Writing Opportunity: The Short Story

The Short Story is designed to showcase the best short stories from around the world. The idea is simple. Submit your story to us and you will automatically enter The Short Story competition. Deadline for submissions is September 15th 2012.

Three cash prizes will be awarded.

• First prize: £300
• Second prize: £150
• Third prize: £50

Submission Guidelines

• Please take time to read these guidelines. If you don’t, the dolly will be out of the pram before we even start to read your story. No-one wants that.
• Word limit: 1,000-5,000 (maximum).
• Email your story as a Word document or pdf.
• Font size: 12 point, Times New Roman or Arial, preferably.
• No fancy fonts.
• No poetry, novel chapters, sci-fi, fantasy or stories for children.
• Put your name, email address and telephone number at the footer of each page.
• Page numbers are important. Make sure each page is numbered consecutively.
• Submissions by email only. We do not accept snail mail or hard copies.
• Only one story allowed per person. We do not accept simultaneous submissions. Pick your best one and send it to us.
• This competition is only open to people over the age of 18.
• All submissions must be original and unpublished.

For queries/ submissions: submit.theshortstory@gmail.com

The Sefi Atta Reader

Nigerian author Sefi Atta currently enjoys a great reception of her fictional work. Named the winner of the Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa in 2006 and the Noma Award for Publishing in Africa in 2009 among others, Atta has published three novels and a collection of short stories with more pieces appearing soon. She has also written several plays that have been performed both on stage and on the radio. I am seeking contributors to The Sefi Atta Reader. The Reader will contain critical essays of approximately 9000 to 11000 words, key topic essays of approximately 3000 to 4000 words and interviews with Sefi Atta. A publisher has been identified, and Atta will make herself available for the interviews. Contributions should focus primarily on her body of writing, but may briefly address any of her interlocutors or situate her work within the larger body of African literature, especially the latest wave of contemporary African writing.

Topics/approaches might include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Globalization
• Post-colonial theory
• Women and motherhood
• Female friendship
• Conflict between women and any of the following: men, culture/tradition, their communities/families
• Convergence of personal and political spheres
• Class barriers
• Depiction and role of Lagos as a city in the literature
• Impact of death
• Neo-colonialism

Please contact Dr. Walter Collins at collinsw@sc.edu for more information and any questions. Contribution proposals (no longer than 250 words) should be sent to the address above by July 31, 2012. First drafts of contributions are due on or before September 30, 2012 and may be sent electronically. Please see www.sefiatta.com for more details regarding Atta’s career and work.

Introducing: NigeriansTalk: Again

NigeriansTalk.org is a one-stop site for those interested in seeing Nigeria through the lens of its large community of bloggers.  We feature opinion and analysis, regular feeds, articles, and reviews of posts written by bloggers of Nigerian extraction, bloggers living in Nigeria, and bloggers who blog about Nigeria. NigeriansTalk seeks to cover the wide spectrum of perspectives on various social, political, and personal issues – issues that affect Nigerians at home and abroad.  They also have our favourite NT LitMag. 

As you must have noticed, we’ve started a campaign to raise the profile of NT. We don’t have the budget to advertise on TV, radio or in the print media. All we have is the social media and the power of influence of our team. 

We’ve come to be seen as a bunch of really smart people who write very smart analysis of Nigerian issues, and in good language. It is hard to imagine that this bunch of talented writers and analysts cannot leverage their intelligence and influence to promote the ads we’ve designed. The ads in themselves are a testimony to the kind of discussions we want to advance with NT - funny, tongue-in-cheek, and unmistakably smart. 

The core of this campaign is to tell Nigerians that NT exists, that it's not your regular commentary site. That NT does things differently. That is our narrative, and we have only ourselves to credit if this works perfectly. People need to know that from now on, any campaign or initiative from NT will be creative, intelligent and groundbreaking!

NT's challenge now is to push the campaign as far as we can, individually. We want more people to follow us on Twitter & like us on Facebook. We want to build a community of people we can easily engage with on daily basis, with our contents.

If you are on Twitter please retweet our tweets concerning the campaign from @nigerianstalk. Promote the images with the hashtag #nigerianstalk. Let more people know that they can come up with clever versions of theirs by tweeting their entries at us, or dropping it as comments on Facebook. We intend to execute the clever entries and credit the originators. We may feature their works frontpaged on NT.

