#Nigerian Author

[have-you-heard-of]

Have You Heard Of?

“A man who would be intimidated by me is exactly the kind of man I would have no interest in.”

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie b.September 15, 1977

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is an award-winning author and an influential advocate of feminism. She has captivated people worldwide with her powerful storytelling and her outspoken campaign for gender equality. She was born in Enugu, Nigeria, and was raised in an academic environment that surely nurtured her passion for writing. As one of six siblings she grew up in the university town of Nsukka, her Mother was the first female registrar at University of Masuka and her father was Nigeria's first professor of statistics, and later became Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the same university. She attributes her success in part to her parents for, encouraging her self-confidence and being supportive by always showing that they had confidence in her. She began studying medicine and pharmacy at the university school her parents worked at; though, writing seems to have called to her, as she also edited the magazine created by the medical students. She left her medical studies after a year and a half when at nineteen she gained a scholarship to Eastern Connecticut State University in America, where she graduated summa cum laude (with highest honours) with a degree in communication and political science and continued her passion for writing by producing articles for the university journal. She went on to gain her master’s degree in creative writing from Johns Hopkins University, become a Hodder Fellow at Princeton University, earned an MA in African Studies from Yale University, and she was awarded a fellowship by the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University. During this time, she has released numerous novels, including A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions. She holds strong feelings regarding gender equality and is proud of her femininity, taking pleasure in fashion whilst grappling with the knowledge that she will be judged for the way she chooses to dress. Her belief is that you should be happy to be who you are, without being forced into a mould society has decided fits your gender. Refusing to conform to a female academic stereotype, she loves make-up and has been the face of Boots No7 cosmetics. Now married with a daughter, she splits her time between Nigeria, where she teaches writing workshops, and the United States. All in all, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a world-renowned writer, acclaimed academic, fashion icon, beauty queen and a feminist warrior we all should have heard of.

“If you criticise X in women but do not criticise X in men, then you do not have a problem with X, you have a problem with women.”

Books and Novels

Notable Awards and Honors

35 awards, 21 are literary awards, including: Future… Award (Young Person of the Year category), 2008 Global Hope Coalition's Thought Leadership Award, 2018 Action Against Hunger Humanitarian Award, 2018 UN Foundation Global Leadership Award, 2019 Africa Freedom Prize 2020 Business Insider Africa Awards, 'Creative Leader of the Year', 12 April 2022 Influential people lists including: The New Yorker's '20 Under 40', 2010 '100 Most Influential Africans 2013', New African '100 Most Influential People' by Time Magazine, 2015 Fortune Magazine's List of 50 World Leaders, 2017 'World's Most Inspiring People in 2019' by OOOM Magazine Forbes Africa's '100 Icons from Africa', 2021 'Changemakers: 100 Nigerians Leading Transformational Change', 2022

“Teach her to reject likeability. Her job is not to make herself likeable, her job is to be her full self, a self that is honest and aware of the equal humanity of other people.”

Trivia

Her childhood home was one formerly occupied by the Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe

Beyoncé's song, "Flawless," features excerpts from Adichie's TED Talk.

Adichie thought she had invented purple hibiscus & was shocked to receive a call from her editor telling her they existed in America!

[hear-the-ocean]

The Lies of the Ajungo Book Review

Non-spoiler review for The Lies of the Ajungo by Moses Ose Utomi

Summary (pulled from Goodreads):

Moses Ose Utomi's debut novella, The Lies of the Ajungo, follows one boy’s epic quest to bring water back to his city and save his mother’s life. Prepare to enter the Forever Desert. A Library Journal Best Book of the Month! They say there is no water in the City of Lies. They say there are no heroes in the City of Lies. They say there are no friends beyond the City of Lies. But would you believe what they say in the City of Lies? In the City of Lies, they cut out your tongue when you turn thirteen, to appease the terrifying Ajungo Empire and make sure it continues sending water. Tutu will be thirteen in three days, but his parched mother won’t last that long. So Tutu goes to his oba and makes a deal: she provides water for his mother, and in exchange he will travel out into the desert and bring back water for the city. Thus begins Tutu’s quest for the salvation of his mother, his city, and himself.

The Lies of the Ajungo opens the curtains on a tremendous world, and begins the epic fable of the Forever Desert. With every word, Moses Ose Utomi weaves magic.

Review:

5 STARS!

The Lies of the Ajungo is a short but devastating story about a boy and his quest for water. I was originally drawn to it by the cover (which is gorgeous wow) but it was the synopsis that fully ensnared me. I saw the author said he pitched his story to someone by saying it’s “Attack on Titan in North Africa vibez” and I can’t believe I didn’t see it! But as someone who has read Attack on Titan, despite the inspiration being clear (in hindsight) this story sits apart. The theme’s are similar but this story goes another way, and dare I say it, I loved this more than AoT. 

The story is short. Less than 100 pages. The time in the story lasts half a year but it doesn’t feel like it to the reader of course but it never becomes an issue. The pacing never fails. There’s action, there’s character building and connection, there’s a mystery, and there’s poetry. Not actual poetry but the story’s themes felt like poetry to me; gutting, satisfying, and bittersweet.

