Showing 1–16 of 33 results
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BITTER LEAFING WOMAN by Karen King-Aribisala
₦1,500.00Quick ViewSet in Nigeria, Bitter Leafing Woman relates the experiences of Woman as she chews the bitter leaves of patriarchal oppression in a bid to transform them into gender balanced sweetness. Here Woman becomes a symbol of the oppressed; of women and men alike. The style of writing ranges from plain prose as in The Edi Kai Ikong War, magical realism as in World of the Fat/Thin House, the social satire of The Bone Eater, the densely poetic and symbolic Broken Plate and the biblical imbued style of Bitter Leafing Woman who finding herself drowning in the soup of gender oppression for forty years attempts to murder her Deacon fiancé.
In this collection we become involved with serious issues of conflicts, which nevertheless we try to treat with sardonic humour and insight.
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BROKEN TIDE (2023) by Ebi Yeibo
₦850.00Quick View“Over the years, with his steady devotion to poetry, Ebi Yeibo’s poetics has evolved as a creative phenomenon that compels us to hear the sounds of troubled humanity. Broken Tide continues the Yeiboan tradition of songs about present and future dangers in the Niger Delta, in Nigeria, and in the world. But, more importantly, the collection is a testimony that the poet has come of age – the mastery of metaphors, the ease of elliptical language, and the pyrotechnics of lyrical lines. I invite you to come encounter a vintage Yeibo herein.”Professor Egya Sule, IBB University, Lapai, Niger State, Nigeria.“In their vital and luminescent aspects, the poetry of Ebi Yeibo in this stunning collection continues to clear a swath for African poets of the 21st century. Yeibo’s lines imbricate their essence with the prospects and predicament of the people much as Osundare and Osofisan did at the height of their powers And yet, Yeibo reminds us of the finest poetic sensibilities from the Niger Delta: J. P. Clark, Gabriel Okara and Harry Garuba – lords of language and songTade Ipadeola, author of The Sahara Testaments“Broken Tide is the voice of a master-craftsman whose message goes beyond the confines of his immediate environment to encompass Africa and the world. The collection is a kaleidoscope of images, memories and presages that take in their stride the present, the past and the future of the Niger Delta, Nigeria, Africa and the world. The poems take a sardonic swipe at environmental issues (which is evident in the title of the collection), as well as political issues such as the minority/majority discourse, the politics of domination and exclusion, the politics of resource allocation and divide-and-rule tactics, underdevelopment of the Niger Delta, and the turgid corruption and leadership failure…”Dr Friday Okon“Ebi Yeibo has written a sonically purposeful and impactful volume of poems.”Uche Nduka, Adjunct Professor, Queen’s College, City University of New York, USA -
CONVERSATIONS (2022) by Bosede Funke Ademilua Afolayan
₦600.00Quick ViewIn these fascinating and compelling poetic lines, the Author holds a dialogue with several entities, and especially, with God. We encounter a deeply personal voice that speaks for all times of pain and hurt. In spite of the poignant voice of the persona there is a hope, a courage, a determination and confidence to survive drawn from God who is the source and giver of life.
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DEARLOGUE (2020) by Abubakar Othman & Habeebatu X
₦800.00Quick ViewDearlogue is an intriguing and sensitive collection of poems, which explores modes of dialoguing and communication of feelings between, and sentimental representations of, the amorous duo. The complexities of human emotions are clearly on display here, the masterful play of words notwithstanding!
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FIRE IN THE PARADISE (2016) – by Uzoechi Nwagbara
₦650.00Quick ViewREVIEWS
“In this debut collection of poems, Fire in Paradise, Uzoechi Nwagbara explores the human condition through the prism of the Niger Delta where oil exploitation has environmental, political, economic, cultural, and other implications. The poet sings the tale of a people who are marginalized and brutalized for their bounty of oil. At the same time he envisions hope in the people’s resistance. There is much experimentation in form and style as the passionate poet deploys irony, repetition, images of a wasteland, and other tropes to register his themes… Doubtless, this is an exciting and strong poetic outing and a welcome addition to contemporary African poetry.”
Tanure Ojaide, Frank Porter Graham Professor of Africana Studies, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte.“Nwagbara’s collection is a political allegory of a nation in turmoil of self-realisation, self-acclaim and survival from the mitigating calamities that assail it. Fire in Paradise is reminiscent of the proto Miltonian title of Paradise Lost and the efforts of the people to regain their paradise. The poems toward the end of the collection show the tortuous efforts of the people at Paradise Regained…Revolutionary tropes as blood, death, stagnation dot the poems and Nwagbara excels in his picturesque imagery depicting an environment under destruction and a people hideously traumatised…The fire in the Delta paradise has not been extinguished but the poet shows that the future of its attainment is bright and promising. Thus the poems end with hope.”