On FB you can tag your friends with the ads here. Let the campaign begin afresh.  Let’s do this, smart people.

Calling Screenwriters

The picture says it all. So, write!

Introducing: Splendid Literature and Culture Foundation Series

Submissions are invited from June 1, 2012, from young Nigerian writers, aged 11 to 21 years, of children’s literature from all over the country for the Splendid Literature and Culture Foundation Series.

The aim of the Foundation is to produce imaginative children’s stories that will entertain, enlighten and appeal to children of ages 8 to 12 years, and encourage them to read. Above all, these stories are to stimulate the imagination of the readers to help them think in novel ways to do things.

The young writers should be resident in Nigeria and their stories should have strong Nigerian/African content.

All entrants’ works must be original, unaided and unpublished works of fiction in English. Plays and poems are not eligible.

The work should be between 3000 – 3500 words, typewritten, double spaced or legibly handwritten on numbered pages. Illegible entries will be disqualified.

Submissions will be assessed by the Foundation’s judges. Six suitable stories will be selected and published annually. The usual royalty and publication terms will apply to every story published by the Foundation. The publishers reserve the customary rights regarding all publishing decisions.

The copyright of each entry will remain vested in the author unless otherwise agreed in writing between the entrant and the Foundation.

Submission Procedure

1. Include name, address, phone number and email address on the title page of the manuscript, with only the full name of entrant on each numbered page of the submission.

2. Entries must be submitted under the real name of the entrant. Pseudonyms may not be used.

3.Not more than one entry per entrant will be accepted.

4.Ensure you attached your entry.

5.Entries should be emailed to splendidlcf@gmail.com or submit six (6) copies of the entry manuscript at Splendid Literature & Culture Foundation: 31, Alhaji Tokan Street, Alaka Estate, Surulere, Lagos, P.O Box 7328, GPO, Lagos.

6. Submissions should be accompanied by evidence of Nigerian citizenship (photocopy of birth certificate, Nigerian passport or Nigerian ID Card).

7. The closing date for all entries is July 31, 2012.

8. Any entry that does not meet any of the conditions and the deadline will be disqualified.

9. Members and employees of the Splendid Literature & Culture Foundation are not eligible.

Introducing: Khamo

Khamo is in the business of distributing movies, television, ebooks, adverts, songs for its clients. It is also in the business of helping artists get their royalty for the use of their songs on t.v programs and on the web without their consent.

With a drive to let the content of the content owners pay, Khamo is in the market to deploy a one stop solution for content owners. The content Khamo is facing are ebooks, music, movies, television shows, adverts and related contents.

In this stride, Khamo is constantly opening up partnership with various front-end media platforms around the world so that the end users who have interest in the content we offer would pay for them, thus giving room for the content owner to get paid for his work.

What's more, Khamo brings to the market a distinct music royalty detection platform by which music artists can detect from leading television channels and the entire web if their song has been used in anyway without their legal consent. This creates a platform where musicians can claim their royalty that would have been lost. Our system has a cut-teeth approach such that it can detect a song no matter how buried it is in a track, it never fails.

Also among our features is a platform where advertisers can get their content delivered to the leading digital media platforms around the world just with the click of a button.

We all know fully well that in a globalized world, it will be useless to be popular and your solution/content is not available within the reach of people interested in your work, this gives room for piracy to have its way or other vices such that the original content owner would not get paid for his effort. Khamo creates a platform where it's client's content gets promoted.

And what's the best part of it? Our price is user-friendly such that we give room to all parties no matter their pocket rate, as we focus on quality of content to be distributed to the international media.

Presently in Nigeria, Khamo believes the world is it's office and as such is focusing on professionalism and quality in getting things done. Its been long overdue for this type of solution to be in the market place, here it is.

Email, for more information: mail@khamo.net

Introducing: Distorted, a Comic for (Young) Adults

Distorted tells the thrilling story of life's puzzles through a young man eyes - Jasper Alison.   Born to a Nigerian father and an American mother, he is the first child  out of three children. Jasper's life is full of contradictions; he  seeks answers to questions. His life takes a turn for the worst when  his mother dies during the birth of his younger brother. Jasper's father- Otunba Alison turns to politics to feel the vacuum created by his wife's loss. Politics becomes an obsession for him; his children discover different obsessions. 

