tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-322756502012-02-16T09:34:59.906ZWritings of the general word's bodyWordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.comBlogger6571100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-19190934219206647142011-12-21T04:49:00.008Z2011-12-21T05:20:56.578Z

Last night at the Muson Centre, Lagos - children and grandchildren of the late Bola Ige - slain Attorney General and Minister of Justice who justice has so far eluded - on stage with the cast of Odia Ofeimun's dance-drama 'Nigeria the Beautiful' after a performance to mark the 10th anniversary of Ige's death. With them onstage are some of Ige's loyalists: Segun Osoba, Chief Bisi Akande and Prof

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-38651923804592263302011-12-21T03:59:00.004Z2011-12-26T08:02:33.279Z

Igoni Barrett's compilation of writers' books of the year, published in the Lagos Guardian, here. And here.

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-47430343442725473052011-12-19T13:24:00.008Z2011-12-19T14:16:46.390Z

This is Ugoma Adegoke of The Life House culture hub in Lagos, photographed while engrossed in Lola Shoneyin's reading last Saturday. She's also one of the few thoroughly modern women with whom I share an everyday iro-and-buba aesthetic. Run by Ugoma with her husband Dayo, The Life House has provided sanctuary for many a culture vulture since its inception. The place is just lovely, and everything

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-60010302039005370342011-12-19T12:53:00.008Z2011-12-19T13:18:10.868Z

After the Unoma Azuah book launch on Saturday, it was a mad dash across Lagos to The Life House on Victoria Island for a set of readings by Lola Shoneyin. One session could be no more different from the one that followed, as the author engaged young ones first with her children's book, 'Mayowa and the Masquerades'. There were lots of whoops, dances and all sorts that kept the children interested

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-42829452803520691082011-12-19T12:06:00.015Z2011-12-19T12:47:19.602Z

Writer Unoma Azuah launched her second novel, 'Edible Bones' at the National Library, Yaba, Lagos on Saturday Decemer 17. The author of 'Sky High Flames' a novel, 'The Length of Light', a short story collection and earlier poetry collection 'Night Songs' - is over from the US for the publication of her latest book, published by Ogochukwu Promise's Oracle Books. In attendance were Azuah's fellow

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-22139054174390300062011-12-18T18:38:00.016Z2011-12-18T20:07:03.648Z

There's a new short story anthology out by FEMRITE the Uganda Women Writers' Association. Hilda Twongyeirwe, coordinator of Femrite, is the editor of the new book, titled 'World Of Our Own' afte:r one of the stories therein.The editor's intro to the anthology begins: "FEMRITE presents herein African Women's voices, resulting from the second African Regional Women Writers' Residency held in

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-77260316768789627402011-12-18T10:01:00.082Z2011-12-18T13:06:57.064Z

Ladi Opaluwa wrote an indiscreet piece in last week's Sunday SUN Revue that to my mind, did a disservice to the Ebedi Writers Residency and the opportunity she did not seem to value highly enough to properly utilise. Titled 'My life in the bush of Iseyin', the piece clearly harks back to Amos Tutuola's 'My Life in the Bush of Ghosts'. Tutuola was writing in the 50s about the mythical wilderness

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com40tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-84212388959679205692011-12-17T11:38:00.004Z2011-12-17T11:57:52.668Z

Yaba is staking its claim as another hub of literary activity in Lagos, on the Mainland as opposed to the island arts-monopoly to boot. There's the monthly Book N Gauge for a start. There are 2 events in Yaba this after and here's the one I will be attending. One has to attend of course, it's Unoma Azuah's launch event for her second novel, 'Edible Bones'. The launch is many months in the

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-86112453689468804402011-12-17T10:40:00.013Z2011-12-17T11:35:36.219Z

Above, the Christopher Hitchens memorial page by Vanity Fair, which announced his death from oesophegeal cancer yesterday. British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg was quoted by the BBC as saying, "Christopher Hitchens was everything a great essayist should be: infuriating, brilliant, highly provocative and yet intensely serious." My longish tweet, posted yesterdayYes, Christopher Hitchens could

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-87675733464147974092011-11-19T05:50:00.003Z2011-11-19T06:04:09.485Z

