₦airaland Forum

I have bought the book about an hour ago. It will be publised over the next few days and shipped to me. I paid more than I would like to or would normally do for the book (£8.81p + £2.75p postage and packaging/shipping) in the spirit of supporting a fellow Nigerian, so I hope it is at least a decent read (I prefer to walk into bookshops e.g Waterstones or W.H. Smith etc as there are good deals to be had and you don't have to deal with posting costs.). If your book is good, I will leave a favourable feedback. . .if not you will definitely know as well.

snazzydawn:
Diary of the unborn baby
February 14, 2007 (week 1)

Today, a new life was formed. Oh! my new home feels so soft and warm and wet. I am just a

mass of cells now but hey, I cannot wait to have my own hands, legs, mouth and all those things

human beings have. Are you wondering how I know about legs et al? Let us just say I know,

after all, I am human.

Week 3:

I am loving this "home". My mother sure knows how to - Mother?! Oh, I wonder what she looks

like.

Though I know about hands and legs, I have yet to know what a human being looks like. Tough

luck! I am getting tired of waiting for my hands and legs!

March 14,2007 (week 4)

Oh Boy!!! I can feel myself moving! I feel kind of different today. Yayyyyy!!!!! I am beginning to

have hands and legs and all those things I wanted. I even think I am going to have eyes and

ears!!! wait!!! what is that thumping sound in my chest? Oh well, I hope I am okay.

I am so happy that at last, I am beginning to have my own hands, feet, eyes and nose, wait a

minute, I even have a tail! WOWWW!!!

I can imagine myself running with my little feet to wrap my little arms around my mother's

neck; I will pick flowers and stick them in her hair. I feel like bursting with love for my mother!

What on earth is that creamy liquid pouring all over me? It sure tastes good and whatever it is,

momma sure knows how to eat well. Oh!!! I cannot wait to gaze up at her lovely face.

March 21 (week5)

It is so quiet in here. Nothing much happened to me today. Quite an uneventful day. Oh well, I'll

just go to sleep.

March 22:

Oh!!! I had a wonderful dream while I slept. I dreamt I was a little girl with brown hair, round

eyes and the cutest little mouth. Oh, and guess what too, I saw my mother in my dream! She is

beautiful, I am going to look just like my mummy. She has the most beautiful brown eyes,

brown hair, a cute nose and the most beautiful smile.

I dreamt that she lifted me up in the air and kissed my lips. I hugged my mother in my dream.

Was really comforting and reassuring. Oh! how much I lovemy mother. I cannot wait to be out of

here so I can be with her for real. I am so excited!!!

March 23

Oh NO!!! Today my mother killed me!!!!

@ snazzydawn, you disgust me. You are a frigging disgrace . You couldn't even come up with an original title. The last line/diary entry of your version is almost verbatim with the "original" version. No be by force to become author or poet o. If you know you wanted to make an adaptation of "the Diary of an Unborn Child", the least you could have done was give the author credit.

I saw the Lulu site, but it is a dollar site which always shortchanges me when ever I use my credit card as the conversion rates are crap and I end up sometimes getting charged for the foreign transaction. Isn't there a British site that carries the book? That way if the book is a certain amount, I can be sure that that is all I will get charged without any hidden extras.

I do not know about others, but I cannot rate a book until I have read it first. The problem I find with many books by Nigerian writers that are marketed here in the UK is that the authors are priced out of the market. I try to support my country people but I will NOT pay over and above the odds. Now if you will kindly tell me where I could buy the book in the UK (not an e-copy as I can't stand these) or any genuine renowned online site where I can pay in Pounds Sterling (and not have any conversion done from Dollars that would end up ripping me off) and have the book dispatched to me. I must add though that I will not pay more than £8.00 as I have a monthly fictional book allowance of £15.00 and that makes up more than half of it.