With no parental guidance, life becomes an experiment for the children. Jasper, in his inquisitive nature continually asks- what is the essence of family? Without a response, he loses all sense of belonging to the family which he searched for and found in a cult--the Brotherhood of the Black Star.

He meets George, an extremely cunning friend from a broken home, they become best of friends. The cord of friendship  becomes strained when George starts developing interest in Louise, Jasper's sister. Jasper knew how dangerous his friend was and did not want his sister anywhere near him. However, after much pressure and manipulation, Jasper bows to pressure from George. He helps him woo his sister.     

       

Ayo Makinde, the author

George gang rapes Jasper's sister and dumps her unconscious body in a lagoon on campus. Louise survives the rape episode, but her life is  shattered by deep emotional scars. Jasper avenges the dastard act. But with consequences.  The Brotherhood of the Black Star! It is a taboo in the brotherhood for a member to get even with another member. The consequence? Death.

Jasper finds himself in a battle, not just to save his own life but to save his entire family from being wiped out. A stage is set for a breathtaking battle of wits and survival. Jasper's battle for survival leads him like a endless vicious cycle, into the heart of a conspiracy too distorted to untie.  Distorted is action packed, and can be read by both young and old, as there is something for everyone in its colourful pages. 


The comic is distributed across  Nigeria by Magazine Circulation Nigeria Ltd. You can also buy copies  from Terrakulture, Debonair Bookstores and the Hub Media Stores, Palms Shopping Mall, Lagos.

PH is the Future of Books

Port-Harcourt entered the bid to be World Book Capital City in 2014. BookaholicBlog supports this bid.

The Voice reports it like this:

The Nigerian Presidency, UNESCO, the Rivers State government and literary enthusiasts, have thrown their weight behind the Rainbow Book Club bid for Port Harcourt to be the UNESCO World Book Capital City in 2014. Koko Kalango, chairperson of the Port Harcourt World Book Capital City Preparation Committee and Founder of the Rainbow Book Club formally launched the city’s candidature in a press conference held at the Secretariat of the Ministry of Education, Port Harcourt on Friday 15 June 2012. Mrs. Kalango posited that winning the contest portends a ‘…window to a world of opportunities’, which is incidentally the theme of the bid. Port Harcourt is vying alongside 10 other countries.

Read more

Island Explorer Magazine is ONE

In celebration of their first year anniversary, they are giving away N20,000 worth of Chicken Republic vouchers and copies of Island Explorer Magazine to 3 winners. 

The first prize winner will get N10,000 worth of Chicken Republic vouchers + 3 different issues of Island Explorer Magazine + Participating in our interview with a celebrity. 

Two (2) runners-up will each win N5,000 worth of Chicken Republic vouchers + 3 different issues of Island Explorer Magazine. 

To win is very simple; just provide answers to these 3 questions: 

1) In Island Explorer Magazine (ISSUE 2), we interviewed PSquare who mentioned the names of their personal favourite places to eat in Lagos; they also mentioned the name of their favourite comedian, 

please name them. 

2) What are your top three write-ups ever in Island Explorer Magazine? 

3) What one thing would you change to further improve the magazine? 

Send your answers to info@islandexplorerng.com. You can also text them to 08099747444. The senders of the correct and most interesting responses will win. 

NOTE: In case you missed out on any of our editions, you can still read/download via the archive section of our website, www.islandexplorerng.com . 

This competition ends on July 18, 2012. 

For more information: 

Kindly LIKE Island Explorer Magazine on Facebook

Follow/tweet @iexplorermag on Twitter 

And connect with Island Explorer Magazine on Linkedin

Iread

“I Only Want a Little Authenticity!” by Uzodinma Iweala

Reading Search Sweet Country is like reading a dream, and indeed at times it feels like the magical landscapes of writers like the Nigerian Ben Okri or the Mozambican Mia Couto. Each page delivers an intense blast of vivid imagery, a world in which landscapes come to life when inanimate objects receive human characterizations: “Pillars of houses marched to meet and welcome him: There were smiles of baked mud, there were smiles of cement plaster, there were thatched teeth smiling from above, for others came with curiosity from their buildings …” Its political commentary is fascinatingly rooted in the body; fears of impotence and solicitations to the ever-present Ghanaian woman’s buttocks present a people searching for meaning between their own powerlessness and immense (pro)creative potential.

