OPEN COUNTRY MAG

How Wole Soyinka Inherited the Drama of the Gods — and Shadowed the Nigerian Tragedy Since the 1950s, the Nobel laureate has worked in rebellion, carving out a complex, fecund torque of an oeuvre. But as his plays of mythic vigor and Yoruba impulse revitalized Anglophone theatre, raising an art form to ritualistic heights, his force of personality kept him in the political arena, a close witness of an African affliction. Few artists have lived like him. Yet at 91, carrying the mantle of “greatest living writer,” he has one more great battle on his hands — with generations who once deified him. #top" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">opencountrymag.com/wole-soyinka-i…

“Weeks later, Ikhide (@ikhide) was at the centre of another, deeper controversy, involving a new Nigerian literary festival, the Kaduna Book and Arts Festival. The hosts were then Kaduna State governor Nasir El Rufai and his novelist wife Hadiza Isma El Rufai. Ikhide announced a boycott campaign. El Rufai, he said, had no moral authority to host a literary event. The governor’s administration was at the centre of human rights violations: Amnesty International had rallied against its effort to demolish a thousand housesand leave 5,000 residents homeless. Worse, it was in his state and under his tenure that the military massacred almost 350 Shi’ite Muslims in 2015. Writers attending the event, Ikhide argued, were complicit.” opencountrymag.com/ikhide-ikheloa…

The Nigerian Polish writer Remi Adekoya (@RemiAdekoya1), who lives in the UK, offers his experiences as a mixed-race person in his book, “Biracial Britain: A Different Way to Look at Race.” You can read an excerpt from the book here: opencountrymag.com/biracial-brita…

Grace Yakubu created the documentary series “Haske Matan Arewa” so that northern Nigerian women could “see that they are capable of greatness.” opencountrymag.com/folio-nigeria/…

“I Am Still with You” by Emmanuel Iduma (@IdumaEmmanuel), Reviewed: Haunting Histories In the private space of family and the public space of Biafra, a significant new memoir asks questions of loss and longing. But will the answers be enough? opencountrymag.com/i-am-still-wit…

Genevieve Nnaji (@GenevieveNnaji1) joins the stellar cast of the BBC's (@BBC) upcoming series adaptation of Nikki May's debut novel "Wahala," published in Nigeria by Narrative Landscape Press (@NarrativeLscape). On the BBC’s official announcement, Nnaji had said, “I am very happy to be joining Wahala and to be working with such a brilliant team. It's an intriguing story and I'm excited to be a part of it.” The six-part drama is adapted by Theresa Ikoko (BAFTA-nominated writer of "Rocks"), produced by Firebird Pictures (@FirebirdPicture) for BBC Studios, and directed by Leonora Lonsdale, Theresa Ikoko, and Remi Weekes. Alongside Nnaji, the powerhouse female-led cast includes: Adelayo Adedayo, Cush Jumbo, Susan Wokoma, and Deborah Ayorinde. We loved the book “Wahala,” and are excited to see it interpreted by these stellar actors. Paula Willie-Okafor's review of Nikki May’s other book, “This Motherless Land,” is available on our website. You can visit to read. #wahala #nikkimay #genevievennaji #bbc #film

Alex Ekubo has died at the age of 40 after battling liver cancer complications. His last Instagram post was in December 2024, and since the news broke, colleagues and fans across Nollywood have flooded social media with tributes and heartbreak. Ekubo will be remembered for his outstanding contribution to Nollywood and the African cinema by extension. Source: TVCnews (@tvcnewsng) #RIP #AlexEkubo #Nollywood

Join the conversation with Uchenna Awoke (@uchenna_awoke) and Reyumeh Ejue (@Reyumeh) if you’re in Iowa this evening and free to chat. Details in the flyer below. #books #africanliterature #bookevents #iowa

Join Uchenna Awoke (@uchenna_awoke) and Reyumeh Ejue (@Reyumeh) this Monday for a conversation at Prairie Lights Bookstore if you’re in Iowa.