The 2nd African Women Writers' Symposium continues today and tomorrow. Programme for the 2 days, below.The Second African Women Writers’ Symposium 20119am -5pmVenue: Windybrow Theatre , Cnr Nugget and Pietersen Street, Hillbrow, JoburgDAY 2: Saturday 19th November 2011 9 – 10.30amOPENING PANEL: Women writing and the women’s movement: “Speaking out, Sisterhood, solidarity and the worldliness of

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-5121194716240774512011-11-18T22:45:00.028Z2011-11-19T01:33:19.293Z

The 2nd African Women Writers' Symposium kicked off today in Johannesburg. The theme of the symposium is 'Dream, Speak, Read, Reclaim - Being African in the World'.South Africa's Mail & Guardian newspaper marked the 3-day event with an 8-page special supplement on the symposium. At the opening event today, M&G's Arts Editor said the newspaper sees as part of its role "some sort of participation

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-6758377162074324932011-11-18T11:39:00.012Z2011-11-18T12:05:56.361Z

13 Lagos Book and Art Festival Programme DATE: FRIDAY 18 - 20VENUE: FREEDOM PARKTIME: 9am - 6pm dailyDAY 1: FRIDAY (November 18)(9 am, Hall 2) My Encounter with the Book (Kiddies’ Segment) by Tunde Babawale, Director General CBAAC) -- a motivational talk to kids kicks open the kiddies’ segment of the festival.Opening Glee -- Yoruba Ronu, by Crown Troupe(11am-1pm, Hall 1)The Festival Colloquium (I

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-63120031286639798282011-11-18T11:22:00.005Z2011-11-18T11:39:11.624Z

The 13th annual Lagos Book and Art Festival (LABAF) opened today at Freedom Park, Broad Street, Lagos. There was a Publisher's Forum, Publishing In The Age Of Microchip, yesterday at the Goethe Insitutute, Lagos, by way of a preamble. LABAF 2011 is on from today to Sunday 20th November. Futher info below:Babawale To Open The Lagos Book FestivalTunde Babawale, the professor of political economy

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-38872882815833727522011-10-10T22:11:00.016+01:002011-10-10T23:20:01.571+01:00

Joy on YouTube. Over an hour of vintage Fela at Glastonbury in 1984. Lots of hypnotic Afrobeat classics to nod and sing along religiously to as though no greater truth was ever told in the lines of a song. No greater truth, period. 'Teacher Don't Teach Me Nonsense' 'Confusion'... I have a strong feeling I saw this film on Betamax in the 80s (only it wasn't titled 'Fela at Glastonbury' then), and

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-65660502775194147872011-10-09T22:42:00.015+01:002011-10-10T21:12:09.445+01:00

Nothing I've read recently has moved me more than this story of a woman who died in her bedsit in London, undiscovered for three years. The window remained open, plates sat in the sink, mail piled up at the door, Chritsmas presents unopened and the TV on - while she faded into skeletal remains on the sofa.What is more desperately sad, that someone could die this kind of lonely death in the

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-76958193668348451912011-09-19T19:22:00.022+01:002011-10-09T22:42:33.130+01:00

OK. What could be more amazing than finding Ben Okri on Twitter and learning that "Ben will be here from time to time to share his poetry and writing, but otherwise this page is maintained by Rider Books"?It's finding Salman Rushdie. The author of 'Midnight's Children' is on Twitter and rearing to go.It began when @SalmanRushdie1 wrote on his twitter account, "With some trepidation, I am

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-14371208110334033322011-09-19T15:39:00.058+01:002011-09-19T20:53:38.657+01:00

"Of what import are brief, nameless lives to Galactus?" Teju Cole has the answer. The author of Open City, currently working on a non-fiction book on Lagos, has been reading Nigerian newspapers and found himself drawn to the little stories, the big and small tragedies of ordinary people. So, he started recasting the stories on twitter in the tradition of the fait divers, a project he has

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-40371365665423558642011-09-16T22:53:00.005+01:002011-09-17T00:21:07.079+01:00

VIVA RIVA! the stylish Congolese film that scooped 6 AMAA statuettes earlier this year, kicks off a new monthly screening collaborative project between iREP Film Forum and the Goethe Institut Lagos. Set in Kinshasa, Viva Riva! was directed by Djo Tunda Wa Munga and stars Patsha Bay Mukuna, Manie Malone and award winning Marlene Longage. Violent and explicit, the film tells the story of Viva, a

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-64828509639521512092011-09-16T21:07:00.044+01:002011-09-16T22:22:47.383+01:00