It’s a big challenge to set up an entire world in less than 100 pages and still have space for plot and character but Moses Ose Utomi juggles it all expertly. I never felt lost, never felt like I didn’t feel or connect with the characters, and it never felt bogged down. When you don’t have enough space, it might feel tempting to infodump but the way the exposition was handled in this story seamlessly fit into the tone and style of the writing. Utomi mentions that his story sits at an “intersection between fable and fantasy” and yes it does and it’s why his exposition works so well. It reads like a fable and so when you are getting information about the world, it works itself into the style of the story.

The pov character, Tutu (who I loved) comes from a small and distant part of a city and is a child. He is yet ignorant of the world and so is the perfect character to have things be explained to (and by extension, us). Because he’s a child with a limited understanding and view, it makes sense that the world most of the time feels limited. We only truly see 3 places: his home, the palace, and the desert. So it does feel like the world is small but it makes sense? One place in a desert is not so different from another place in a desert. I could say that as a child, the world beyond his home should feel vast and scary but that feels nitpicky because it’s not really that important.

What’s important is the characters themselves. I felt for Tutu. I cried when he cried. I felt his fear and hopelessness. It’s a testament of skill that Utomi was able to connect us to the characters in such a short amount of time. I cried like twice while reading this book! The atmosphere and tone were so engrossing, I was absolutely absorbed into the story. 

Speaking of atmosphere, the antagonists of the story were amazing (I’m running out of synonyms for amazing and incredible but if you can think of anymore just know that it would apply to this book). We are given just enough information (little, as little as Tutu and basically everyone else knows) to let our imaginations fill in the rest, and the little we are given is that the Ajungo are cruel, ruthless, powerful, and greedy. Our imaginations will always fill in with morbid ideas of why and what and how. It made it so that every time we came across someone there’s the immense feeling of fear and dread that it’s the Ajungo.

There’s an entire world carefully laid out in less than 100 pages and I will not go into detail about any of it other than the praises for the incredible job Moses Ose Utomi has done and thank him for sharing his story with the world. I think everyone should go into it blind, don’t do anything but go straight into reading. You will be transported into a new world for a few hours and you will come back changed. Some of us will see the themes of the story and the answers coming and it’s a bitter feeling being proven right. But it’s an important story because of what it stands for and what it is saying. I wish I could say more but it would spoil everything and everyone needs to experience it fresh like I did. 

Thank you to Netgally and TOR for the ARC.

[the-worlds-between-pages]

The Smoke That Thunders by: Erhu Kome

Published by: W.W. Norton & Company Publication Date: Review made possible thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. Thanks for access tot his eARC in exchange for an honest review. The Smoke That Thunders was such a fun read! It’s over 300 pages but doesn’t feel like a long read. Honestly, it isn’t. It’s super easy to read so you’ll find yourself flying through the pages. We follow Naborhi, a…

[desdasiwrites]

I know better than to take life directions from someone without a moral compass.

– Oyinkan Braithwaite, My Sister, the Serial Killer

[leatahleigh]

Glass House: A Review

3/5 🌟 Glass House, published by Penguin Books South Africa has a powerful start. We are immediately introduced to the chaos that is Udonwa’s family. The story is set in Nigeria with mentions of South Africa and America. The book is written in parts, first the introduction of the family, followed by a sequence of events that lead to the protagonist finding out the big family secret, then the…

[gennsoup]

Once you let people know anything about what you think, that's it, you're dead. Then they'll be jumping about in your mind, taking things out, holding them up to the light and killing them, yes, killing them, because thoughts are supposed to stay and grow in quiet, dark places, like butterflies in cocoons.

Helen Oyeyemi, The Icarus Girl

[thatsmybook]

A book recommendation for Felice in Young Royals, that will make her feel seen and understood, is Young Adult novel, Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-íyímídé.

This Get Out meets Gossip Girl inspired thriller, is perfect for lovers of Dark Academia.

Set in an elite all white high school, where the only two Black kids, Devon and Chiamaka, start to feel that all is not right in their last year of school. Their dreams for their future, and their lives, are at risk from a mysterious entity called Aces.

Chiamaka is also the popular girl in her school and is mixed-race like Felice. This book was published the month before Young Royals season one came out, so I would totally recommend d it to be on Felice's tbr. It's also featured in Heartstopper Season one episode one - Isaac is reading it at Charlie's sleepover party.

The author Faridah, who is Black-British, queer and Muslim, was writing Ace of Spades during her first year at a Scottish university, aged 19. The book was part inspired by her experiences there.

About the teenage friendships in Ace of Spades, Faridah has said:

"Something that gets left out of t.v. shows and books often is how much friendship means a lot to teenagers. I think friendship breakups are more common and more hurtful than romantic ones when you're growing up, because those are your main relationships. I really wanted to highlight how toxic friendships and unhealthy relationships can look like. As well as ones that are good but flawed. I think it's really important to show teenagers that. When I was younger there were so many friendships I had that were definitely toxic but I had no words to articulate why they were because I guess everybody's desperate for friendship and nobody wants to be alone."