To be honest, the first time you mentioned the book here, I was a little put off by the name (It sounds quite Igboish - I am not saying that is bad or otherwise, It just did not attract me). You know what they say about giving a dog a bad name. . . . . 

angel_empy:
tanxs 4 posting this info here.please, when will the entries be closed?

It says there in the very first paragraph of the main body that the deadline is 01 May 2008.

Goodluck to u 4him, Goodluck all.

It's Here Again

2008-9 Commonwealth Short Story Competition


1st Prize: £2,000

Entries are now invited for the 2008-9 Commonwealth Short Story Competition. There is no entry fee or form. Only the winners will be notified and entries will not be acknowledged or returned. The deadline for receipt of entries is 1 May, 2008.

Aims

The Commonwealth Short Story Competition aims to increase understanding and appreciation of and between Commonwealth cultures, to showcase the rich diversity of the Commonwealth and to support rising literary talents.

Objectives

The objectives of the competition are as follows:

• To recognise new writers and give them increased confidence to pursue writing as a career.
• To make more widely known the work of rising literary talents.
• To encourage people to write about their lives, their societies and the things that matter to them.
• To highlight a diversity of cultures, voices and viewpoints through radio broadcast.

Rules and Regulations

All Commonwealth citizens are eligible to participate in the competition. There is no age limit and entries can come from either amateur or professional writers.

• All entries must clearly state the country of citizenship and residence.
• The stories may have any theme or subject, but should not exceed 600 words (which should be 4'30" when read aloud).
• The stories must be original and should not have been previously published anywhere in full or part. Entrants should confirm this in writing.
• All entries must be in English.
• Maximum of three entries per person.
• Entries should be type-written or word processed on A4 paper, double spaced, and include the word count.
• Handwritten entries will not be accepted.
• Each entry must include the name, address, telephone number, and email address of the writer.
• Entries will not be returned or acknowledged.
• Winners will retain the copyright but assign the broadcasting rights (including audio on demand) for ten years to the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association to pass on to its members. Winners will also assign publication rights for ten years to the CBA and the Commonwealth Foundation, and the rights for the story to be sold on any audio medium by the CBA. Both these rights are non-exclusive. The winners will also assign rights to the CBA to use the story for press and promotion and for using on the website.
• The administrators of the competition reserve the right to disqualify any competition entry. No correspondence will be entered into in this regard.
• Only winners will be notified. The names of the winners will be published in "Commonwealth Broadcaster", the CBA website www.cba.org.uk and in the press and broadcast media of Commonwealth countries.
• Entries must be sent by post or courier to Commonwealth Broadcasting Association, 17 Fleet Street, London EC4Y 1AA, UK or emailed to story@cba.org.uk
• DO NOT SEND ENTRIES BOTH BY POST AND EMAIL
• ‘Short Story Competition’ should be clearly written on the envelope, and on the subject line on emails.

The competition is administered by the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association and funded by the Commonwealth Foundation as part of its Culture and Diversity Programme.

How to enter

All entries for the 2008 competition should be sent to:

Commonwealth Short Story Competition
Commonwealth Broadcasting Association
17 Fleet Street
London EC4Y 1AA
UK

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7583 5550
Website: www.cba.org.uk

Please mention "Short Story Competition" on the envelope. You can also email story@cba.org.uk Please either send by post/courier or by email. DO NOT SEND A STORY BOTH BY POST AND EMAIL.

PLEASE NOTE THERE IS NO ENTRY FORM FOR THIS COMPETITION


http://www.cba.org.uk/awards_and_competitions/2008CommonwealthShortStoryCompetition.php

@ Biife and True Brit, Thanks guys. It would take more than some insulting "fan" to put me off.  It's funny that I am not jealous of more talented writers like Helen Oyeyemi, Segun Afolabi, Chimamanda Adichie, our esteemed Nobel Laureate Prof. Soyinka etc. It is someone like Sefi Atta I will be jealous of (because in the eyes of the all knowing literary authority - Twiliams, Sefi Atta is the pinnacle of Nigerian writing and all writers should aspire to her standard). What a bloody joke. LOL

Anyhow, enough of the nonsense. Happy New Year Everyone.

