Despite challenges, frustrations Nigerian publishers keep intellectual hope intact, renewed —Leonard Ugwu Jr., writer, lecturer, publisher
Leonard Ifeanyi Ugwu, Jr., a fellow of the Ebedi International Writers’ Residency, is a lecturer and researcher at the Institute of African Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN). He holds a PhD in International Relations and a postgraduate diploma in English and Literary Studies. His debut play, ‘Babel and Boys’, was published in 2023 by […]
My work on climate, social change exists because I don’t believe data alone can carry grief —Amara Nwuneli, creative, changemaker, climate activist
Amara Nwuneli is a Nigerian filmmaker, author, and climate activist committed to driving youth-led solutions to environmental challenges. She is the founder of Preserve Our Roots, a youth-driven initiative focused on climate education, environmental sustainability, and empowering young people to protect their communities and natural heritage. Through storytelling, advocacy, and creative media, Amara has used […]
Gender identity in Kasham Shawanma Keltuma’s ‘Caucasian Ovtcharka’ and Zuwaira Halilu’s ‘The Tale of a Village Girl’
Gender identity in literature does not always announce itself loudly. In some works, by female writers, it creeps into narrative spaces, revealing itself through silence, endurance, emotional labour and the everyday negotiations women make within culture and tradition. Rather than foregrounding gender as a declared theme, these writers often allow it to emerge gradually, embedded […]
Humanity on Trial: Abdulrazak Gurnah’s ‘Theft’ as a Moral Mirror
Abdulrazak Gurnah’s Theft is a novel that puts humanity itself on trial. Its narrative turns everyday events into moral witness statements. The book follows the lives of three characters — Karim, Badar, and Fauzia — as they move through postcolonial spaces shaped by power, inequality, and desire. Through these figures, Gurnah dramatises what is taken […]
Photography is my tool, not my identity; I seek impact, purpose —Favour Megwara, UNILAG student, photographer
Favour Megwara is a third-year Political Science student at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), a professional photographer, and a storyteller. He has photographed Emmanuel Lubanzadio, OpenAI’s lead for Africa, former Nigerian Vice President Professor Yemi Osinbajo, the Olu of Warri Ogiame Atuwatse III, Princess Olatorera Oniru, and notable professors. In this interview by GRATEFUL OGUNJEBE, […]
At Ake Festival, creatives convene to reclaim truth in an era of outright lies, misinformation
The 2025 Ake Arts and Book Festival, the 13th edition of the festival, held at the BON Hotel in Ikeja, Lagos, from November 20-22, opened with an urgent and timely theme: ‘Reclaiming Truth’. Over three days, writers, artists, thinkers, and lovers of art and culture gathered to interrogate narratives, challenge misinformation, and celebrate the power […]
Ake Festival: Onakoya, Shoneyin, and Onimole speak about children who refuse to be invisible
On a rainy Friday afternoon, inside one of the halls of BON Hotel, Ikeja GRA in Lagos, one of the panel sessions of the 13th edition of the three-day Ake Arts and Book Festival 2025 (theme ‘Reclaiming Truth’), which stretched beyond literature, was titled ‘Tunde Onakoya The Chess Champion’. The panel was moderated by Kenyan-based […]
As writers, our humanity and reality should reflect in our characters —Louisa Onomé, Nigerian-Canadian author
Louisa Onomé is a Nigerian Canadian author who also writes for video games. Her published books include ‘Like Home’, ‘Twist as Perfect’, ‘The Melancholy of Summer’, ‘Pride and Joy’, and her young adult graphic novel, ‘Revenge Arc’, is coming up in 2026. With a BA in Professional Writing and an MA in Counselling Psychology, she […]
Audiobooks or not, writers are (not) good people
Writers are the most enlightened minds you will ever encounter. They are also the most dangerous. I told this to a friend once, and I meant it. We wield articulation like a weapon, dress up our egos in beautiful sentences, and call it wisdom. Pride runs through our veins thicker than ink. And pride, as […]
The price of beauty and love: A review of Nnamdi Ehirim’s ‘The Brevity of Beautiful Things’
Nnamdi Ehirim’s second novel, The Brevity of Beautiful Things — in ten stories that seamlessly link to one another, sharing themes of family, friendship, love, lust, longing, betrayal, grief, and death — paints an enduring picture of how the past resurfaces or unites with the present in human relations. It follows former schoolmates whose lives […]