Mr. Franklin Ekeocha is the author of War Without Bloodshed, Father Church: A Living Sacrifice, among other books, who resigned from different jobs to take up writing as a profession. In this interview with PAUL OKAH, he speaks on declining reading culture in Nigeria, societal ills, attitude of publishers to authors, even as he hopes for a better Nigeria. What Read More
The Pan African Writers Association (PAWA) is set to empower two female writers from 54 African countries. In a statement, PAWA’s Secretary General, Wale Okediran, PAWA would collaborate with Women’s Organisation of Resources, Knowledge and Skills (WORKS) and LONGRICH to undertake the pilot scheme of the project in all its 54 member countries in Africa. The aim of the project, Read More
An award-winning journalist, novelist and short-story writer, Olukorede Yishau, is releasing his collection of short stories, “Vaults of Secrets”, on Thursday, October 1, 2020. Given the attention the critical acclaim garnered by his first book, “The Name of Our Father”, critics are of the view that the view that the collection will receive a lot of rave reveiew. Speaking about Read More
The Fugar Progressive Union (FPU), a socio-cultural group in Edo state, has called on the UNESCO to include in its nominations some of its tourist sites for consideration among the list of World Heritage Sites. The FPU national president, Barrister Richard Anetekhai, said the caves represented a masterpiece of natural creative genius. “The tourist sites are strategically located in a Read More
Ghana President, Nana Akufo-Addo, has congratulated Nigerian writer, Wale Okediran, on his appointment as the Secretary-General of the Pan-African Writers Association (PAWA). Akufo-Addo congratulated Okediran in a statement issued by his spokesperson, Nana Bediatuo, and made available to newsmen. Akufo-Addo charged Okediran to use his new position to further the cause of the association. “The President of the Republic welcomes Read More
Barely two weeks after bagging an Eisner Award, Nigeria’s Nnedi Okorafor has won the coveted Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story or Comic for her graphic novel, “LaGuardia”. She won the award with illustrators Tana Ford and James Devlin. This is a second Hugo win for Okorafor who became the first Nigerian to win the award in 2016 for her Read More
Title: Ambition Is In The Making Author: Muhammad Bashir Bala Publisher: Muhammad Bashir Bala Year of Publication: 2020 Number of Pages: 221Reviewer: Nasir S. Gwangwazo Description: ‘Ambition Is In The Making’ this book addresses various issues that have arisen in the practice of democracy in Nigeria since 1960, focusing on the Ahmad Rufa’i Sani’s years (1999-2019) and his future politics. It Read More
Title: LINGUISTIC CRITICISM OF THE AFRICAN NOVEL Author: Kayode Omole Publisher: Bloom Media Network Ltd, Abuja, Nigeria Year of Publication: 2019 Number of Pages: 161 Reviewer: Prof Gbenga Ibileye Disintering the stylistician’s persona from his stylistics: An excursion into the mind and activism of Professor Kayode Omole at 70 The French naturalist Georges-Louis Leclerc de Buffon (1707-1788) was perhaps the Read More
AWAAL GATA poses nine questions to Jamila Saleh, a budding poet from Gombe, whose poems are dearly followed on social media Who is Jamila Saleh? I was born and brought up in Gombe. I attended Jekadafari primary school, Gombe and later GDSS Nassarawo where I had my secondary school education. I have an NCE in Home Economics from Federal College Read More
Critical reading of Abubakar Imam’s “Tafiya Mabudin Ilimi”, Daniel Defoe’s “Robinson Crusoe”, “John Bunyan’s “Pilgrim’s Progress”, Jonathan Swift’s “Gulliver’s Travels”, Veronique Tadjo’s “The Shadow of Imana”, Tim Butcher’s “Blood River” and “The Travels of Ibn Batuta” apparently inspired Kabiru Jammaje’s collection of 12 short travelogues. Colombian Nobel Laureate, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the father of magic realism, once said: “Ultimately, literature Read More
The Arojah Students Playwriting Prize (TAPP) has released its 2020’s longlist. A statement released by the administrator of the prize, Paul Liam, Friday said 12 works made it into the longlist out of the 58 received from various tertiary institutions. Among the plays longlisted are Adekeye Lukman’s “The War Within”, Aina Anuoluwapo’s “Clothes and Naked Bodies”, Anthony Echefunachukwu Ugwu’s “The Read More
No Nigerian writer was longlisted for 2020 Booker Prize for Fiction, but a Zimbabwean and an American-Ethiopian made the cut. While Tsitsi Dangarembga (Zimbabwe) was longlisted for her “This Mournable Body”, Maaza Mengiste (Ethiopia/USA) was longlisted for her critically-acclaimed “The Shadow King”. Eleven other books were chosen out of 162 to make the longlist. Each of the books carries an Read More
