Nigerian Writers: A Treasure Trove of Riches
Photo: Suad Kamardeen
While teaching in Nigeria many years ago, I discovered the African Writer Series novels published by Heineman and was immediately captivated. They opened up a whole new world of literature to me. After Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, followed by No Longer at Ease, I wanted more; I needed to be educated about this amazing country. Achebe, often called the “Father of Nigerian Literature”, frequently wove oral tradition with Igbo folk tales and the individual’s struggle to find a place in this “new world”. Since I was born and educated in the UK, his anti-colonial sentiments showed me how naïve my attitudes were and how simplistic my understanding of Nigerian history was. I needed to read more. I needed to be educated. That had its own challenges since I was working in a remote part of the country where there were few amenities and the nearest bookstore was over two hundred miles away. But I was hooked!
Achebe’s works directed me to another Igbo writer, Cyprien Ekwensi. His People of the City was the first major novel to be published by a Nigerian. His most widely read work, Jagua Nana, returned to the same setting of People of the City, the capital Lagos, but boasted a much more cohesive plot. It focuses on the contradictions within the life of an aging sex worker, a pidgin-speaking woman who leaves her husband to work as a prostitute in the city and falls in love with a teacher. I was especially captivated by his novel, Burning Grass, a collection of vignettes about a nomadic Fulani family. T.M Aluko, a Yoruba writer, uses similar themes in his novel One Man One Matchet, reflecting the growing sentiment of the anticolonialism of the 1950s.
Wole Soyinka, novelist and playwright, also from the Yoruba tribe, in The Interpreters, focused on the oppression of the poor and abuse of the weak by the strong. He spared nobody, neither the white speculator nor the black exploiter. During my ten years in Nigeria, he, of all the writers, made me question what I was really doing there.
I discovered several female writers, which shouldn’t have surprised me but did since, at the time, there were few females in academia generating creative thoughts and expressions. Flora Nwapa is considered the “Mother of Modern African Literature”, starting with her novel Efuru. Balaraba Ramat Yakubu wrote love stories and popular fiction in Hausa, the first African language I learned.
While earlier writers used themes of culture and tradition, the more contemporary Nigerian literature has expanded impressively and now draws from the realities of the country’s social processes, from women’s rights and feminism to post-war and post-colonial identity. Racism, class, abuse, and violence, as well as patriotism, beauty, and love, are all explored.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s novels have garnered universal acclaim: Purple Hibiscus (2003) and Half of a Yellow Sun (2006). Her novel Americanah (2013) is a book every person concerned with racism, immigration, and globalisation should read. Essentially a love story, it traces the lives of Ifemelu and her childhood sweetheart, Obinze. They are separated when she goes to study in America and stays with Aunt Uju, who is never short of advice on how to acculturate: “The problem is that there are many qualified people who are not what they are supposed to be because they won’t lick ass, or they don’t know which ass to lick, or they don’t even know how to lick ass.” It’s about love, loneliness, and race. But it’s also a poignant, funny, scathing look at the reality of being a new immigrant in the United States from an African perspective.
Oyindamola Affinnih gave up her career as a lawyer to write two intriguing novels about personal relationships, A Tailor-made Romance (2015) and Two Gone… Still Counting (2014). Chibundu Onuzo’s first book, The Spider King’s Daughter (2012), portrays life in modern-day Lagos—with its informal economy and class divide—centred around a compelling love story. Ijeoma Umebinyuo, named one of sub-Saharan Africa’s greatest contemporary poets, in Questions for Ada (2016), embodies the pain, passion, and the power of love. Lesley Nneka Arimah, the author of What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky (2017), offers a fascinating collection of stories demonstrating rich imagination and love of language and people. Ayobami Adebayo, in Stay with Me (2017), explores feminism and relationships. In a New York Times Review, Michiko Kakutani wrote: “She [Ayobami Adedayo] writes not just with extraordinary grace but with genuine wisdom about love and loss and the possibility of redemption. She has written a powerfully magnetic and heartbreaking book.”
As more young Nigerian debut authors rise to global prominence, the diversity and range of the country’s fiction are on full display. Elnathan John’s debut novel “Born on a Tuesday”, which tackles the rise of Islamic extremism through the eyes of a homeless teenager who gets swept up in political violence, was heralded as “a stunning, important coming-of-age story” by a critic in Publishers Weekly.
The treasure trove of Nigerian writers is deep, varied, and fascinating. Among other notable writers are Helen Oyeyemi, Tejo Cole, Sarah Ladipo and Oyinkan Braithwaite, each one with their distinct voices, sharing with us insights into their cultures and a world seen and experienced through Nigerian eyes.
The country’s flourishing literary scene is giving rise to some of the most groundbreaking and boundary-pushing fiction on the continent. In the past, successful African writers often first gained renown abroad and weren’t widely read in their homelands. But now, many of Nigeria’s promising young authors are increasingly building an audience at home, where there is a growing appetite for fiction that addresses contemporary issues.
A new wave of thematically and stylistically diverse fiction is emerging from the country, as writers there experiment with different genres and explore controversial subjects like violence against women, polygamy, and the rise of the Islamist militant group Boko Haram. Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ took the literary world by storm with her debut novel Stay With Me in 2017. Six years later, she followed up with an equally brilliant second novel, A Spell of Good Things, which was longlisted for the Booker Prize 2023. In it she delves masterfully into the complexities of polygamy and problems with patriarchy while also exploring the corrosive effects of Nigeria’s political corruption on ordinary people.
Chigozie Obioma is sometimes referred to as “the heir to Chinua Achebe”. His novel The Fishermen (2015) is a powerful tale of grief, healing, and sibling loyalty, and was a finalist for the 2015 Man Booker Prize. His works have been translated into more than 25 languages. Having lived through the Biafran War, I was particularly interested in his latest book, The Road to the Country (June 2024). In many ways it complements other novels by providing historical facts and incredible details of the war, including many of the important figures at that time. Not an easy read for me, but beautifully written, it makes a clear case for the consequences of violence and the futility of war.
In some ways the emergence of Nigerian writing can be partially attributed to the Heinemann African Writers Series of the 1960s and 70s. It enabled Africans across the continent and English-speaking peoples, to become aware of a treasure trove of literary riches. The future of Nigerian literature looks bright, with a new generation of writers emerging to continue the tradition of storytelling. The appetite for such shows no signs of abating. Authors like Nnedi Okorafor, known for her speculative writing, science fiction and fantasy, for both children and adults, are pushing the boundaries of Nigerian literature and gaining international recognition.
Exploring Nigerian literature is a journey through culture, history, and the human experience, and Nigerian authors continue to captivate readers with their powerful storytelling and profound insights.
Michael Barrington
Michael Barrington writes mainly historical novels: Let the Peacock Sing, The Ethiopian Affair, Becoming Anya, The Baron of Bengal Street, No Room for Heroes. Passage to Murder is a thriller set in San Francisco. Magic at Stonehenge is a short story collection. Take a Priest Like You is a memoir. He has published more than 60 short stories and also blogs on his website: www.mbwriter.net. He lives in San Francisco, USA.
You May Also Like
While earlier writers used themes of culture and tradition, the more contemporary Nigerian literature has expanded impressively and now draws from the realities of the country’s social processes, from women’s rights and feminism to post-war and post-colonial identity.