Helen Chukwuma, PhD, Professor of English, Dept. of English and Modern Foreign Languages, Jackson State University, Jackson. Mississippi. USA.“Uzoechi Nwagbara is a bold voice for the voiceless; a poet of Africa who uses his word-craft to expose the human injustices and capture the colourful passions of his country, Nigeria, and the luminous continent beyond.”
Wayne Visser, PhD, Director, Kaleidoscope Futures Founder -
GOD’S MEDICINE MEN & OTHER STORIES (2015) – by Tanure Ojaide
₦1,000.00Quick ViewThese ten short stories, of varying length, intensity and focus, are the first by Ojaide, published in the genre. The title story concerns the spiritual and sexual illusions, confusions and realities to which a young Nigerian girl, the daughter of a pastor, and the people in her milieu, are subjected. In a story entitled ‘I Used to Drive a Mercedes’, the author satirizes the life of a military general, Alfred, and his materialistic and glamour-seeking wife. He juxtaposes the wealth and position of Alfred’s youth and the pinnacle of his achievements: the purchase of a Mercedes, with the disheveled madness of his old age: by which time his car has been destroyed and his wife has left him. Another story, ‘The Bookcase’, is about a well- educated and vivacious woman’s efforts to publish aground breaking book. In what becomes an all-consuming struggle, she ends up paying for her ambition with her life, and only achieves recognition posthumously.
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GOD’S NAKED CHILDREN -Selected and New Stories (2018) -by Tanure Ojaide
₦1,500.00Quick ViewHere is a collection of selected and new short stories by Tanure Ojaide. Three stories from his two previous collections The Debt Collector and The Old Man in a State House are included along with new diverse stories exploring topics and themes not present in his previous works. The stories could be realistic but are fictional, Ojaide writes memoir, poetry and fiction in the forms of short story and novel with common threads connecting his writing irrespective of genre.
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HERDING SOUTH: Poems (2019) – by Peter Omoko
₦500.00Quick ViewIn Herding South, Peter Omoko spotlights the dispossessed and dystopian fate of minority groups in Nigeria, and the fractured social equilibrium that pervades the land, with its polarising and destructive effect on the people’s psyche. Writing essentially as a troubled witness, the poet navigates through the horrifying pains and trauma of a people, instigated by the ineptitude and narrow-mindedness of their leadership. Omoko’s intention in this collection – to speak home-truth to power in order to reclaim the people’s humanity – is well delineated in the sardonic and emotive metaphors used in the poetry and the rhetorical force of its lines.
REVIEWS
“Peter Omoko’s “poetry is passionate, highly imagistic and sensuous, and possesses a special lyrical quality.”
Tanure Ojaide, Frank Porter Graham Professor of Africana Studies, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte“In these poems, Peter Omoko adorns the gab of the griot to diagnose the socio-political ailments that afflict his homeland.”
Nduka Otiono -
ILORIN Ó: POETRY OF PRAISE (2018) by Abdul-Rasheed Na’Allah
₦1,000.00Quick ViewAbdul-Rasheed Na’Allah’s Ilorin ó is a unique collection of praise poems in English, Yoruba, and Hausa passionately celebrating and illuminating the city of Ilorin’s wealth of culture, history, Islamic heritage, and individual achievements. It is a work that is solid in content, form, and techniques. There are many quotable lines, a measure of poetic strength. I cannot forget the line about the child hearing Koranic recitation from the mother’s womb. Also, the moral authority combined with oratory in a wise one who can be heard by a dumb ruler! In addition to the rich Islamic heritage and the success of Ilorin individuals in the areas of justice and bravery, the poet praises the city’s delicious trademarked foods such as “Warankasi,” “Tuworesi,” and “Gbegiri.” Among the best executed poems are “Onikepe Aduke Opo” and “Why the Sun Has Not Diminished in Light.” Na’Allah has handled the praise poetry form dexterously, and that means “at times even a critical appraisal of an item of praise.” The reader comes out with a feeling of satisfaction for the poetic effulgence and knowing Ilorin better in its multiple areas of distinction and especially for its multicultural, Islamic, and tolerant character from an Ilorin-born and raised fine poet. – Tanure Ojaide, poet and scholar, Frank Porter Graham, Professor of Africana Studies, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA.
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LOCUSTS ARE HERE AGAIN (2019) by Bright Avwoghoke Okoro
₦1,500.00Quick ViewHere is a familiar phenomenon and especially easily understood in any neighbourhood, or settlement, or small town or certain parts of a city or geographical region where intensively profitable commercial or industrial or mining activities have wrought extensive physical changes, alongside transformation of basic values and political bickerings and configuration of social and political alignments.
The Locusts are Here Again documents and explores the various hazards, deprivations and sufferings engendered by crude oil-exploiting activities in the so-called oil-bearing communities of the Niger Delta of Nigeria. The communities can so far only bear the oil physically but unable to own it economically, socially and politically except the deleterious consequences.