Suw Charman-Anderson, Contributor, Don't Publish That Book! 

If there’s a common flaw in self-publishing, it’s that too many books are published too soon. Experienced voices across the publishing world continually advise self-publishers to get help with editing, and not just copyediting but story editing too. It’s difficult, if not impossible, to properly edit your own work. But the siren call of the Kindle store is often too seductive. The urge to finish your first draft, chuck it through a spellchecker and release it in to the wild is often far too strong for eager writers to resist.

An excerpt from Eghosa Imasuen's Fine Boys

I ran into Tommy just before Nigeria versus Argentina. NEPA had taken light and we had gone to Jowitz to watch the match at around two that morning. As Maradona and his compatriots stretched the limits of fair play at the expense of our countrymen, Tommy came up to me and asked how I was doing. I said fine. Then, just as Siasia scored, he said he wanted to talk to me about something. During the half-time break, we strolled outside.

“Your father owns a Bureau de Change?”

Well, in the past, he had proven that he did not waste time. “Hmm,” I replied. I knew where he was going.

“I get this guy. Very cool chap. But his father is such an arsehole. I was wondering if you could do him a favour. For me. You see the guy papa has this bag of hundred pound sterling notes that the boy can have access to . . .” He paused when he saw the smile on my face, one of disgust, of sadness.

“Tommy stop. Why do you do this to me? I have always respected you, haven’t I?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Tommy, there is nothing like a one hundred pound note. And even if there was, I wouldn’t switch anything with the real stuff in my father’s office. Just take am say I no fit.”

“You never even hear wetin I wan’ talk.”

“I no go ever fit, Tommy.” 

Samuel Kolawole, "Let Me Get Home Before It's Dark"

Mudashiru had bought the bus off a roadside mechanic who was in the business of searching for abandoned vehicles and putting them in working order. So he was unsure who the owner of the bus was. He however imagined him to be a man not given to spending late nights. Maybe he was a devout Muslim with burqa-wearing wives. Maybe he needed to be home early, in time for the evening prayers. Maybe he prayed five times daily according to the tenets of Islam. He must have been everything Mudashiru was not, but then he didn’t really care. He was the man of the moment and the owner of the bus. It was as simple as that. And to prove that, he recently added his own words to the literature of the vehicle, an unashamed declaration of his daily mantra stenciled on the fender in yellow letterings “ENJOY YUR LIFE NOW, NO ONE KNOW TOMMOROW”.

How to Get Your Creative Work Seen

You’ve just finished a painting, sculpture, design, etc… You’ve put all your talent into creating an amazing piece of art, but how do you get it out into the world? I know it may seem scary at first…but you are your own best promoter. Being active in social media is the key. You need to engage.  More than likely, you have a web site and feel like that should be enough…the trouble with web sites is that no one can interact with you on it.  Remember these three steps to getting your work seen; write, push and engage.

Have a great week!

Happy Birthday Wole Soyinka

Today is Wole Soyinka's birthday. This is wishing him an amazing year ahead. He is one of the writers who put Nigeria on the world literary map. He "nativised" English, as Kola Tubosun would call what he does with the language in most of his plays. He deserves all the happiness he can get even as he grows older. More wisdom. More energy. Despite the age!


