All posts by Adaudo Anyiam-Osigwe
- 28 Aug, 18
- by Adaudo Anyiam-Osigwe
- in Fiction
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- Title: When We Speak of Nothing
- Author: Olumide Popoola
- Publisher: Cassava Republic Press
- Number of pages: 256
- Year of publication: 2017
- Category: Fiction
The one word which comes to mind on reading Olumide Popoola’s When We Speak of Nothing is daring. It is a daring novel, without inhibitions in terms of language and its portrayal of identity. The novel – set in London, United Kingdom, and Port Harcourt, Nigeria – is a bildungsroman of the two teenage protagonists, Abu and Karl, on the verge of eighteen, questioning and seeking out wholeness and authenticity in life and, just as important, a place in the world where they can live out this authenticity. Karl lays this bare in an honest conversation with his mother when he says, ‘There is no wholeness. Nowhere I really am…I was not here. I didn’t exist’. More…
- 28 Jul, 17
- by Adaudo Anyiam-Osigwe
- in Fiction
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- Title: Like a Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the Sun
- Author: Sarah Ladipo Manyika
- Publisher: Cassava Republic Press
- Number of pages: 118
- Year of publication: 2016
- Category: Fiction
Sarah Ladipo Manyika’s short novel, Like a Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the Sun, centres on the elderly Dr Morayo Da Silva, and is a considerate meditation on life’s daily triumphs and setbacks. Our moments and actions accumulate into years and stories that are embodied in a lifetime. As a former English professor, Morayo is deeply attached to books. However, as one discovers more about Morayo’s life, there is a realisation that this deep attachment is a form of solace, and not just solace but also a way to seek control over the meaning of death and betrayal. More…
- 14 Mar, 17
- by Adaudo Anyiam-Osigwe
- in Fiction
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- Title: Sweet Medicine
- Author: Panashe Chigumadzi
- Publisher: BlackBird Books
- Number of pages: 210
- Year of publication: 2015
- Category: Fiction
Sweet Medicine may be regarded as a coming-of-age story, in as much as it is the story of a young woman’s acknowledgement of the odds against her, the desperation of living under the spirit-destroying burden of a collapsed modern Zimbabwe, and her decision and subsequent actions to overcome those odds. More…
- 19 Apr, 16
- by Adaudo Anyiam-Osigwe
- in Environment
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- Title: The Forest: An African Traditional Definition
- Author: Ekpe Inyang
- Publisher: Langaa RPCIG
- Number of pages: 24
- Year of publication: 2015
- Category: Environment
In this short treatise, The Forest: An African Traditional Definition, Ekpe Inyang attempts to highlight certain cultural belief systems that can be exploited by modern, Western conservationists working in Africa. He notes that too often, modern conservationists adhere to a strict eco-centric approach at the expense of anthropogenic (cultural) considerations when dealing with the relationship between the conservation of nature and the livelihoods of humans. More…
- 15 Apr, 16
- by Adaudo Anyiam-Osigwe
- in Children
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- Title: Queiba’s Question
- Number of pages: 32
- Title: Queiba’s Dress
- Number of pages: 32
- Author: Nana Ama Afoa Osae
- Publisher: Techmate Publishers Limited
- Year of publication: 2014
- Category: Children
The works of Nana Ama Afoa Osae are imbued with an overtly Christian ethos. In both books, Queiba’s Question and Queiba’s Dress, Nana Ama Afoa Osae uses the daily experiences and difficulties of the titular character, Queiba, to bring to the awareness and understanding of children the desires and wishes of God for their lives and the lives of those around them. More…
- 01 Dec, 15
- by Adaudo Anyiam-Osigwe
- in Children
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- Title: The Freedom Day Party
- Number of pages: 47
- Title: Drop That Phone!
- Number of pages: 27
- Author: Teresa Oyibo Ameh
- Publisher: Grower Literature
- Year of publication: 2015
- Category: Children
The Freedom Day Party is a thoughtful story that considers the battle between Western ideas and traditional beliefs and attitudes, as well as the manifestation of class differences and the personal sacrifices of parents. All these are seen through the eyes of a child who is becoming aware of the world around her, and slowly coming to understand the harsh realities of existence and the need to overcome barriers on the journey towards a fulfilled life. More…
- 02 Oct, 15
- by Adaudo Anyiam-Osigwe
- in Children
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- Title: Refilwe
- Author: Zukiswa Wanner
- Illustrator: Tamsin Hinrichsen
- Publisher: Jacana Media
- Number of pages: 32
- Year of publication: 2015
- Category: Children
The African retelling of ‘best loved tales’, with a primary aim to encourage a love of reading in preschool and nursery school children, is commendable. Introducing children to the world of books and helping them develop a yearning for reading provides them with a platform to progressively experience the vast knowledge the world has to offer. However, there is a distinction to be made between the goal of such endeavours and the routes taken to achieve this aim. More…