The great Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, who died last week at 87 and left a legacy of centering African languages, was born James Ngugi in 1938, in Kamĩrĩĩthũ, a small village in Kenya, at a time when the structures of British imperial rule were embedded in every facet of life. He grew up knowing how much harm the alienation of ancestral land and erasure of indigenous languages could cause a people. His upbringing in a large, polygamous Gikuyu family, and his early education under the colonial school system, afforded him a deep knowledge of tradition as well as allowed him insight into the aggressive reshaping of the African consciousness that accompanied missionary education. These formative tensions — between colonizer and colonized, orality and literacy, tradition and modernity — would define much of his literary and political vision. opencountrymag.com/your-guide-to-…

Nick Mulgrew started a publishing outfit to bring “dismissed or ignored” voices to print. Ten years later, it has landed notable prizes, invested in indigenous languages, and grown a dedicated readership. opencountrymag.com/how-uhlanga-pr…

I like this🙂‍↕️

When Dakore Egbuson-Akande (@AkandeDakore) received the script for YE!, a short film about trauma and spirituality, she felt an instant connection to the character of Stellar and wanted to understand her more. Something terrible had happened in Stellar's life, a violent upheaval, and the woman we meet has found one half of her answers: she is a spiritual force who is expunging the pain of her past, bringing herself to forgiveness. The brief feature, by director John Adekoje, works memory, spirituality, and pain. "That's indicative of the growth women have access to now," said AMAAs Best Actress winner Egbuson, "to process our pain and become stronger and transform, ascend." opencountrymag.com/how-dakore-egb…

BBC Radio 4 audio documentary explores the impact of place on writers out of Nsukka, from the Civil War generation to the present-day. opencountrymag.com/nsukka-is-burn…

As conversations sethe about the “death” of Nigerian literature and the loss of authenticity in its poetry, a writer counters for the growing japa-MFA subculture: “I call them the Nomadic Generation because of their complication of nationalism.” opencountrymag.com/our-literature…

“A Tribe Called Judah has to be the movie I’m proudest of so far,” said the bright-eyed, soft-spoken Chukwuma (@Its_valo), who worked on it alone. “Maybe future ones will take over that, but for now it’s A Tribe Called Judah, because of what it has: action, heist. I have always wanted to do action for a very long time, and, also, I have seen the reaction of people and how the reception was like.” opencountrymag.com/film-editor-va…

Of the eighth volume guest-edited by Sarah Lubala (@SarahLubala1) and Logan February, managing editor Precious Okpechi (@p_okpechi) writes: “The way we express joy, the way our longings fold out of our skin, is skewed by the weight of customs.” opencountrymag.com/20-35-africa-v…

The philosophical art world of Chiagoziem Nneamaka Orji (@nneamaka_orji), whose symbolism is fueled by her understanding of ecology, and inspired by Eziafo Okaro, Ben Enwonwu, and Chinua Achebe. opencountrymag.com/chiagoziem-nne…

“I do not really consider myself a literary critic, at least not in the traditional sense,” Ikhide (@PaIkhide) said in our interview. “I am a reader who writes loudly.” opencountrymag.com/ikhide-ikheloa…

“He had earned Akindele’s trust during the making of Omo Ghetto: The Saga, the 2020 gangster comedy film that first reached the all-time No. 1 with N636 million and is now No. 6. Something had gone amiss in post-production, and the team could not tape the sound to the visuals. Chukwuma, in shirt and tie, came into the room and offered to help. It was a dash of self-belief and boldness.” opencountrymag.com/film-editor-va…

Letlhogonolo Mokgoroane (@mx_mokgoroane) and Alma-Nalisha Cele, the podcasters behind The Cheeky Natives (@CheekyNatives), did not always know what a podcast was. “We would always go to these book events and people would be, like, ‘Oh my gosh, will you guys start a podcast?’” Cele told me on Zoom last November, with Mokgoroane humming in agreement. “And this was early, so we were, like, ‘Podcast? What is that?’ And then we realized, oh my gosh, we’re always talking about books. We love to engage authors. Let’s do this thing where we talk about books ’cause nobody seems to be as interested as we are.” opencountrymag.com/inside-the-che…