don’t Die On Wednesday – for a friend on his birthday. I was mainly interested in The Mechanics of Yenagoa because Yenagoa is a town I have lived in, as I had done my law school in Yenagoa. I read it with members of my Book Club and fell in love with the easy story telling. The Mechanics of Yenagoa is raw, gritty and warm. But it is also true, relatable and funny. In the heart of its comedy is the analysis of the everyday Nigerian experience: fak ..read more

I first heard of Olaoluwa Oni four years ago. She took part in Brittle Paper’s I LOVE AFRICAN LITERATURE WRITING CONTEST and won! Prior to reading The yNBA, I had never read any Nigerian legal fiction. I dare say, The yNBA by Olaoluwa Oni is the first of its kind. And guess what? It doesn’t disappoint. The genre of legal drama/legal fiction remains largely unmined in Nigerian and African literature and I’m grateful for the gift of Olaoluwa for bringing this genre to life! It was Toni Morrison who said ”If there’s a book that you want to read but it hasn’t been written yet, then you m ..read more

Chimamanda Adichie first mentioned this fall when she wrote about her father’s death on her social media pages. In this essay, she fully explores the fall, the concussion, the hospital staff and the anxiety following the fall. Reading it got me thinking about the brevity of life and how everything we hold so dear can be gone in the twinkle of an eye!⁣ This essay was first published in The Washington Post * My daughter and I were playing tag, or a kind of tag. Before that, we traced the letter P and we danced to James Brown’s “I feel good,” a song she selected from the iPod. We laughed as we da ..read more

I like to think of myself as a Chimamandian. So imagine the sadness that overwhelmed me when I heard that her father had passed on. It felt so personal. Chimamanda has always talked about her father with a fondness that is hard to miss. I can only imagine how she feels at this time. He was reported to have died on Wednesday (June 10) night at Chira Memorial Hospital, Awkuzu Oyi Local Government Area of Anambra state. Prof. J.N. Adichie was born in Abba in 1932, he had his primary education at Nimo Primary School and Awkuzu Primary School and secondary education at Our Lady’s High School Onitsh ..read more

When Paperworth publishers sent me a copy of Piece&Pieces, I didn’t know what to expect from the book as I had never read any work written by the author. Reading this book was quite an experience. I enjoyed reading it. The stories were different and refreshing. I loved the exploration of new cultures and traditions. I loved the fusion of the old and the new – the traditional and the contemporary. ⁣ ⁣Paul is intentional about his stories and characters. You see this in the way they are unapologetic about their actions. The stories in this collection are truly Nigerian and when I was done wi ..read more