Monday, December 23, 2013

JUDE DIBIA



 
Interview by By Taiwo Ajayi

 The fact that Jude Dibia is not a desperate voice on social media,  trying to prove a point, jostling for “over-lordship” in a set-up that  is swallowed by too much noise and anxious to be heard at all cost-
 expressing thoughtless points, frantic plug-ins, casting unnecessary  judgements, whirling and dizzy and constipated by cultic frenzy, adds  to his aura- of a prince and his total disinterest in the moppet show.
 Jude Dibia as a daring writer is almost an understatement. And that iis on account of the controversial angles of his works - Walking with  Shadows (2005), Unbridled (2007), and Blackbird (2011). An
 award-winning author with well-received novels, Jude won the 2007 Ken Saro-Wiwa Prize for Prose (sponsored by NDDC/ANA) and ended as a finalist in the 2007 NLNG Prize. With short stories appearing on many platforms, Dibia is taking on even more ambitions as a publisher. Thymbleweed, his publishing outfit, is thundering into 2014.  He shares this and more in this interview with Taiwo Ajayi
...
 How have you been able to use your position as a celebrated author to
 influence society?

 Firstly, I really do not think of myself in those terms, that is:  celebrated! People get too carried away with such heady stuff that it  gets rather distracting. We all influence society with our actions. I  want to believe my stories and novels have had some sort of influence  in society. My writings have touched on issues as diverse as  inequality, abuse, migration as well as sexuality and how these things  affect the common person. As a reward, I have had a lot encouragement  and great feedback from my readers.

 Running a successful nine-to-five and being one of Nigeria's top  authors, can you describe your work habits?

 My work habit is quite disciplined. I follow a strict time schedule  and try to fit in my writing and work within it. It has not been easy  but I do try. Some years are better than others. Another thing is that  I never put myself under unnecessary pressure to produce any work.

 How encouraging is Nigeria to authors of your calibre?

 Things are beginning to change for the writers in Nigeria. With some  of our writers winning international awards or being short-listed and  recognized, things have become better. And we have the internet and
 social media to be thankful for.


What drives you to complete a story?

The characters. I am very much interested in people and how they resolve issues. I still get a rush from having a completed work published and read by people. I think that pushes me, somewhat.

What is, in your opinion, the worst exaggeration in the literary scene in Nigeria/Africa? Oh dear! I hate speaking for others and this question assumes a generality that isn't quite becoming. In the first place we have a relatively small literary scene in the country, so anything that is noticed may be seen to be exaggerated. I am, coming to think of it, a little too removed from the literary scene to able to make an informed guess.

How has your writing habits changed over the years?

What clear difference do you personally observe in your works? Before it was all about finishing the story as fast as possible and sharing it with readers. Now, I have become much more particular and careful with what I write. I pay more time to styling and effect. This has made my writing slower.

Who do you love to read?

A number of writers! I absolutely love Toni Morrison and James Baldwin. I enjoy the writings of Andrea Levy, Arundhati Roy and a number of Nigerian authors as well.

What is your main focus when telling a story?

Cause and effect! These are the driving force of many stories. And then I am drawn to complex characters.

Congratulations on Thymbleweed...

Thank you, very much!

Now you are an author and a publisher. Tell us the story behind Thymbleweed?

I have always been interested in the entire process of book production and publishing. Seeing well written and packaged books is still a thing that gives me immense pleasure. I want to discover some great writers and hopefully see them through publishing and greater things. Not forgetting the ideology of Thymbleweed is to publish the books people want to read...

* The full text of this interview can be read elsewhere on the internet

Friday, November 22, 2013

FESTUS IYAYI DIES


By Abubakar Adam Ibrahim

The death of (Nigerian) novelist and academic, Professor Festus Iyayi in a ghastly accident along Abuja-Lokoja road has been greeted with grief and outrage...

Staggering from the blow of loss, the Nigerian literary fraternity is trying to come to terms with the death of writer, academic and activist, Professor Festus Iyayi.

He met his death close to Lokoja Tuesday November 12 in a car crash involving the Kogi State governor’s convoy, which had been involved in other accidents prior to this, one of which left the former governor Ibrahim Idris injured.

Before to his death, Iyayi had built himself a reputation as a an author of note with four novels to his name, (Violence, The Contract, Heroes and Awaiting Court Martial.) He topped his literary laurels with the Commonwealth Prize in 1988.