LMAO!

WOW!  "cyber losers"! "talentless online critics"!!  "jealous coward"!!! All these 'reverse praises' for only me? I must have hit a nerve big time. LOL. You will have to deal with it as I cannot be bothered going down the personal route with you. You have shown yourself up and that is enough for me. I have commended and criticised writers long before you came along and will continue to do so long after you leave - your petty attempts at insults notwithstanding.

P.S. I have more than 500 posts over approximately one year and you have four posts in less than 10 hours and I am supposed to be the one who has been lying in wait jobless? LOL.

LMAO

LOL.

I have indicated on several occasions that anyone is free to express an opinion contrary to mine so I do not know where you get the idea that I can't take criticism. You can criticise me all you like (though you should at least pretend to make it objective. I am more than a little amused by how personal you have taken my criticisms). Your barbs will not change my view on the book nor will your trying to score cheap points. I have expressed an objective opinion on Sefi Atta's book, pity it is a bit of a hard pill to swallow. If criticism of her book leads to the conclusion that I am "clearly not" a "fan of her work", so be it.

Oh and by the way, I see you yet again have misread what I have written. I said "I am no expert literary critic" not I am not a "literary authority". There is a difference (one which you might not appreciate but which exists nontheless). Also, you guys should get out of the regressive Nigerian mentality that a person can only criticise something if they have done that thing better. I will be sure to pass on the message to everyone that if they have not written a book they cannot criticise one (nor criticise bland or bad food in a restaurant unless they can show that they have cooked better, nor can they be critical about clothing if they cannot show their own fashion creations ). How Preposterous! Utterly Ludicrous!! LOL!!!

nimma:
smc don't u think you're too critical?i would love to read the better book u have written

This is a common misconception. I do not have to write a better book to comment on or criticise any book. The book has several shortcomings and this is a fact. Whether or not I can write (or have written) a better book has no bearing on the strong or weak points of this book (or any other for that matter).

@TWiliams,
You are totally entitled to disagree with me. Life would be boring if we all held the same opinion. It is curious however that you did not find the glowing praise by Dominique "reductive". I do not recall her going into any depth for her classing the book as "off the hook". Also, I believe you misunderstood the book whose title put me off. I meant Dupe Olorunjo's book title (The Aireginan Dream). 'Everything Good Will Come' is not a great title but there have been worse. From reading the book, I think it might have come from the English interpretation to the response of the Yoruba insult/curse koni da fun e (which is a da fun mi i.e good things will come [to me] - or in this case, Everything Good Will Come [to me]).

Oh! and yes, those are the "experts" alright. Pity none of them saw it fit to mention the glaring errors in the book (unfortunately, I have given away my book or I might have given some specific examples with page numbers et. al. Since you say you have read the book, I'm sure saw the errors too). Every literary connoisseur knows how the system works. Surely you do not expect to see disparaging criticisms on the book cover. The purpose of a review is to be instructive in encouraging or discouraging potential buyers/readers of the work. I have read the book and formed my own opinion which remains unchanged and I stand by it.

I clearly stated that Ms. Atta "is a good writer especially when one looks at her short stories" and I stand by that as well. I find it amusing though that you decided to create an account on Nairaland today for the sole purpose of disagreeing with me. Might you be Sefi Atta per chance? or maybe someone known to her? ^{Who knows? Who cares?}

I have my opinion on this book and you have yours. We disagree and I believe that is the way it will remain. That's Life.

Thank you mate!