You can listen to this and the rest of this conversation on @probooknerds podcast. This episode is from June 2021.

[mightymur]

[ISBW] From Patent Memos to Nebula Nods with Wole Talabi

S20 Ep13: In Which Mur Attends Wole Talabi’s Creative Alchemy Transcript   “The primary driver of my sense of success is, ‘do I feel happy with what I’ve done?'” – Wole Talabi Mur chats with Wole Talabi, an engineer turned author (but still engineer). They discuss the Schrodinger’s Cat of publishing, the thrill of rewriting old stories for new audiences, and the joy of challenging the norms of…

[jujufilms]

Femi Jarrett

My brother Femi Jarrett DJing at my sister’s 18th birthday party. He was also a DJ at FRCN Lagos in the late 70s and early 80s

[afrotumble]

[kacievvbbbb]

Who are your top 5 favorite ships ever (can be canon or non canon) from any media? Why love them?

I found your blog because of your One Piece posts (love them). Can I ask, is OP in your top 7 favorite media ever (until now)? What made those 7 media (can be anime/manga, books, movies, tv series, etc) special to you? Thanks if you want to answer.....🌻

Hello!

My top five ships currently, in no particular order, are;

Mishanks

Eruri

Erasermic

Akiangel

kuroken

I don't really have canon ship cause I don't really like to see full on romance in the media I consume 🫣. I actually only actively engage with the romance genre in fanfics or fandom. I like to watch people I ship interact and for them to have deep ties to each other but I have no interest in actually seeing them become canon. I mainly like ships because I think they have a really fun or interesting dynamic.

as for my favorite media across board thats a little tricky caus eI have a hard time conflating things like that and so I'm just gonna give my top 2 in the categories you listed.

Books:

Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - It's just a great look into what it means to be middle-class Nigerian in a time of great country-wide and personal upheaval and it's such an interesting look at christianity in Nigeria and out a lot of things I didn't even realize I was feeling into words. It also has one of my favorite mentor characters of all time so yeah. I seriously recommend to anybody. It deals with a lot of heavy stuff so keep that in mind tho.

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe - This was the book that got me into reading and so therefore will always hold a special place in my heart, because reading; books and fanfiction is such a huge part of my life it's hard to imagine who I'd be without it. I recommend to anyone whos interested in learning about one of the main cultures in Nigeria, Igbo its fascinating and tragic.

Anime/Manga:

Mob Psycho 100 - My feeling on Mob Psycho are best explained in this post. But long story short I love it so much.

Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood - God what's not to love? This has some of the best written female characters I have seen in any piece of media period not to talk of shonen anime. It's just so good and I'd seriously recommend.

TV Show:

Reservation dogs - I love this show so much and would stake my life on it. As someone aspiring to be a filmmaker this is the kind of stuff I pray to make. It's soooo good and it's technically a comedy but it's not held back by genre. The cast is great the show is great I recommend watching

Breaking bad - Every single good thing you've ever heard about breaking bad is true. I truly understand why this show is regarded as one of the best of all time.

Movie:

Into the Spiderverse - It makes me want to believe in something bigger than myself. You do truly leave feeling like you could be spiderman and no superhero movie has ever made me feel that way. Also, I love animation and this is about as animation as it gets.

Everything Everywhere All At Once - Hands down the best multiverse movie to ever exist and I don't care. Amazing

Bonus: Your Name - My favorite anime film. The twist literally blew my mind. Its so warm and cozy and fun, and then shit really goes down.

As for music I generally will listen to anything as long as I like it but I gravitate to Folk music and my favorite artist is Hozier.

As for One Piece it's actually not one of my favorite animes. It's definitely my favorite of the big three and classic shonen but yeah. It has and will always have a really special place in my heart cause it was my introduction to anything anime or manga. But yeah I don't keep up with it in what anyone could call a normal way. I just have a little to many problems with how the female characters are treated to really consistently keep up with it. It's kinda better now with Bonny but yeah. I appreciate the story and as anyone on my blog can tell I love the characters. but yeah, ironically, not one of my favorites. Will forever be in my heart though.

[rachel-sylvan-author]

Sci-fi Sunday!

"Noor" by Nnedi Okorafor

Thank you @mpaxauthor for the cool read! ❤️

[jvzebel-x]

"I hate how they have the power to kill my future-- kill me. They treat my black skin like a gun or a grenade or a knife that's dangerous and lethal. When, really, it's them. The guys at the top, powering everything."

x. "Ace of Spades", Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

[desdasiwrites]

– Natasha Bowen, Skin of the Sea

[angelsaxis]

as a nigerian i find it rather insulting that the only nigerian feminists that exists to westerners is chimamanda ngozi adichie. like we need someone else quickly

[gennsoup]

"Who does not seek to be remembered? Memory is Master of Death, the chink In his armour of conceit. I shall leave That which makes my going the sheerest Dream of an afternoon."

Wole Soyinka, Death and the King's Horseman