But in some circles, Iyayi is better known as an academic and an activist. His reputation as a former ASUU president is solid, having once been detained for his activism in 1988, and he had been travelling to Kano for an ASUU meeting over the four-month long strike, when he met his death aged 66.

Needless to say, his death has sparked outrage and condemnation from writers, academics and activists, many of whom have called for the arrest of the driver in the employ of the Kogi State government who was involved in the crash. It has also brought to light once again the notoriety of the Abuja-Lokoja road, with reports claiming that Iyayi was the 125th person killed on that road this year alone, according to official figures.

The leadership  of the Association of Nigerian Authors was in Minna during the 3rd MBA Colloquium when news of Iyayi’s death broke. The association later issued a statement condemning the death as caused by “recklessness” without mincing words or pulling punches in apportioning blame.

“In this time of great loss, the Association would like to categorically excoriate the recklessness of those in the service of public officials in Nigeria as well as the embarrassing underdevelopment of infrastructure in the country. The untimely death of Festus Iyayi, professor and novelist, was caused by the recklessness of officials in the employ of the Governor of Kogi State, Captain Idris Wada, in an ungodly hurry to obscure ends. The Lokoja-Abuja road, which poor condition has long been decried, also claimed the life of multi-talented poet and dancer, Ify Omalicha, in March 2012. This state of affair, where we lose the best and the brightest as well as those with unfathomable potential, is absolutely condemnable,” a statement signed by Prof. Remi Raji, president of the association said.

However, the Kogi State sector commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Mr Olakunle Motajo said it was rather too early to categorically apportion blame as investigations into the cause and circumstances of the crash have started and no conclusions have been reached.

So far, five people had been treated for injuries from the accident, four in the governor’s convoy and one Dr. Ngozi Ilo, who had been travelling with the late author. She was said to have sustained minor injuries and have since been discharged.
Dr. Iyayi was said to have died as a result of an object that pierced his heart during the accident.

Prof Remi Raji who said that the late writer has been a lifelong member of the association maintained that he will still remain relevant in death as he had been in life, saying, “Apart from his numerous publications as a scholar, his four major novels – Violence, The Contract, Heroes, and Awaiting Court Martial – will continue to be relevant in the cultural and intellectual landscape of Nigerian literature as remarkable fictional perceptions of our social realities. He will be greatly missed even as his life work in intellectual activism, in the course of which he met his death, is equally and appropriately lauded.”

Also reacting to this death, Publisher Mr. Hyacinth Obunseh in his capacity as the president of the African Writers Forum said, “The most saddening news of the passing of Prof. Iyayi comes as a rude shock and calls for legislation to stop and punish the unbecoming recklessness of senior government functionaries.”

He adds that the former ASUU president will be greatly missed.

“His family, academics and the Nigerian literary community will miss his contribution to the growth of our national life,” he said.

Iyayi was born in 1947 in Esanland in presend-day Edo State and was educated at the Annunciation Catholic College in the old Bendel State and later at Government College, Ughelli. He furthered his studies in Industrial Economics at the Kiev Institute of Economics in the former USSR and obtained his PhD from the University of Bradford, England.

Upon his return in 1980, he took up a faculty position with the University of Benin and almost immediately became an active member of ASUU, rising to the position of the association’s president in 1986.

Two years later, ASUU was briefly banned and Iyayi was detained for sometime. In that same year, his novel Heroes clinched the Commonwealth Writers Prize thereby cementing his position as a writer of reckoning in the country and beyond.

Reports indicate that a burial is being planned for sometime in December as his corpse has been conveyed back to his native Benin by his brother Peter Iyayi who is a lecturer at the Federal University, Lokoja.

While the rhetoric and lamentations continue, the reality remains that Nigeria has lost yet another shining lamp in the hallowed halls of academia and literati.

* Courtesy of Sunday Trust

Monday, November 11, 2013

CELEBRATING A GREAT AFRICAN FEMALE WRITER....




For decades, she took up the pen and told the most gripping stories that hooked many a reader. She is no doubt a woman who has powerfully influenced East Africa’s literary narrative.

Grace Ogot is a pioneer. She earned a distinctive position in Kenya’s literary and political history. In 1984, she was the best-known writer in East Africa. It is then that she decided to join politics.  She became one of the few women to serve as a Member of Parliament and the only female assistant minister in President Moi’s Cabinet. She also worked as a midwife, tutor, journalist and a BBC Overseas Service broadcaster.

