₦airaland Forum

are there groups in Nigeria that meet to discuss literature, philosophy and such other things? Perhaps some sort of Writers/Readers Club?

There's the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) meetings every month.

Join the mailing list here and participate, there's lots of useful information and fun to be had http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/josana/

I'm a blogger and I recently joined too, you could check out my blog at my signature below.

Leegooo!

Hey there!

Nice post, Now off to check out your blog.

You could also find mine at afrosays.. I write short stories.

I consider it a privilege to be the first person to give you a thumbs up!
Well written, entertaining, yet provocative article.

Now on to the shared link with hopes to find more eye-candy.

Hello all,

Have you ever been in a "One chance" situation? I have a very involving story here:

"
“Conductor, fun mi ni change mi! Twenty Naira mi da?! Abole ni e ni??”

Some buccal jet spray squirted on my neck as the fat Yoruba woman screamed at the top of her voice, demanding the balance of her fare from belligerent bus conductor, accusing him of dishonest intentions.

I adjusted to a better position since there was plenty of room and I promptly wiped off the offending spray. The bus was quite empty because it was a public holiday evening, and apart from myself, there were only four other passengers, a quiet fellow sitting in front and the three market women we had picked up after I joined.

I stole a furtive look at the angry woman and my unsure eyes immediately began to take a tour of the vehicle. It was evening so I couldn’t see much, but this bus was in surprisingly good condition compared to the other ten-turned-fourteen seater commercial buses that plied Lagos metropolis; all the seats were cushioned and there were no holes in the floor to give me a good view of the tarred road. I had joined it on the expressway like the other woman because I was too much in a hurry to join the queue for the government-owned, mass transit buses.

“Ole! Fun mi ni change mi oh! Mo ti fe bole oh!”

I tried to ignore the woman but I was intensely irritated for even at the window edge of the seat, I could not escape the spray. The conductor was luckier though, his medium-length dreadlocks and upright collar got the worst of it so he probably didn’t any get skin contact. This time I was expecting some form of backlash because the woman had directly called him a thief but he still did not reply; his face was a blank sheet.

Although tirades like hers and name-callings too, were a consistent part of the commuting culture in this part of the world, the conductor, sometimes assisted by the driver, usually had a few retorts of his own. Such repartees usually resulted in a form of entertaining comedy where the passengers took on their two-man crew and the crew, in turn, would verbally assault the passengers with poverty punctuated one-liners and so so. Most of these exchanges usually resulted in even more hilarious criticisms of the government and everybody went home happy but the rest resulted in very bitter exchanges that often went physical. I was surprised at the quiescence of the well muscled thug; they usually were the more aggressive ones. His type usually would reply with a well aimed, highly disrespectful insult and then all the other market women would join in.

,
"
The full story is on my blog >> Check out my signature.

But I'd like to hear other people's experiences in such a situation. CARE TO SHARE?

Oya oh!
Where is my Blackberry Memo app? $300 won't be bad!

-My blog is: www.antslittlethoughts..com

-Purpose: Nigerian Politics, History, General Affairs

-Style: Simple and straight to the point.

Ahn han! Your blog has not been updated since last year September? Nothing to keep us coming,

I'm a short story writer. My blog's on http://afrosays.
My latest post is "One chance" - A short story on the Nigerian kidnapping - blood money situation
Excerpt: "“O wa oh! O wa oh! O wa oh!” we all called after each other in different tones like a Handel choral improvisation, but the driver didn’t seem to notice. "

I usually post at least once a week, please visit and leave a comment.

About all the other blogs I visited from the above comments, here's my opinion:

(This is the lit section so I only acknowledged blogs that fit that description)

1. Myne Whitman? U should definitely visit - I check her blog out almost everyday, she's always got quality content.
2. LettersFromAWordSmith? Looks new and interesting.
3. InselTheIdea? New and interesting as well.
4. FeelReality? Seems the content is inspired from daily experiences; needs a better design though

Other blogs I like?
Check my blogroll once you visit my blog. You should find one or two new favs.

Later people!

Would LindaLee be kind enough to feature on my blog?

Shall we be corny?

I beg on my knees
LindaLee toh Kwoloti
Afro needeth thee

I'm Afrosays on afrosays.
All and sundry are welome

Lindalee can post affirmative! (haiku please)

That is fair enough, I agree.
Anybody who's not seen that clip definitely should!

AfroSays So!

Sounds interesting,
Lemme try?

Arrows of the gods,
Falling from the crimson sky,
Making home on earth

How did I do?

Old stuff?

This is their website below.

http://mwpublishing/

Myne, that's not a valid web address

Seems you're into publishing now?

Personally, through blogging there, I got on the front page on an article I wrote on Ken Saro Wiwa. That won me a book by a major author and many people checked out my page. Some went on to buy my book on Amazon.

Thanks a lot Myne, RR blog stalking it is (at least till I finally decide I'm serious enough to publish content there)

I look forward to seeing you more often on my blog too. As for the book, are you in the US Seattle area? Otherwise, I'm sure you can find it to buy somewhere. It's a classic.

I'm there every single time I go blog touring. I just get lost on the stories because I'm not sure whether they are a part of a series or one-offs.

I am Lagos-based. I should check the popular Lagos bookstores for our book then.

Have a great weekend Myne!

I don't want to join RedRoom just out of peer pressure, I'm still checking it out.

But really, What has red room done for any of you? What's been your experience?

I have a big fat book called, The Art of the Tale - An international anthology of short stories. They started it with Chinua Achebe, in Alphabetical order. That is one great book, many awesome shorts in there.

Hey Myne, I want to borrow! or buy! Where can I find it?
and thanks for dropping by my blog again (Your second logged visit). I look forward to seeing you more often.

Duly noted!
Great job on Youtube too!

But, we really are everywhere?

@ the post creator.
Creativeforceltd.com is not up at the moment, how are we to take your gig serious?

You're meant to be an animation company right?
Please you need a website!

@PhysicsMHD

I love writing short stories, I recently started and I'm still learning. You could check our my blog, afrosays on wordpress.

Id love to improve how I write because I usually have the challenge of communicating very complex ideas in a simpler form.

Please where can I find these books?

Okaaaaay

I don't have a blog pattern, I'm like a thought nomad
My communions with my higher guide, the AfroMuse, crazy goddess-witch can be found on afrosays.

Look for me,

I started a blog last year, Afrosays So.
It's on http://afrosays.

I write about anything, as seen from my weird perspective; stories, poems, locally flavored fantasy, abstract stuff ++

I kind of noticed that most of the members of my audience aren't Nigeria-based. I compared my success to another blog started about the same time as mine whose writer was based abroad and I noticed a significantly higher difference in blog visits even though we have a similar blogging style. I also noticed that a lot of very actively read Nigerian blogs have some sort of affiliation with the US or the UK or even Canada. Sometimes, the writer started writing from there or stayed there for some time or is even based there permanently.

I did a lot to promote my blog: I have a Facebook group, I visit other blogs and drop comments, I talk about my blog a lot, but I've still got a higher proportion of foreign visitors, even though there was no intense effort in that direction.

I'm wondering why Nigerians don't go out of their way to read?