@ Ndipe,
Nigeria has a way of hyping anything from within. There were better books. It's a pity many of the other writers do not have a high profile like the  writers we hear of. There is a writer who frequents this forum (Dupe Olorunjo) whose book I believe is probably better than Sefi's 'Everything Good Will Come' (though the name of the book leaves a lot to be desired - it put me right off). Sefi Atta was short listed for the Caine prize last year and that in itself has the effect of raising the profile of the writer. Also she has quite a lot of her work published in journals and magazines. The fact that the book won a Nigerian prize means little or nothing to me (from what I have seen of some of those prizes and the way they are conducted), for example, Kaine Agary's 'Yellow-Yellow' was a co-winner of the Victor Nwankwo Book of the Year Prize 2007. How that book can win any literary prize whatsoever is beyond my comprehension (again, I guess we don't all look for the same things in books and I am no expert literary critic, though I do believe that I know a good book when I see one). I must however say that I find that Sefi Atta is a good writer especially when one looks at her short stories.

There are loads of good books from Africa.

You are welcome

ifyalways:
please people does anybody remember the[b] "potters wheel" [/b] ?
who wrote it ?
i read that book when i was much younger and would really want to do so again but unfortunately i can't remember who wrote it.heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelp me.

I remember The Potter's Wheel. It is written by Chukwuemeka Ike. I read it over 20 years ago (maybe even about 25 years). One bit stuck in my mind even till this day - that is where the wicked headmasters wife put a snake in the boys bed because he continually wet his bed. I will love to revisit this book again.

dominique:
i recently read her book Everything good will come and it was just off the hook. i now have a new admiration for Nigerian writers. its about how a strong willed girl experiences diffferent changes while she groea from girlhood to womanhood. it cuts accross alot of issues including; the civil war, military rule, life in lagos, civic rights and a lot stuff. it is definately a book i can read over and over again.

I totally disagree with your opinion on Everything Good Will Come (but then I guess that's why people are different). I found some errors in this book that it almost felt like the editors did a sloppy job. The book started out fine for me but then it went downhill. Sefi tried to pack in a lot of things into the book and to me, the resultant effect was a mish-mash of disjointed and often chaotic events. Without a doubt, despite the book being quite mediocre, it was a good effort on her part but I dare say it is not the calibre that Nigerian writers should aspire to.

What is Alawiye? I know it is something Yoruba from what you have written. It does sound familiar though. Is it a Yoruba series or something like Feyikogbon?

biife:
it wasn\'t me!

You sound like Shaggy

You are doing it again. Do you not like the Poems Section?

I LIKE!

I found this quite amusing.

Expect to hear many born-again pentecostal people bend your ear in anger. People will probably say you are blaspheming and will go to hell e.t.c., but be free to express your thoughts. I must admit that many a time have I wondered what you put down here.

P.S. Your poems should however go in the poems section.

Good Info!

I have not said that the content of your threads are offensive. In fact I have no idea if they are or aren't as I have not been reading them religiously (as I previously stated). I just said that one thread would have sufficed for them all (with different headings whenever you deemed fit).

Nairaland is not my property so you can actually do what you like (subject to Seun's pleasure). I just gave you my opinion. Having however stated that you do have an exhibitionist appetite, you have by that very phrase implied that you post for people to look at (or else what is an exhibition?). If it was not your intention to have people look over your stuff, it would not be on here.

Anyhow, I did not mean to antagonise you when I put on the last message. If I did, it was not intended.

illusion2:
@SMC,
Thanks for taking time to search out these threads.
Are you really from lesbos?

You are welcome and to your question, I have no idea what you are talking about. LOL

Why can't you put all your writing from your Guilt and Redemption under a single thread? To be honest, you are more likely repelling more people from actually reading the content of your threads (than those you are attracting) with your multiple threads. I for one tend to hit the back button whenever I click one of your new threads and see the words"Extract from Guilt and Redemption" and I know for a fact that I am not the only one.

I said STORY. I did not say Book o!

Abeg put me down gently o.