Ogot was born Grace Emily Akinyi in Asembo, in Nyanza district on May 15, 1930.

She was the child of pioneering Christian parents in the traditional Luo stronghold of Asembo. Her father, Joseph Nyanduga, was an early convert to the Anglican Church and one of the first men in Asembo to receive Western education.

He later taught at the Church Missionary Society’s Ng’iya Girls School. She remembered her father reading her Bible stories, as well as hearing the traditional stories told by her grandmother. Later, Ogot’s writing reflected this dual background of tradition and modernity and the tensions between the two.

Emerging from the promised land in the anthills of the Savannah, Ogot attended Ng’iya Girls’ School and Butere High School. The young woman trained as a nurse in both Uganda and England. Several years of working as a nursing sister and midwifery tutor at Maseno Hospital, and later at the Student Health Service at Makerere University College, provided her experience in a number of different careers.

She worked as a script-writer and broadcaster for the BBC Overseas Service (later having her own popular weekly radio programme in Luo), as a community development officer in Kisumu, and as a public relations officer for Air India. In the late 1960s, she opened two branches of a clothing boutique known as Lindy’s in Nairobi.

Ogot was a founding member of the Writers’ Association of Kenya and served as its chairman from 1975 to 1980.  She began to publish short stories both in English and in Luo in the early 1960s.

She was famous as much for what she represented as for what she wrote, giving literature a whole new meaning for African pupils.
Her first novel, The Promised Land, was published in 1966. It featured challenges faced by Luo pioneers who moved across the border into Tanzania in search of greater opportunities. Land Without Thunder, a collection of short stories about traditional life in rural Western Kenya, appeared in 1968. These stories were immensely powerful...


* This article written by Peter Ngangi Nguli can be fully read online via STANDARD DIGITAL

Sunday, October 13, 2013

FREE STATE BREWED SHORT STORIES



Amazingly, this new anthology of short stories was published just a few days before Alice Munro was internationally announced as the 2013 winner of the Nobel award in literature. The blurb of this book states emphatically:

"Alice Munro, celebrated writer of fiction of the shorter variety describes a story as ‘a world seen in a quick glancing light’. In other words, every day events, gongs and tragedies are briefly illuminated in the best of short stories.

The stories in this collection – written by talented African writers - epitomize some of the best in recent writings...Enjoy the Cornucopia of stories!”

This new book, edited by Pule Lechesa, is a collection of interesting, wide-ranging short stories. At first brush one can see that the contributors to this work are essentially proficient wordsmiths, hence the fine quality of most of the stories published here. Indeed this is a cross-section of the contributors:

Charles Matorera

Already making his name as an astute writer of short stories. His story, Singwizi: The golden journey is already quite celebrated – hence its inclusion in this work. Matorera is working on his first full-length novel now.

Maxwell Perkins Kanemanyanga

An accomplished writer of short stories. He churns out such stories “with disarming fecundity”. He has already published three books – collections of short stories – Enemy of the State, How do I talk about my ordeal? and Chapindapasi (2013) Maxwell was featured in the book, Interviews with effervescent Writers (2012)

Teboho Masakala
Even in his late teens, he was tipped by literary pundits to take the literary world by storm. Since then he has remarkably been fulfilling his potential by publishing works like Mind, pen, paper and ideas (2010), Through it all (2011) and The fall of Marcus Desmond (2012) He has also published the book, Shout to the Lord (2013)

O Bolaji

Multi-award-winning author who has published fiction, literary criticism, poetry, drama, biographies etc. Author of novels like Impossible Love, The ghostly adversary, and People of the townships. Creator and writer of the “Tebogo Mokoena Mystery series” which now incorporates eight volumes (adventures)

Tseliso Masolane

Tseliso Masolane is the author of a rip-roaring Sesotho poetry book, Bo naka bo maripa; which the controversial critic Pule Lechesa described “as a must read, a page-turner, coherent, didactic and thought-provoking to boot.” This dynamic polyglot works as the Deputy Director at Bloemfontein based Sesotho Literary Museum which is the first in indigenous languages. He is also the founder of Motheo Award winning newspaper called Shwehwe and Qwaqwa community radio station.

Mathibeli George Rampai

Rampai is a skilled writer of fiction whose monumental work From Where I stand is still being celebrated liberally in many literary circles. Rampai came out tops as Author of the Year (2012) courtesy of the esteemed Mbali Literary Awards.