Below is Kola Tubosun's adaptation of Wole Soyinka's "Telephone Conversation"; enjoy "Chat Call"
The voice seemed reasonable, locution
Different. The young man swore he lived
Close by. Nothing remained
But self-confession. “Gentleman,” I warned,
“I hate a wasted journey—I am big.”
Silence. Silenced transmission of
Pressurized good-breeding. Voice, when it came,
Huffy, short minted breath
As a husky radioman. Caught I was foully.
“HOW FAT?” . . . I had not misheard . . . “ARE YOU CURVY
OR VERY FAT?” CTRL, ALT, DEL. Stench
Of rancid sweat drops on electronic bead-mat of log-in chat.
Black paint. Black metal board. Black double-rimmed
PC’s glittering screen. It was real! Shamed
By ill-mannered silence, surrender
Pushed dumbfounded to beg simplification.
Considerate he was, varying the emphasis–
“ARE YOU FAT? OR VERY CURVY?” Revelation came.
“You mean—like old or modern Rubensian?”
His assent was clinical, crushing in its light
Impersonality. Rapidly, wave-length adjusted,
I chose. “West African portliness” – and as afterthought,
“Down in my profile.” Silence for macroscopic
Flight of fancy, till truthfulness clanged his accent
Hard on the microphone. “WHAT’S THAT?” conceding
“DON’T KNOW WHAT THAT IS.” “Like chubby.”
“THAT’S FAT, ISN’T IT?” “Not altogether.
Facially, I am plump, but, man, you should see
The rest of me. Wrist of my hand, ankles of my feet
Are merely corpulent. Gravity, caused –
Foolishly, man – by sitting down, has turned
My bottom rotund – One moment, please!”– sensing
His keyboard rasp away like the thunderclap
About my ears–“ Come on man,” I pleaded, “wouldn’t you rather
See for yourself?”

Writing Advice

If you’re a poet, maintaining a poetic sensibility is important whether you have all the time in the world or no time at all. But that can be hard to do when your boss is screaming for the report that was due an hour ago, the kids need to be picked up from soccer practice, and Fido just left you a gift on the living room floor.

Here are some things you can do to stay in a poetic state of mind all day, every day:

• Decorate with poetry. What better way to promote poetic thinking than to surround yourself with poetry? Try using a poetry-themed calendar or even framing and displaying your favorite poems. The more poetry you read and see on a daily basis, the more likely you’ll live in a state of appreciation for poems.
• Activate your senses. It’s hard to write consistently if you keep setting up blockades on the inspiration superhighway. Keep listening, keep seeing, keep smelling, keep tasting, keep feeling!
• Keep paper handy. With your senses engaged, you’ll need to keep track of your thoughts. When you’re already juggling homework assignments, doctor appointments, and shopping lists in your head, how can you remember that clever limerick you thought of on the subway ride to school? And what about that perfect edit to the last line in the second stanza that came to you during your lunch break?

Read more

Mark Your Calendar

Literary Events happening this week; you don't want to miss them!


WOLE SOYINKA @ 78

On behalf of Zmirage Multimedia Limited (Nigeria and UK) and GlobalNewHaven (Nigeria and USA), organizers of the WS78 International Cultural Exchange programme “The Mind of a Patriot”, it is my pleasure to invite you to a lecture titled: From Tigritude to Transcendence: The Conscience and Conscientiousness of Wole Soyinka by Robert Fox, Professor of English and Africana Studies at Southern Illinois University, United States of America.

Venue: Soyinka Hall, Freedom Park, (former colonial prison) Lagos.
Date: July 12th 2012.
Time: 11:00 am.

The lecture, in honour of our patron, Nobel Prize Laureate Wole Soyinka on his 78th birthday, is billed to attract scholars, students, writers, artisans, culture enthusiasts and other professionals from business and public service. It will be moderated by the cerebral Professor Segun Ojewuyi of Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

Please confirm availability for this date by sending a mail to firo_po@yahoo.co.uk

Closing Ceremony of the 5th edition of the Fidelity International Creativity Writing Workshop 
You are cordially invited to the closing ceremony of the 5th edition of the Fidelity International Creativity Writing Workshop (2012) anchored by Helon Habila, Aminatta Forna and Sally Keith.
Date: Friday July 13, 2012
Time: 5 – 7pm
Venue: Oceanview Restaurant, Adetokunbo Ademola street, Victoria Island, Lagos
RSVP: Emma  - 08021322291
Uche - 0805506128

Harvest with Wole Soyinka

NBC and AAF: National Art Competition

The African Artists’ Foundation and Nigerian Breweries Plc present the fifth edition of the annual National Art Competition entitled “Consequences”.

