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.

Our Online Reading list

Never mind that we've been away for almost a week. You know now, the way companies go on some certain kinds of retreat after a year or more to re-strategise, is it not what it's called? Yes, we were in that mode for almost a week brainstorming on the different attractions to make Bookaholic Blog as sweet as ever. It's all for you our teeming readers :) :)

We were also reading while this was on...so here's a list of our favourite online reading list.

Sentinel Nigeria  Magazine is finally out. Yay! And you can read the best of Nigerian writing only with a click. You can also consider submitting for their next issue. Sentinel Magazine UK too is out here. 

Guernica Mag--fabulous magazine of contemporary or arts and politics. And yes, they featured Chimamanda's latest short story Quality Street and Simpatico from Sefi Atta. 

The New Black Magazine--contemporary arts, politics, news, a beautiful pot-pourri of some sorts. 

Helon Habila reviews Chinua Achebe's latest offering, The Education of a British-Protected Child.

Wordsbody, an arts and culture blog with a huge following (Bookaholic Blog inclusive) was away for almost a year but is back, with a bang. 

Per Contra, international journal of arts, literature and ideas is out with their latest issue. 

All ye writers looking for a publisher, well Mosuro Publisher have a blog here. 

We wish we could actually do mini-reviews of these websites but we leave you to enjoy your reading trip. Now you have enough to keep you busy till next week. No, we will be back before then :)

Season of Awards...

Sefi Atta Grabs the Noma

Sefi Atta showed through her debut Everything Good Will Come that she had no plans to leave the literary scene so soon. That book won the first Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature. Then came Swallow, a beautiful book that has led to many conversations. Her third book, Lawless and other short Stories, a collection of short stories just won her the Noma Award for Publishing in Africa, 2009. The prize is worth US$10,000.

Toni Kan Wins the NDDC Prize

In the same vein, Toni Kan's Night of a Creaking Bed won the NDDC Ken Saro-Wiwa prize. Read more here.

Marie NDiaye also wins

French-born writer Marie NDiaye won France's top literary prize for Three Strong Women her captivating story about the struggles of women in Europe and Africa. NDiaye who has about over ten books under her pouch won France's Femina literary prize in 2001. NDiaye who lives in Berlin was born in 1967 to a French mother and a Senegalese father.

Congratulations People! There is indeed hope for African literature...even if we are crawling,we are moving. And that's not bad.

Sefi Atta Nominated for southStory Million Writers Award

Sefi Atta's story Grief Mongers, an excerpt from her novel Swallow is on the nomination list ofstorySouth.

storySouth aims to prove that the internet is not just a medium of flash and style; that excellent writing can attract attention without programming gimmicks and hard-to-read fonts. To this end, storySouth practices clean, simple web design.

For more Sefi Atta and her work see here, here and here.

To vote for your favourite story, go here.

The Darker Side of Lagos...

I saw and heard Sefi Atta read from her two new books: Swallow and Lawless and other Stories. She read alongside Toni Kan, writer and author of Night of the Creaking Bed. The event which held at British Council was organised by Farafina. It was scheduled to start at 5pm but started rather late around some minutes to six, this 'African-time lateness image' was however redeemed as the event ended when it ought to and the time I spent listening to these writers was not wasted.

The event opened with Sefi reading from her collection of short stories Lawless and other Stories, a story about a business transaction between a female drug-trafficker and her 'boss'. Though she needs money for survival, she refuses to bring her son into this business eventhough using him be the easiest option. The little she read from the story showed that the economic situation in the country swallows up our values and plunges people deep into pits that they never planned getting into.

Toni Kan also read from his collection. The audience asked questions, most of which focused on their writing, influences and backgrounds. Their responses introduced us into their unique world as writers and the role Lagos plays in their writing.

Toni Kan introduces the next session of the reading by commenting on Sefi Atta's Swallow, he said that the novel has aroused controversies in reviews. Sefi took the mic with a word for her critics: 'they should work more on the crap that they write...' Permit me but this reminds me of Sheri, a character in Everything Good will Come...

She proceeds to read from Swallow, a scene filled with emotions and suspense. We are introduced to the world of Mrs.Durojaiye, a character in the novel that almost goes crazy because it is feared that her son lies dead in a caved-in soakaway. For me, this is representative of Lagosians, it was so sure that the boy would be dead yet they kept stirring with a stick-Lagosians know that Lagos eats up their humanity, yet they live consciously with the hope of a better tommorow.

The writers responded to another round of questions from their audience rather intelligently. One of the things I took with me from the reading was about the making of a writer: sometimes you as a writer can't really determine where a work ends because some stories write themselves. According to Toni Kan, they hold you by the neck and literally say 'oya begin to write'. Sefi Atta, on the other hand is a committed writer that contributes hours to her craft everyday. Writing is not easy, but believe me, it is worth it.

What's next for the writers? In response to this, Sefi calls her first three books the experimental phase of her writing, she is working on more novels. Toni Kan, on the other hand shows that he is a 'voracious' writer as he has a collection of poetry and another novel ready to be published.

What else can we wish these writers? 

May they continually itch to write...and that itch will not be cured.

Sefi Atta Reads in Lagos

Sefi Atta will be in Lagos reading from her latest books, Swallow and Lawless and Other Stories.

Toni Kan, author of Night of the Creaking Bed, and Karen King-Aribisala, author of Our Wife and Other Stories, will also be reading from their latest works.

Sefi Atta is the author of the bestselling work of fiction, Everything Good Will Come, and the recepient of the first Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature (2006).

Date: Wednesday February 25th, 2009

Venue: Multimedia Suite, British Council, 20 Thompson Avenue, Ikoyi, Lagos

Time: 5-7pm

"There is a sense of emptiness, a certain kind of loss, grief even, that one feels when the last page of a good book is turned and the cover is shut. That's what I felt when I came to the end of Sefi Atta's new novel, Swallow."
Read more of Toni Kan's review of Swallow at: http://farafinamagazine.com/f15/thecityinswallow.php