Teboho Letshaba

Teboho Letshaba has carted away many awards and laurels thanks to his dexterity in writing, including the Best Vodacom Journalist of the year in sports and feature writing. Essentially known for his sterling works in Sesotho, his published books include Lejwe la kgopiso, Pelo ya Lerato, Ntshunyakgare, and Mehlolo e tsamaya le badumedi·         
     
     * Free State brewed Short Stories, edited by Pule Lechesa, is published by Mbali Press. Sponsored by the National Arts Council of South Africa 

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

THE VUVUZELA MURDERS By Aryan Kaganof




Publisher: MBALI PRESS, Ladybrand
Sponsored by the National Arts Council of South Africa


"Aryan Kaganof is arguably South Africa’s most versatile and resilient cultural activist. He is an eclectic film-maker, novelist, poet, fine artist and an indefatigable blogger.

Kaganof worked in Holland (where he also studied feature film direction, et al) at the Dutch Anti-Apartheid Movement as a researcher activist. In 1996 he pioneered the use of digital video as a feature film medium with the transfer to 35mm NAAR DE KLOTE! (Wasted!). 

In 2000 a retrospective of his films was held at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco where he was also Artist in Residence. In 2005 he shot the world’s first feature film made on a mobile phone camera, SMS SUGAR MAN. 

In 2008 he was a Visiting Professor at K3 Malmo University (Sweden). He continues to orchestrate award-winning documentaries and films. He has published about 30 books comprising general fiction, short stories, poetry, non-fiction, and philosophy.


Aryan Kaganof has published many intriguing novels like Hectic, Cortado, Laduma and Uselessly. In this his very latest work, he creatively unleashes his apocalyptic vision in splendid, if disturbing undulations..." (blurb)


Monday, September 23, 2013

KOFI AWOONOR (1935 - 2013




Writers and poets from around the world have joined in mourning following the news that Professor Kofi Awoonor, a Ghanaian poet and diplomat, died after sustaining injuries during the terrorist attack on Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya.

Professor Awoonor, who was 78, was in the city to participate in the Storymoja Hay Festival, a celebration of writing and storytelling. He was due to perform on Saturday evening as part of a pan-African poetry showcase.

Professor Awoonor’s death was confirmed by the Ghanaian High Commission in Nairobi in the early hours of Sunday morning. One of the main aims of the Festival is to encourage reading and literacy among Kenya’s young people.

A statement issued by the Festival said: “We were honoured to be graced by his appearance at Storymoja Hay Festival, and deeply humbled by his desire to impart knowledge to the young festival audience. Professor Awoonor was one of Africa's greatest voices and poets and will forever remain a beacon of knowledge and strength and hope.” The Festival was brought to an end on Saturday evening "in sympathy with those who have lost their lives or were injured" and for the safety of attendees.

Professor Awoonor was joined by his countrymen at the four day event, in what he called “the best representation of Ghanaian authors that we have ever had”. Among them were poet Nii Parkes and writer and film-maker Kwame Dawes. Both paid tribute to Professor Awoonor on Twitter, with Parkes writing: “I muse on gifts given and swiftly taken away. I waited my whole life to meet my uncle, Kofi Awoonor, and 2 days later he is gone.” Dawes posted: “Kofi Awoonor's death is a sad sad moment here in Nairobi. We have lost one of the greatest African poets and diplomats. I've lost my uncle.”



Warsan Shire, a Somalian poet who was due to speak at the Festival, tweeted that Professor Awoonor was “one of our greatest poets”.

Book blogger Kinna Reads congratulated Professor Awoonor for his command of language, saying “He spoke Fanti as fluently as Ewe”. Professor Awoonor’s early poetry was heavily influenced by the dirge-singing traditions of his native Ewe tribe.

Professor Awoonor’s first collection, Rediscovery and Other Poems, was published in 1964, and he wrote three subsequent collections and a prose poem between then and 1971. Following his incarceration for helping a ‘political criminal’ in the Seventies, Professor Anoowor wrote mainly non-fiction. He became an important diplomat for Ghana, and was the country’s Ambassador to the United Nations between 1990 and 1994.

Earlier this year it was announced that The Promise of Hope, a collection of Professor Awoonor’s new and selected poems from 1964 to 2013 will be published in March 2014.