I am writing a story on my trips but I have no intention whatsover to do anything on living and working in the UK (as you put it). Nor do I have any intention to do any travel book/journal.

illusion2:
@SMc
From a critic's view point ,whats you take on HOAYS?

I did a review on Half of a Yellow Sun. You can see it here -

Half of a Yellow Sun

Scroll down and you'll see it. You may also want to look at this link: Why I Don't Like Half of a Yellow Sun for more comments by different people on the book.

illusion2:
Anybody read half of A yellow Sun?

I have.

Orikinla:
SMC,

Helen Oyeyemi is not a prize writer.

'Nuff Said, I rest my Case!!!

Orikinla:
In response to Doyin and Ziddy, I will not say a word.

Lest you forget, Adichie even failed to win the Caine Prize.
Her biggest prize, the Orange Broadband is for women only.

Her last novel did not even make it to the Booker Prize.

In the inner circles, the much younger Helen Oyeyemi is rated higher than Ngozi Chimamanda Adichie.

Adichie is like Achebe while Oyeyemi is like Soyinka and as Soyinka won the Nobel Prize, Oyeyemi will win it before Adichie.

Oyeyemi has written more works than Adichie.

Like Achebe, Adichie is getting over excited over the success of two of her novels.


The most qualified Nigerian writer for the Nobel Prize in Literature is Ben Okri.
But Pa Chinua Achebe is trying to appeal to win a consolatory nomination to get it.

Adichie has only published two novels and you are talking of the Nobel Prize?

@ Orikinla, You did not say A WORD, you said many words (LOL).

Once again, I am amazed by the vehemence of your onslaught on Achebe which now seems to have been passed down to Adichie.

I do not know if you arrived at your conclusions through some mathematical calculations or whether you used some perverse deductive reasoning to convince yourself that since "Oyeyemi is like Soyinka" and "Adichie is like Achebe", Oyeyemi will win the Nobel Prize before Adichie. However manner you might have reached this conclusion, it not only beggars belief, but shows that you must be unfamiliar with the works of both authors.

As both Oyeyemi and Adichie's literary works stand as at today, none of them are even remote contenders for the Nobel prize. The convoluted and labyrinthine byways of literature which makes the literary corpus of any author a serious contender for the Nobel prize is sadly missing in the works of these two.

Do not get me wrong, these two writers have a lot going for them and have produced brilliant pieces of works. However, the standard or benchmark used for popular literature is totally different to that used for serious literature and the banal mediocrity sometimes displayed in both writers works are not the stuff Nobel prizes are made of. The fact that Oyeyemi was paid hundreds of thousands of pounds does not automatically elevate her work to serious literature. It just shows that the publishers viewed her work commercially viable. I do not need to tell you that the likes of John Grisham, Jackie Collins, Sydney Sheldon or even the first billionaire author J.K Rowling stand a snowball's chance in hell of winning the Nobel prize despite monstrous commercial  successes.

I believe that the first poster who started this thread got carried away by Adichie's works. Uzodinma Iweala is someone to look out for. He looks promising.

Oh! And regarding the issue raised that Adichie did not win the Caine prize, might I point out that neither did Oyeyemi. Also, Oyeyemi despite being "rated higher than Ngozi Chimamanda Adichie" and despite having "written more works than Adichie" has not won the booker prize either. In fact, contrary to what you claim, when it comes to critical acclaim, Adichie is rated higher because her first book was shortlisted for the orange broadband and the John Llewellyn Rhys prizes as well as longlisted for the Booker prize. It was the winner of the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award for Debut Fiction. Her second book won the Orange Broadband prize (although the Orange prize has been rubbished by literary heavyweights). Even if the Orange prize is  open only to women, at least, Oyeyemi is also a woman, I do not see her name on the list of Orange prize winners.

After all is said and done, let us be proud of our kinsmen and women. They continue to do us proud.

Orikinla:
This competition is the same for short stories for the radio?

Yep! That's the one.