maclatunji:

My next book will probably be a compilation of most of my poems.

the problem with poetry is like it's for free... poetry is hard to sell even in the west. maybe there may be a way of making it more cool to increase awareness... i write a lot of poems but currently i'm leaning heavily towards fiction...

nollywood20:

Sanguine authors: Chimamnda Ngozi Adichie's Purple Hibiscus, Adaobi Tricia Nwauban's I Do Not Come to you by Chance and Bisi Daniels' Conspiracy of Lagos.

Choleric: Bisi Daniels' The False Truth and Helon Habila's Waiting for an Angel.

Melancholic: Helen Oyeyemi's The Icarus Girl and Chris Abani's The Virgin of Flames.

Phlegmatic: Ben Okri's first novel Flowers and Shadows and Uche Bialonwu's The Long Claws of Fate.

Interesting, how did you come by these conclusions. I'd have said Habila's waiting for an angel was melancholic.

chukwuma101:

This article and the writer are myopic. On reading this article my first intention was to dismiss it like I have done to other crappy articles proliferating NL. But on a second thought I decided to correct the erroneous scholarship the poster was propagating. Prominent writers in Africa and other continents of the world have stressed that the most fundamental role of the writer lies in his attempt or ability to foreground and interrogate the topical issues emanating in their immediate society. Wole Soyinka at a UN conference in Dar es Salem stated that "the writer is the visionary of his people he recognises the past and present... He anticipates he warns... The writer cannot help but envisage and seek to protect the future which is the declared aim of contemporary struggle". Taiwo Oladele notes thus: " the writer today must see around him bad politics bad religion the misleading of ordinary people and he is bound to write about his environment of course he can opt out and decide to write space fiction or something like that but I feel that the writer has to write about what happens around him" I could go on quoting various scholars but in all of this what is to be considered is that the writer is influenced by his environment and so his literature must encapsulate these influences. Ngugi, achebe, Soyinka, Adichie, Conrad,Golding,Selvon and several others are recognised today because their literature re enacted their immediate society. I wouldn't have been so critical if the poster encouraged romance and escapist and space fiction writing but to set them against social writers indicates a poor grasp of what literature and writers represent for the immediate society.

This bros. don vex.

chukwuma101:

This article and the writer are myopic. On reading this article my first intention was to dismiss it like I have done to other crappy articles proliferating NL. But on a second thought I decided to correct the erroneous scholarship the poster was propagating. Prominent writers in Africa and other continents of the world have stressed that the most fundamental role of the writer lies in his attempt or ability to foreground and interrogate the topical issues emanating in their immediate society. Wole Soyinka at a UN conference in Dar es Salem stated that "the writer is the visionary of his people he recognises the past and present... He anticipates he warns... The writer cannot help but envisage and seek to protect the future which is the declared aim of contemporary struggle". Taiwo Oladele notes thus: " the writer today must see around him bad politics bad religion the misleading of ordinary people and he is bound to write about his environment of course he can opt out and decide to write space fiction or something like that but I feel that the writer has to write about what happens around him" I could go on quoting various scholars but in all of this what is to be considered is that the writer is influenced by his environment and so his literature must encapsulate these influences. Ngugi, achebe, Soyinka, Adichie, Conrad,Golding,Selvon and several others are recognised today because their literature re enacted their immediate society. I wouldn't have been so critical if the poster encouraged romance and escapist and space fiction writing but to set them against social writers indicates a poor grasp of what literature and writers represent for the immediate society.

i think you're the one being short sighted though you have valid points... i feel the real wisdom to succeed is that THERE ARE NO RULES TO FOLLOW IN LITERATURE, WRITE AS YOU FEEL, THAT IS TRUE GENIUS. you were quoting a conference, wole soyinka, ngugi, achebe, these are writers from another generation and their time has certainly passed. why they're still talking is that no one as challenged the stereotype or norm. we in this era are not under any duress or obligation to write about our environment, writing can be an escape, fiction can help us dream of a better place, not to always fight and embrace our woes.
the children of this generation dream, they fantasize about the impossible, they want better and they reflect it in their writing, in their humour, in their imagination, we're tired of writing about the white man, focusing on racism (which i feel has been reversed sought of, we now victimize the white in our writing). we want to finally talk about ourselves and not some ageless issues like corruption, oil spill etc. yes, those issues will mingle with our writing, our normal daily life will come in but it will not be the sole boring headline or focus of the novel. avoid this unless you want your novel to start sounding like a sermon, readers do not like that. this rigidity of thought is the sole reason we dont write stuff like espionage, detective etc... we want to write for the various prizes, to write for africa.
we will not be bound by some rules from 'established' nigerian writers. if you feel like writing about space and it fits, please do so if the passion is there. nothing is as bad as writing under duress...write as you feel...

TARKWA BAY

Out on the outskirts of Lagos bay
The sound of rumble, the waters wave
Over and over, the movements pave
In the sea of Tarkwa bay

Watch and look, a sight to behold
The rhythm of the waters and boat
Fresh and salty, a textured coat
In the sea of Tarkwa bay

Dusk to dawn, the waters clashes familiar
The unit of H2O’s unit formula
Home to the beauty of sea mammalians’
In the sea of Tarkwa bay

I love to sit and watch you flow
But surely I would sometime go
Certainly the world must come to know
About the sea of Tarkwa bay



I love poetry

Mynd_44: Nigeria has been influenced by religion and culture and so it's writers, film makers, music(until recently) tend to make creative art along that lane.

I don't read Nigerian novels again cos it is filled with poo. Same old crap and no changing. This comes as a result of them wanting to pass a message with their movies and books.

I have heard of folks read a book and say they learnt nothing from that book or see a movie and start asking what the moral is.

We need to understand that not all works of creative art needs to pass a message about good winning over evil. Sometimes, we just want to be entertained and find something to keep us busy. If I want a sermon, I will go to church and not search inside the pages of a book for that.

It is the environment we live and since the market dictates what is produced, most people involved in creative art want to give the people what they want so to speak/write

we can change this though. I have met writers and film makers who are tired of the present situation but they are of the new generations but the people who buy creative art works are of the old generation.

The dinosaurs are going extinct

well said.
and I hope more Nigerian writers do make a statement and do their thing.
I've read some of the short stories on here and checked out Naija writing blogs and I must say, they definitely rival many published material I have read.

nice perpective by mynd44 in the post above, the dinosaurs better crash and burn so that nigeria can move ahead to realistic entertainment

Hi Lovers of the arts,do check this out!
http://artheatre./
(African Renaissance Theatre) It's Afriican with a nice urban twist..(Phew! Lol)

Nearly all famous Nigerian writers like Achebe, Soyinka, Adichie & Emecheta wrote about tradition & nigerian society. I think it's time to try something new. I'm so keen to read a detective novel like Sherlock Holmes written by a Nigerian, or a science fiction or a fantasy. I really think young nigerian writers should make a difference in Nigerian literature. Crime happens everywhere and there's nothing wrong if a Nigerian writes a crime novel. I encourage all upcoming writers to try to be unique. Be different...Be creative...

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