Anslem H. Ishaku is a teen author who lives in Maiduguri, Borno state. He has already published four books and working on several others, even though he is still 15. His passion and love for writing is fueled by his desire to inspire his peers and to affect change in the larger society. In this interview with AWAAL GATA, he Read More
Bello Sagir is a writer and linguist. He tells AWAAL GATA how makes money as a writer, against the popular notion that writing isn’t lucrative in Nigeria. What inspired you into writing? My desire to master both spoken and written English language is what took me into the world of words. At that time, around 2007/2008, I used to participate Read More
Fransis de la Rochefoucauld, once said, “No accidents are no unlucky but that the wise may draw some advantages from them; nor are there any so lucky but that the foolish may turn them to their own prejudice.” “… to make the case that public service is important … to convey a message to those already aspiring to a career Read More
Nigeria’s Innocent Chizaram Ilo has won 2020’s Commonwealth Short Story Prize for African region with “When a Woman Renounces Motherhood.” Illo, 23, is the youngest-ever writer to be awarded the Africa region prize. The judging panel that selected Ilo’s work was chaired by Ghanaian writer, Nii Ayikwei Parkes and five other judges representing the five regions of the Commonwealth: Mohale Read More
Guernica Celebration of modern fascism Horrific devastation in the Basque town of Guernica Monochrome grisaille Crawling analysis of the violent reaction of man to the very question of the order of the matador * Guernica Man looking downward Crutches breaking the irrational collage of biomorphic shapes Art is evident in the image of the Bull Blinds over the window Democracy Read More
Sada Malumfashi is a Kaduna-based writer and arts curator. AWAAL GATA poses nine questions to the awardee of the Goethe Institute/Sylt Foundation Writing Residency on his writing. How did your romance with writing start? I can remember writing my first poem as a nine-year-old. I fell in love with writing because it came easily as a means of expressing my Read More
Jerry Adesewo is poet, writer and theatre practitioner based in Abuja. Among other issues, he told AWAAL GATA he was busier with work during lockdown caused by Covid-19. How did your romance with the literati start ? The seed was planted pretty earlier but there was no one to help nurture it. Theatre was my entry point into the world Read More
In this interview with AWAAL GATA, Mature Tanko Okoduwa, a former general-secretary of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), proffers solution to the association’s ongoing leadership crisis How would you describe your tenures as an official of ANA? It wm was one of the most interesting moments in my life, for so many reasons. It opened my eyes and mind Read More
Jalaludeen Ibrahim Maradun, a poet and writer, is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in English Linguistics at the University of Bergen, Norway. The immediate past Deputy Dean of Student Affairs Division, Federal University Birnin-kebbi, dissects his literary journey with AWAAL GATA and how it is aiding him scholastically. Why haven’t you released another book since your first collection was released in Read More
Dozens of writers from within and outside Nigeria have put together an anthology to preserve the culture and language of the Yoruba. They were brought together by Egbe Àtẹ́lẹwọ́, a Yoruba cultural advocacy group founded by Ọ̀rẹ́dọlá Ibrahim and Rasaq Malik. The duo said, the group was “founded on the 1st of June, 2017 as a response to the myriads Read More
The AKO Caine Prize for African Writing has recently announced its shortlist for this year’s award. Perhaps one of the most highly-anticipated literary prizes on the continent, the AKO Caine Prize celebrates 20 years of honouring diverse and high-calibre African writers including the likes of the lateBinyavanga Wainaina, Tope Folarin, No Violet Bulawayo and Namwali Serpell. This year’s shortlist features Read More
Abdullahi Ismaila Ahmad is the Director, Communications and Liaison Department at the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS). Before his present job, the critically-acclaimed writer was a lecturer at the Department of English and Literary Studies, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. AWAAL GATA interviews him on his life as a writer, an academic and an image-maker. From writing to the academia and now you are Read More
The Niger state chapter of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) has inaugurated new officials for a two year tenure. The new executive council has Awwal Idris Evuti as chairman, Abba Abdulkareem as vice-chairman and Maryam Shu’aib Bobi as general secretary. Others are Musa Chado Yunus as public relations officer, Hauwa Abdulraman Gara as financial secretary and Johnson Usmai Attah Read More
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