Following 2011’s edition which witnessed a shift in focus from completed works to a method coined “Process To Product”, this year’s program aims to further develop the creative approach by contributing to the intellectual content of artistic thought and processes while nurturing particular, often-neglected skill sets in the art community. Rather than submit finished work, artists are required to submit a written proposal of their intentions for the theme “Consequences”. The selected artists will then complete their work during a week-long workshop led by industry professionals at a retreat in Nigeria. 

At a time of great flux and global anxiety, where wars are being waged, economies are in crisis, technologies are changing daily patterns, climate changes are altering the environment, and political and religious instability is leading to civil unrest, we must reflect on the consequences of our actions. 

Consequences are the result and outcome of past occurrences, a chain of cause and effect. Consequences tie the actions of the past with the present and dictate the possibilities of the future. Consequences necessarily imply a temporal linkage. We do not live in a bubble of our present time; everything is relational. Our present actions are determined by past events, and these actions will in turn have consequences for the future. 

Consequences can be negative or positive, but they are never that clear cut. Consequences are about paradox, contradiction, and overall a condition of uncertainty. 

With the fast pace of change occurring in our Nation, including the expansive growth of urban population centers and an explosion of technology that is dissolving barriers and leading to new types of interactions, it is important for artists to consider the practical and conceptual concerns relating to the local and international consequences of changes in our cultural environment. 

Whether these be political, social, economic, environmental, or personal consequences, artists are required to submit a written proposal expanding on their intentions for the theme “Consequences” and specifying their medium. All artistic genres qualify, including painting, sculpture, photography, mixed media, installation, and video art.

Based on the submissions, the AAF selection committee will assess all submitted entries and shortlist a total of up to fifteen finalists. Professor El Anatsui will head the artistic selection committee this year. All works created at the workshop will be exhibited and rated by a panel of judges at the Grand Finale Event and Exhibition.      

The cash prizes to be won are as follows:

3rd prize – N1,000, 000.00 (One million naira)

2nd prize – N1, 500, 000.00 (One point five million naira) 

1st prize – N2, 000, 000.00 (Two million naira)

Closing date for receipt of all written proposals is 10 July 2012.

About AAF

Established in 2007, African Artists’ Foundation is a non-profit art organization, which aims to promote the development of African art and artists, with the joint mission of raising awareness of relevant societal issues through the use of creative and artistic expression. In carrying out its mission, AAF organizes competitions, workshops and exhibitions all aimed at unearthing talent, creating societal awareness and promoting the development of art in Nigeria.

Deadline TODAY: Farafina Creative Writing Workshop

If you are yet to apply, hurry and do so.

Farafina Trust will be holding a creative writing workshop in Lagos, organized by award-winning writer and creative director of Farafina Trust, Chimamanda Adichie, from August 14 to August 24 2012. The workshop is sponsored by Nigerian Breweries Plc. Guest writers, including the Caine Prize-winning Kenyan writer, Binyavanga Wainaina, and Jeffery Allen, will co-teach the workshop alongside Adichie.

The workshop will take the form of a class. Participants will be assigned a wide range of reading exercises, as well as daily writing exercises. The aim of the workshop is to improve the craft of Nigerian writers and to encourage published and unpublished writers by bringing different perspectives to the art of storytelling. Participation is limited only to those who apply and are accepted.

SUBMISSION DETAILS:

All material must be pasted or written in the body of the e-mail. Please DO NOT include any attachments in your e-mail. Applications with attachments will be automatically disqualified. The deadline for submissions is July 8 2012. Only those accepted to the workshop will be notified by July 31 2012. Accommodation in Lagos will be provided for all accepted applicants who are able to attend for the ten-day duration of the workshop. A literary evening of readings, open to the public, will be held at the end of the workshop on August 24, 2012.

To apply, send an e-mail to Udonandu2012@gmail.com. Your e-mail subject should read: ‘Workshop Application.’

The body of the e-mail should contain the following:

1. Your name
2. Your address
3. A few sentences about yourself
4. A writing sample of between 200 and 800 words. The sample can be either fiction or non-fiction.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

For queries/ submissions: udonandu2012@gmail.com

Website: http://farafinatrust.org/

Introducing: Best of NaijaStories

Naijastories.com is the leading community for Nigerian writers and book lovers, combining elements of a writing critique website and a social networking site. Of Tears and Kisses, Heroes and Villains is Volume 1 of the 'Best of NaijaStories' series. The 30 stories featured in this anthology were all originally published on this website between March 2010 and March 2011.

