THE AFRICAN SLEUTH

  Wole Soyinka needs no introduction as a world-class African and global playwright, as the very first African to be honoured with the Nobel prize for literature. Pundits often praise the superb imagination and dazzling language of the playwright, but here we are briefly concerned with the unexpected developments in his plays. Two examples will suffice. In Soyinka's celebrated play, Kongi's Harvest , the tyrant (Kongi)  is often contrasted with the traditional African king. But it is clear that Kongi would ride roughshod over everybody as the leader. He condemns many people to death, as the drama unfolds. Then near the end, we are horrified as Kongi finds himself presented with the head of a hanged man! It is the head of the father of Segi, a notable woman, which stealthily finds its way in a salver to the strongman Kongi himself! And people take to their heels!! In another of Soyinka's excellent plays ( The Lion and the Jewel) the traditional leader Baroka...

  This book was published well over 50 years ago. A re-reading even now shows how very well written the book is, excellent in so many ways. Whether as an excellent, absorbing, straightforward novel, a relevant realistic work, a brilliant insight into the lives and wiles of undergraduates...the book excels in every conceivable manner. It is also filled with elements of mystery, thrills and spills, twists and turns... the whole work, throughout. For example the major revelation here is perhaps the unfortunate mystery in Aduke's (one of the 3 young women Amadi is somewhat involved with) life, and the haunting twist at the very end of the work. But the sophistication goes much further than this. For example it is with a sense of great shock that we are suddenly introduced to Sweetie, the Lagos "good time" girl - she and her cantankerous mother. What are they doing inside Amadi's room? Why is Amadi reluctant for Aduke to enter the room? And later on, it is a maste...

  The work of a skilful, experienced writer, Cyprian Ekwensi, perhaps Africa's most prolific and proficient novelist, never mind his (mostly academic) critics. But here we are concerned with the twists and turns of this particular novel - the sure touch of a master writer is generally seen throughout; despite the fundamental theme of both daughter and mother looking for each other. As the story unfolds, we get to see the treachery and deceit of Aunty Kate who stole Jagua Nana's Daughter from her since the child was just a baby. We see now that Liza the daughter is grown up, a lawyer with two children of her own. She has a very rich lover even if he already has three other wives! Both daughter and mother keep on travelling, looking for each other, traversing the north of Nigeria, the east, the middle belt - essentially the whole country as it were. We are given intriguing flashbacks into the past, how a very young Jagua got to be impregnated... And the daughter's (Li...

  The Gbobaniyi Club of Ikire ( Nigeria ) has conferred its ‘Exquisite Calabash’ award on Writer, Omoseye Bolaji for his ‘Contributions to the Genre of Mystery/Detective Writing in Africa'. Excerpts from the formal Citation here:   ‘It is quite apposite and seemly that the recipient Mr Omoseye Bolaji would be receiving this award exactly 20 years after he published the very first adventure of the Tebogo Mystery series, titled Tebogo Investigates. That was in 2000. The series has grown in leaps and bounds since then and is now known worldwide. ‘We refer to Omoseye Bolaji as ‘Mr' here, not because we are unaware that he is an eminent Chief (of Ibadan)himself, or out of disrespect; but Mr. Bolaji has always stressed in his simple way that he prefers to be addressed simply as ‘Mr’. We are also very happy that despite reported poor health over the recent years Mr Bolaji is here in person to receive the award. We also appreciate the presence of literary men, reviewers, critics ...

  It is a fallacy that fewer Africans are writing ... or reading... these days....Actually large numbers of new books come out now even in Africa regularly It is just that reading is becoming elitist as it were, as few people can afford to buy new books in our continent.  But check out newspapers etc and you see new books being reviewed there on a regular basis . Newspapers? Yes, how many people do we see reading or buying even them these days? It is part of the financial problems in the continent now. It is particularly depressing to see so many well educated people, who love information, simply unable to buy papers on a regular basis. So how would they even think of books? Nostalgia thus becomes a great thing. The older people in society will recollect how they used to buy new books on a regular basis, point out how they had very large personal libraries in the past, how they always bought the latest (or reprinted) editions of James Hadley Chase, Nick Carter, Agatha C...

A NAIJA-SOUTHY AFFAIR By Lerato Charlotte Letsoso It is always exciting to see new books coming out, written by authentic Africans, especially unusual ones. This book easily falls into this category... not that the genre is anything special. After all, Romance works are legion. But the background of the main characters here, and the startling symbolism underlying this novel deserves attention. Bu the way, I like this blog (African Sleuth), not only does it celebrate African works published past and present, it does so with brevity, and often with many other allusions to other African books and authors.  I do not think every book should necessarily incorporate detectives or investigators, though the works become more interesting when there are elements of mystery and surprise in it. Such is this work, A Naija-Southy Affair, which focuses on a rather unusual relationship, and on two countries with a seeming love-hate nexus. Simplistically though, men and women wi...

Time was when teeming readers across Africa rushed out on a weekly basis (at worst) to buy new  books, thrillers included, written by African writers.  In Ghana for example, Asare Konadu's books were read by many people, popular works so many people could identify with.  In Nigeria readers were almost spoilt for choice, in respect of exciting local books. Avid readers of yore still reminisce on the books of Naiwu Osahon, especially when Sex is a Nigger was published, and his The Climate of Darkness. Proliferating readers were also only too anxious to get their hands on the latest works by Kalu Okpi, Louis Omotayo Johnson, Victor Thorpe... In east Africa, in this vein David G Maillu has been a popular author for many decades.  His books appealed to so many people). The Equatorial Assignment  is perhaps his most popular early work. The book both shocked and entertained thousands of readers  Indeed the work  has many ingredients that make it ...