* Courtesy of THE TELEGRAPH

Sunday, September 15, 2013

TEBOHO IN THE THICK OF THINGS




Publisher: MBALI PRESS, Ladybrand
Sponsored by the National Arts Council of South Africa

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

D.O (Daniel Olorunfemi) FAGUNWA (1903 – 1963)





By Dr BAYO ADEBOWALE

D.O. Fagunwa’s creative art, from inception, has been received with warmth and enthusiasm. His early-time audience consumed the themes and contents of his works eagerly and with gusto…

Whoever among them can ever forget Fagunwa’s powerful character portrait of his major characters like Esu Kekereode, Anjonnu Iberu, Olowoaye, Ojola Ibinu, Kako, Akaraoogun, Imodoye, Olohun Iyo, Aramanda Okunrin, Egbin, Ibembe Olokunrun, Ifepade, Arogidigba, Baba Onirugbon Yeuke, Ajediran, Iragbeje, Ajantala, Ogongo Baba Eye, Edidare people and Omugodimeji their Royal Father, Ireke Onibudo, itanforiti, Ologbo Ijakadi, Iyunade and Ahondiwura!

Fagunwa’s early-time critics, in the same token, evaluated the style and technique of his novels with utmost regard and respect. All of Fagunwa’s novels got incisive analysis and critical acclaim from eminent scholars, of the calibre of Ayo Bamgbose, Abiola Irele, Uli Beier, Bernth Lindfors, Omolara Ogundipe-Leslie, Akinwumi Isola, R.W. Noble, Olaseinde Lawson, Olakunle George, Adeeko Adeleke, A. Olubummo, Olabiyi Yai, Tunde Ogunpolu, Adeboye Babalola, Afolabi Olabimtan, Oladele Taiwo, and a host of others.

Fagunwa’s works had been adapted for the stage, and translated into English, notably by Wole Soyinka (Forest of a Thousand Daemons: Ogboju Ode Ninu Igbo Irunmale); Gabriel Ajadi (The Forest of God: Igbo Olodumare); Dapo Adeniyi (Expedition to the Mount of Thought (irinkerindo Ninu Igbo Elegbeje and The Mystery Plan of the Almighty (Adiitu Olodumare) by the University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies… This is apart from a series of theses and dissertations which Fagunwa’s works had elicited among researchers in Tertiary Institutions all over Nigeria and beyond.

This really is how things should be for a writer of Fagunwa’s stature – a prominent figure and trail blazer in Nigeria’s indigenous literature of Yoruba extraction… in the field of Yoruba literature, in particular, and traditional African literature in general, Fagunwa, no doubt, occupies a position of pre-eminence. It has rightly been observed that the appearance of Fagunwa’s novels marks ‘an important stage in the development of Yoruba written literature. ‘After having his five novels reprinted over twenty-five times, since first publication, Fagunwa;s name, in deed, has become a household word among his teeming audience (old and young), but especially among those of them in schools and colleges, in South West Nigeria and some parts of Benin Republic, where his books used to be prescribed texts and required reading.
Fagunwa’s Biography:

Fagunwa’s biography is important, here for consideration only as long as it helps us to secure a clearer picture of his art, and also as long as it assists us to appreciate the overall technique of his creative ebullience. It has been discovered that the stories and episode recorded in all his novels. This is to say that Fagunwa’s fiction provides one good peep into the facts of his life and times. His is an interesting meeting-point between experience and imagination; a union of pure fact and outright fiction.

1.        The rural setting of Fagunwa’s birth place (Oke-Igbo), no doubt, has helped to immerse him deeply into the traditional milieu and cultural heritage of his people. This has thrown some light on why igbo (forest) itself keeps on recurring in his novels. It has been discovered that the word ‘igbo’ appears over four hundred times, in different places, in the works of Fagunwa. Three of his five works, as a matter of fact, embody the word ‘igbo’ as title: Igbo Irunmale; Igbo Olodumare and Igbo Elegbeje.

2.        In Yoruba traditional belief, the deep forest is held in great reverence and awe, because the place is replete with all sorts of malevolent practices and diabolical manipulation. Fagunwa is well aware, through the medium of traditional folktales, as a village boy, that ‘igbo’ is the abode of trolls, spirits and fairies; the home of witches and wizards; pf gnomes and all classes of daemons known as ‘ebora’, all of whom Fagunwa has identified in his novels, and whom his major characters used to confront in duels and battles during their series of adventures. There is the antill ebora (ebora okiti ogan); walnut ebora (ebora ara awusa); the Iroko tree ebora (ebora inu iroko); the mountaintop ebora (ebora ori oke) and the thick jungle ebora (ebora aginju).

