Ake Review Volume 6, 2019; My Christmas Read

I’ve been reading my copy of Ake Review, Volume 6, 2019 this pre-Christmas weekend under twinkling Christmas lights. I’ve been mentally fatigued and disinterested in reading. But short fiction and poetry exploring #BlackBodiesGreyMatter are giving me life amongst other things.

Some lies are necessary to keep the work rotating, necessary to keep from going mad, necessary. However, the lies we tell ourselves to keep from going mad are the very ones that make us go mad.

-The Landscape of Tally, An Inheritance by Tobi Afolabi

Shout-out to Ake Festival Team and Molara Wood for this volume. Tsitsi Dangarembga (whose Aké Life and Times Interview I wrote a blog review of) is truthful, brave in her Feature. I loved Molara Wood’s questions. Iconic really.

That which is traumatized is that which has been unable to prevent the trauma. In other words trauma occurs in conditions of powerlessness.

-Tsitsi Dangarembga

The Landscape of Tally; An Inheritance by my girl Tobi Afolabi, An Oak Tree Dies Slowly by Ani Kayode Somotochukwu are BRILLIANT!

Standing under the burning sun. They taught us how to fit into our bodies.

-An Oak Tree Dies Slowly

Happy Holidays Gem 🥳

Currently Reading: Fragments In A Closet by Daisy Odey

‘Through the eye of a gun, every man is a country..(Peacemaker)

I read poems from FRAGMENTS IN A CLOSET by Daisy Odey at Maitama Amusement Park yesterday.
I was under breezy trees, amidst bright flowers and in warm sunlight.

You hold the sun in your mouth,
and tell me the taste of light..(Tourist)

Do not be fooled
by their fragrance
they come with thorns.(Broke)

I was my mother’s daughter before I wore my father’s name.(Feminist)

I haven’t read from this chapbook since I left Kaduna some months back. Rereading poems help unearth new dimensions and treasures.

I’ve been in Abuja since last week for my Call to Bar Screening. As I type this I’m preparing to head out to the Supreme Court to continue the screening process. I carried this poetry chapbook with me. Hopefully, if I meet up with Daisy Odey today she will autograph this complimentary copy she gave me at its YELF Book Chat.

Spotlight Read: A Guide to Self Publishing by Lara Tommy Kareem

Ebook and Paperback Available

About Book

For months you’ve worked diligently, dedicated time, stayed up late, overcame writer’s block and finally, you typed the last word and finished writing your book.

Now that you’ve finished writing your book, you’re anxious to know what comes next? You look up publishing firms accepting the genre of your manuscript and query them, hoping they’ll publish your book and you’re on your merry way to the life of authordom.

But, there’s no response from these publishing firms or many apologise but aren’t sure you’re the right fit for the firm and now you’re stumped. Don’t fret too much because there is another way, which is where this book comes in.

Do you really want to publish your book? Self-Publishing is the path to take and this book is filled with all the necessary information needed to get your book ready before hitting the publish button.

My Review

A Guide to Self Publishing is informative, helpful and encompassing. Its divided into 5 parts;

• The Ways of Publishing
• Methods of Self Publishing
• The Publishing Process
• Before You Self Publish
• Worksheet

It introduces the reader to basics about publishing. Going further it details everything you need to know about self publishing. Learn how to use beta readers, edit, create author profiles, book marketing, write your manuscript, distribution, find retailers, everything and more!

This book helped me write my Synopsis and Create my Author Bio for Stab Love with Flower Stalks. I was privileged to have Lara host my Stab Love with Flower Stalks book tour. She taught me a lot about marketing self published books. And Gem, did I learn a lot!

🌟🌟🌟🌟

I’ll recommend you buy this book with 4 stars. Or gift your writer friend a copy.

Meet the Author

Lara Tommy Kareem is a huge literary enthusiast, editor, book blogger at naijabookbae.com. She is the founder of Bookish Species, a useful society for readers. Lara is a notable presence in the Nigerian book blogging & publishing industry.

Purchase!

It’s available on Amazon UK, Amazon US, Okadabooks, in Paperback within Nigeria. Visit the website for more info Gem.

Thanks for reading.

Quotes from When We Speak of Nothing by Olumide Popoola

Find out more about my Current Read.

Ebook

Book Synopsis

Best mates Karl and Abu are both 17 and live near Kings Cross. Its 2011 and racial tensions are set to explode across London. Abu is infatuated with gorgeous classmate Nalini but dares not speak to her. Meanwhile, Karl is the target of the local “wannabe” thugs just for being different. When Karl finds out his father lives in Nigeria, he decides that Port Harcourt is the best place to escape the sound and fury of London, and connect with a Dad he’s never known. Rejected on arrival, Karl befriends Nakale, an activist who wants to expose the ecocide in the Niger Delta to the world, and falls headlong for his feisty cousin Janoma. Meanwhile, the murder of Mark Duggan triggers a full-scale riot in London. Abu finds himself in its midst, leading to a near-tragedy that forces Karl to race back home. The narratorial spirit of this multi-layered novel is Èsù, the Yoruba trickster figure, who haunts the crossroads of communication and understanding.

Publisher- Cassava Republic.

Quotes

“When we speak of nothing we don’t end the silence.”

---

“You couldn’t always pick up words to flourish the unsayable. It would be a waste. Too much. Sometimes moments had to be allowed to be themselves. To breathe or not, to be bearable or not. You couldn’t always change it.”

---

“Missing is still a presence”.

---

“..things have a way of unfolding at the worst moment.”

---

Reading Update: Page 57/296.

Èṣù is the narrator of the novel. This made me curious about reading this book. Especially after meeting she/he/them (Esú) in Lakiriboto Chronicles.

About Èsù

Èsù (They/She/He) are an important Òrìṣà in Yorùbá ancient religion known as Àṣẹ̀ṣe / Ìṣẹ̀ṣe. An excellent Administrator of justice, Police Officer in the pantheon of Deities and was gender queer. Èsù is the keeper of Ase. When other deities want to use supernatural powers, they have to borrow it from Esu, she/he is the keeper of supernatural powers. She/he is the universal police, so therefore she/he can’t be anyone’s permanent ally. Èsù is not the Christian devil as wrongly portrayed.

Find out more about this deity here

Two bookies on my Twitter timeline say they enjoyed reading this book. Yes, I’ve googled Mark Duggan. Books that’s shape their plots around significant socio-political events tend to take as reader through indepth exporations of human nature. I look forward to this. So far, the novel’s beginning has dragged on for me. But I’m optimistic.

What are you reading currently? Have you read about any Nigerian or Africa deities from any contemporary African literature? Comment below Gem.