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MAJESTIC REVOLT (2016) – by Peter E. Omoko
₦1,000.00Quick ViewIn April 1927, the British colonial government introduced a “head” tax to the former Warri Province. On July 1927, the people of the Province revolted against the imposition of the tax. The decision for the mass uprising was taken at a Joint Congress of all the ethnic groups – the Urhobo, Itsekiri, Ijaw and, Isoko, and Ukwuani – held at Igbudu Quarters of Warri township. The introduction of “head” tax by the British colonial oppressors, represented by Major Walker, Deputy Inspector-General of Police in the Province, turned out to be an incendiary fuse, and conflagration followed. How would one pay tax on one’s God-given head? The 1927 Anti-Tax Movement in Warri Province spread across the River Niger to Owerri Province in 1929 where women led the revolt in what is generally known as “Aba Women Riot” in colonial records. When studied against the backdrop of contemporary Nigeria/Niger Delta politics, the 1927 revolt was a landmark in the “resource control” struggle of the oppressed, marginalized, and exploited people of the oil-rich Niger Delta.
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NOBODY CAN FIGHT US (2016) – by Joseph Obi
₦850.00Quick ViewREVIEWS
“In this debut collection of poems, Fire in Paradise, Uzoechi Nwagbara explores the human condition through the prism of the Niger Delta where oil exploitation has environmental, political, economic, cultural, and other implications. The poet sings the tale of a people who are marginalized and brutalized for their bounty of oil. At the same time he envisions hope in the people’s resistance. There is much experimentation in form and style as the passionate poet deploys irony, repetition, images of a wasteland, and other tropes to register his themes… Doubtless, this is an exciting and strong poetic outing and a welcome addition to contemporary African poetry.”
Tanure Ojaide, Frank Porter Graham Professor of Africana Studies, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte.“Nwagbara’s collection is a political allegory of a nation in turmoil of self-realisation, self-acclaim and survival from the mitigating calamities that assail it. Fire in Paradise is reminiscent of the proto Miltonian title of Paradise Lost and the efforts of the people to regain their paradise. The poems toward the end of the collection show the tortuous efforts of the people at Paradise Regained…Revolutionary tropes as blood, death, stagnation dot the poems and Nwagbara excels in his picturesque imagery depicting an environment under destruction and a people hideously traumatised…The fire in the Delta paradise has not been extinguished but the poet shows that the future of its attainment is bright and promising. Thus the poems end with hope.”
Helen Chukwuma, PhD, Professor of English, Dept. of English and Modern Foreign Languages, Jackson State University, Jackson. Mississippi. USA.“Uzoechi Nwagbara is a bold voice for the voiceless; a poet of Africa who uses his word-craft to expose the human injustices and capture the colourful passions of his country, Nigeria, and the luminous continent beyond.”
Wayne Visser, PhD, Director, Kaleidoscope Futures Founder -
PÉLÉWÚRÀ (2023) by Femi Olugbile
₦5,000.00Quick ViewPÉLÉWÚRÀ is the dramatised story of a true-life character who rose from humble beginnings to become the most powerful woman in Lagos. It is also the story of Lagos of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The town was a rich potpourri of indigenous people, mostly of Awori descent, and Yoruba returnees from slavery-experience in Brazil and other places, as well as people from other parts of the Northern and Southern Protectorates. Born into this diverse ferment, the unlettered daughter of a fishmonger, Péléwürá grew into her own through the sheer force of her personality, and her native intelligence. As the politics of the nascent Nigerian nation began to take shape, she positioned herself and her market women’s association to play crucial roles. Her friendship with such figures as Governor Bernard Bourdillon, Herbert Macaulay and Nnamdi Azikiwe, and her role in the formation of the first national political party, NCNC, were the stuff of legend. PÉLÉWÚRÀ tells the story of how a remarkable woman helped in shaping the history of her town, and her people.
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This is an engaging literary reconstruction of a historical figure, Alimotu Péléwürà (1865-1951) by Femi Olugbile. Steeped in historical awareness, Olugbile’s vivid imagination sees a wonderful woman in the mirror and makes her come alive on the page with all her integrity and grandeur. In the context of the political history of Lagos and the participation of other prominent Lagosians, he seamlessly traces her interesting life from her humble beginnings in Isale Eko, through her many fierce and impactful struggles against the unremitting oppression of the British rule of the Lagos Colony, right down to her glorious end. She was the founder of the Lagos Market Women’s Association with the solid and strategic support of Herbert Macaulay. She was also a pioneer member of the Nigerian National Democratic Party, NNDP. She was a highly regarded Erelu lyaloja of Lagos and an extraordinary mentor. Abibat Mogaji, who succeeded her, was one of her mentees. Although she did not have her own biological children, Olugbile’s defining portrait of her as a lover of other people’s children, a people’s person, kind-hearted and generous, is very moving and profoundly humanising. This book, which can be read as history or as fiction or as a faction, is by turns direct, passionate, thrilling, thoughtful and lucid.
– Kunle Ajibade, Author of Jailed for Life: A Reporter’s Prison Notes