3.        Fagunwa, as a village man, is definitely not a stranger to the purported power and potency of witches and wizards. It is along the roadside and in the clumps of the banana trees in the forest where witches and wizards used to converge, in the dead of the night, to sing songs of bereavement in muffled tones and esoteric language. Witchcraft, Ayo Bamgbose has rightly noted, is a basic ingredient in the story of Akara Ogun’s father. He marries a witch, Ajediran, who, like all activities in Yoruba belief, is able to turn herself into a bird  and fly in the night. Later when this man takes more wives, this witch shows her wickedness by killing three of her co-wives and eight of their children.

4.        Fagunwa emphasizes the elements of weirdness in his novels, based on his knowledge of the folktale tradition, and the tradition of adventure stories handed down from generation to generation by his people. He, consequently goes ahead to paint the picture of the world of spirits and magic, incantations, charms and communication with the dead which his people ardently believe in… physically, his ‘aroni’ is a  one-legged fairy; his ‘egbere’ is a short creature, always shedding tears and carrying a ragged mat about under her armpit. His Inaki-Iberu in Irinkerindo Ninu Igbo Elegbeje transforms into various things : an elephant, water, sun and stone.

5.        In Yoruba folktales, which Fagunwa is undoubtedly familiar with, powerful mythology heroes, hunters and warriors arm theselves with medicines, magical charms and incantations. Charms are sewed into leather and won round the waist, arms and neck; rings are worn round fingers, charms are put inside little gourds. Some charms are taken orally or through incisions in the body. All these medicine and charms are properly focused on in all Fagunwa’s novels – from Ogboju Ode Ninu Igbo Irunmale to Adiitu Olodumare.

6.        D.O Fagunwa’s Judeo-Christian background is a common knowledge to scholars of his creative works. His father (Joshua Akintunde) and mother (Rachael Osunyomi) are both converts to Christian religion. He himself gave up his middle name (Orowale) and assumed a new one (Olorunfemi); then proceeded to St. Luke’s Kindergarten School, Oke Igbo, and the famous St. Andrew’s College, Oyo (1926-1929) after which he later became the headmaster of the Nursery section of the practicing school, for ten whole-years. Fagunwa’s Christian background is solid, sustained all along, through his vacation interaction with Catechist Oladineji at Modakeke (1931)…

The Christian doctrine which Fagunwa has imbibed manifests itself powerfully in his creative output in various clear ways: The biblical allusions in his novels are in myriads. Fagunwa’s major characters engage in fervent prayers, during difficult times, in recognition of their firm belief in the omnipotence of the Amlighty God, whose attributes are diverse and whose appellations are intimidating. He is Olodumare, Olojo-Oni, Oba Airi, Onibuore, Olubukun, Olowo-gbogboro and Awimayehun. (Ref. Ogboju Ode, Ireke Onibudo, and Adiitu Olodumare).

D.O. Fagunwa’s life-time intimacy with the Holy Bible fully reveals itself in his works, with lavish allusions to the scriptures. And from Ogboju Ode Ninu Igbo Irunmale, all through to Adiitu Olodumare, we come across an avalanche  of direct and indirect references to episodes in the Bible; for instance, the stories, the stories of King Solomon, Adam and Eve, Tower of Babel, Samson and Delilah, the ten lepers, King Nebuchadnezzar, Joseph and Potiphar’s wife etc… It does seem that the charge of ‘too much didacticism’, excessive sermonizing and moralizing’ from critics will continue to trail the writings of D.O. Fagunwa for a long long time i) because of his professional calling as a teacher, and (ii) because of the permanency of his formidable Christian background, all of which he has brought to bear on the development of the themes and techniques of his writing.

1.        In his life time, Fagunwa was evidently a voracious reader of classical English and Greek literature books. There are abundant evidences of his familiarity with the Arabian Night Stories, John Bunyan’s Pilgrims Progress Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe and William Shakespeare’s plays, especially the play, As You Like It, where Orlando composes poems in praise of his lover, Rosalind in the forest of Arden – something which reechoes in the love tangle between Ireke and Ipade in Fagunwa requires a story, he feels no inhibition in drawing on his reading of abridged edition of classical books with which to embellish and enrich episodes in the various sections of his novels.