Read on NAIJASTORIES.COM - 200 NSpoints per story

Buy Paperback from the NaijaStories Createspace Store

Buy in Kindle format and Print from Amazon.com

Buy the NOOK version from Barnes&Noble online

Buy the eBook from Smashwords.com

**If you live in Nigeria and want the book delivered in PDF to your inbox, please contact admin@naijastories.com for payment details (via Zenith Bank and GTBank).

REVIEWS

These are stories about us or about our neighbours or something we’ve encountered in the news. They are what our friends tell us, their pain and joy, their passion and rage, their yearning and their cry against injustice. I enjoyed lots of the stories not just because of their simplicity and brevity but also for freshness they bring to storytelling and public discourse.- Sylva Nze Ifedigbo. (Author, The Funeral Did Not End)

Here we are, with our abortions, our bereavement, our lust, our petty showdowns, our pederasts, our In-Law wahala, our problems chatting up girls in the diaspora, our memories of childhood, our fights, our incest, our love, our examination stress, our metafictional accounts, our encounters with university campus cults, our broken families, our... well, you get the idea. We rob banks, but we also eat salty beans to show our children we love them.- Tade Thompson (Writer/Editor)

These short stories are not constrained by the need to attain fame. They all are, first of all, good works written with sharp perspectives that are related to various societal issues. There is a unique allure in every story. They have not been sifted through a Western colander. Support this anthology and show that there is a worthiness of effort in putting it together. This anthology is indeed the birth of writers that have newly been empowered. Go get a copy for yourself. - Joseph Omotayo (Blogger/Book Critic)

Opportunity: USC Annenberg/Getty Arts Journalism Program

The USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism announced that applications for the eleventh annual USC Annenberg/Getty Arts Journalism Program, which will operate as a 15-member pop-up newsroom in Los Angeles, are now being accepted.

The fellowship, which will be held November 8-18, 2012, seeks to assemble an all-star team of arts journalists committed to using their skills to imagine and create new and innovative ways of reporting on arts and culture. Most costs are covered by the fellowship, including air travel, hotel, transportation within the city and most meals.

National and international arts journalists, web designers and developers are welcome to apply. Applications are due July 24, 2012.

The USC Annenberg/Getty Fellowship will be built around creating next-generation reporting tools for arts journalism. The fellowship, which is funded by The Getty Foundation, plans to design, develop and build this new project over the course of 11 days in a pop-up newsroom called Engine30. The program is looking for fellows who fit into one or more of these categories:

ARTS JOURNALISTS who are committed to finding and telling stories in new ways, thinking about journalism as a dynamic system and process rather than a product, as well as those who care about finding better ways to engage with audiences.

DESIGNERS who are committed to thinking imaginatively about information architecture, user interaction, story-telling and visualization of multi-level data with design that is intuitive, simple and fun to use.

DEVELOPERS who are committed to imaginatively finding, adapting and integrating existing tools into Engine30 with a focus on ideas/intent behind what is developed rather than specific ways to realize them.

More information here

Writing Advice

Constance Hale writes writing lessons in a way that makes you assess your writing. She starts the first in the series like this:

I like to imagine a sentence as a boat. Each sentence, after all, has a distinct shape, and it comes with something that makes it move forward or stay still — whether a sail, a motor or a pair of oars. There are as many kinds of sentences as there are seaworthy vessels: canoes and sloops, barges and battleships, Mississippi riverboats and dinghies all-too-prone to leaks. And then there are the impostors, flotsam and jetsam — a log heading downstream, say, or a coconut bobbing in the waves without a particular destination.

My analogy seems simple, but it’s not always easy to craft a sentence that makes heads turn with its sleekness and grace. And yet the art of sentences is not really a mystery.

Over the course of several articles, I will give you the tools to become a sentence connoisseur as well as a sentence artisan. Each of my lessons will give you the insight to appreciate fine sentences and the vocabulary to talk about them.

Here, you will find the links to the other articles.