8. Works  of D.O. Fagunwa

i) Complete Works

Fagunwa’s complete works transcend the major five novels he published (i.e Ogboju Ode Ninu Igbo Irunmale (1938); Igbo Olodumare (1949); Ireke Onibudo (1949) Irinkerindo Ninu Igbo Elegbeje (1949); and Adiitu Eledumare (1961). Fagunwa also authored/co-authored Ajala and Ajadi: Asayan Itan (1959); Irin Ajo Apa Kini, Apa Keji (1949); Itan Oloyin (ed.) 1954); Ojo Asotan (with G.L Laosebikan) (1964); Taiwo ati Kehinde (with L.J. Lawis) 1949.

ii. Setting and Themes of Fagunwa’s Novels:

Fagunwa’s novels are majorly set in purely rural environment with forests and hills, graced by the abundance of nature. All Fagunwa’s novels are adventure stories in which a hero or a group of heroes (usually hunters) set out on a mission that is eventually accomplished with great daring, cleverness, luck, and the help of charms and incantations, plus a little bit of help from God… Bernth Lindfors (1982) elaborate further on the theme of Fagunwa’s novels by submitting that the adventures usually take place in a forest or bush infested with spirits and daemons who threaten those bold enough to trespass on their territories. Eventually, most of them safely return home (from their perilous journeys to Ilu Oku, Ilu Ero Ehinm Ilu Alupayida, Langbodo etc) Strengthened by their experience and encounter with the abnormal and the supernatural… Virtually the same theme of perseverance, courage, valour, determination, treachery, retribution, love and women run through all of Fagunwa’s novels. These thematic similarities make one to conclude that, in Fagunwa, if you have read just one of his novels, then you have indirectly read all of his novels!

iii. Characterization:

The vulnerability of Fagunwa’s art has been identified in the ways his characters are portrayed in virtually all his novels. Most characters, especially the minor ones are paper-thin; vaguely depicted; unrealistically portrayed; passive and dull. Ayo Bamgbose, in particular, has been unsparing in his observation of Fagunwa’s method of characterization. While some of Fagunwa’s characters remain un-named, most of them are deliberately brought in for the single incidents in which they are involved , and as soon as such incidents are over, they disappear into thin air, never to be seen again! They disappear as suddenly as they appear! (e.f Gongosu-takiti and Inaki-Gorite in Irinkerindo Ninu Igbo Elegbeje)… But to extend this same argument to fagunwa’s major characters might appear to be carrying critical appraisal too far. It is on record that fagunwa’s major characters are vibrant, active, rounded and convincingly presented.

iv. Language of Fagunwa’s Novels:

Critics are speaking with one voice on Fagunwa’s superlative use of language, his masterful exploitation of the Yoruba language. It is the submission of most of the critics that the true greatness of Daniel Fagunwa as a writer majorly lies in the stupendous way he handles  the Yoruba language in all his five novels. The gift of language is a distinctive quality which sets Fagunwa apart from his successors. His use of language is seen to be inimitable – a master of Yoruba language, no one else comes close to achieving his dexterous verbal effects. In creativeness and inventiveness. He has no equal. Fagunwa has an ear for music and rhythms of Yoruba Language. Many of the passages in his novels have a poetic quality about them. These are elements to which the average Yoruba readers respond, with delight. It is Ulli Beier’s opinion that Fagunwa is as acknowledgeable in proverbial expression as an old oracle priest’. Abiola Irele buttresses this opinion when he says that repetition, balance and tonal forms, world building and sustained phrasing in whole passages, build up admirably in Fagunwa’s works’. And according to Olubummo, Fagunwa is able to get away with almost anything by the sheer dazzling brilliance of his words.’ Fagunwa enjoys hyperbole, and declamatory utterances. His books are full of vivid, fanciful comparisons. He also delights in ebullient rhetorical effects, which he achieves through what Lindfors calls ‘repetition, profusion of detail, and a zany extravagance of invention.’

The genius of Fagunwa’s verbal gymnastics shows in several areas of all his novels, especially in Igbo Olodumare where Esukekere-Ode tackles Olowoaye in a battle of words:...

The poetic nature of Fagunwa’s language reveals itself in several areas of his five novels. And here again, we can quote p4 of Igbo Olodumare where Fagunwa says:

Mo ti bu okele koja ibiti enu mi gba
Mo fi omi tutu ro elubo
Mofi akara je iresi
Mo gbe gari fun Oyinbo wa mu.


·        *  Excerpts from a speech delivered by the author, who is a well known Nigerian novelist, poet and literary activist