Tony Okoroji holds a burial programme with the late Christy Essien-Igbokwe's image at the singer's funeral on Saturday September 10. Next to him is talk show host Bisi Olatilo.Nigeria's 'First Lady of songs was buried with much pomp on Saturday September 10, after a week of commemorative activities including celebrity football match, a divas concert and a lying-in-state at the National Theatre. A

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-81553425485637384022011-09-16T07:46:00.022+01:002011-09-16T08:26:31.053+01:00

The literary world has been abuzz over news that novelist Chinua Achebe forced rapper 50 Cent to change the title of his new movie, Things Fall Apart – because it’s the same as that of Achebe’s celebrated novel. On the inside, Nigerian writers argued over what many suspected to be a hoax. After all, you cannot copyright a title, or can you? Plenty of songs, short stories, books and yes films –

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-47254590632540849112011-07-27T23:09:00.079+01:002011-07-28T02:26:59.335+01:00

The Life House on the night of E.C Osondu's reading. Photo by Olushola Aromokun. More images here.Was at E.C Osondu's reading at The Life House last Friday. It was a mostly inner-core writers' audience, which made for a somewhat sharp edged spiritedness sometimes. Artsville columnist and all-round arts-man-about-town Toyin Akinosho came in at some point and straightaway fired a volley of

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-16936797428117059082011-07-23T17:55:00.012+01:002011-07-23T22:05:09.193+01:00

Amy Winehouse, troubled singer of the great 'Back to Black' album and the now eerily prescient hit single Rehab, found dead in her London flat today at 4pm local time.It's been years in the making. We kind of saw it coming, and one should grieve at the loss of a unique talent. But Winehouse didn't love herself it seemed, didn't pity herself, didn't feel any gratitude for the immense gift God in

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-10894810026908869932011-07-20T22:59:00.015+01:002011-07-20T23:35:41.257+01:00

2009 Caine Prize winner E.C Osondu is in Lagos for a series of readings for his book, Voice of America, a collection of short stories published locally by Farafina. Here he is photographed earlier today by Femi Adebesin-Kuti. Artist/writer Victor Ehikhamenor and I were on hand to join in series of fun photographs with E.C and his friend, Emeka. The real business starts Friday when Osondu kicks

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-18032047525226341332011-07-19T00:19:00.012+01:002011-07-19T00:49:08.089+01:00

Akin Omotoso's 2008 documentary film, Soyinka, Child of the Forest, once shown on DSTV as part of the Great Africans Series, is showing at The Life House, Lagos, this Thursday. I'm actually in this film... Details of Thursday's screening, below. EVENT- Screening of The Great African Series - Wole SoyinkaDATE - 21 July 2011 ThursdayTIME- 7.30pmVENUE - The Life House, 33 Sinari Daranijo Street, off

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-2788429551458360592011-07-17T17:34:00.022+01:002011-07-17T19:04:50.536+01:00

Lauri Kubuitsile and Wame Molefhe flew down (or it is up?) together from Botswana to Lagos to participate in the Farafina Workshop. My interviews with the duo - published today. Excerpts below.Lauri Kubuitsile: ready for the big timeLauri Kubuitsile's short story, ‘In the Spirit of McPhineas Lata' was shortlisted for the 2011 Caine Prize, bringing to new height a writing career forged doggedly

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-51525054098543202272011-07-17T16:40:00.031+01:002011-07-19T21:31:20.998+01:00

I promised to post my 2005 article on the Souleymane Cisse film retrospective, and how British Consulate officials rained on the Malian director's parade and denied him a visa to attend a screening of his modern classic, Yeelen, at the Barbican in London. This below was originally published in The Guardian, Lagos, on November 27, 2005... Souleymane Cisse Film Season… in RetrospectBy Molara WoodA

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-87340801115439255262011-07-14T22:16:00.012+01:002011-07-17T19:02:19.768+01:00

Writer Adewale Maja-Pearce is concerned. His wife, the artist Juliet Ezenwa, has been denied a visa to travel to the UK for an exhibition that would have opened in Portsmouth on July 29. Maja-Pearce, a dual Nigerian/UK citizen, has written an open letter to the British High Commissioner to protest the decision. See below.Dear Sir,I have the good fortune – as many would see it - of being a

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-89883860695711520142011-07-10T21:47:00.024+01:002011-07-11T07:48:19.104+01:00

A week, it turns out, is a long time not just in politics but in the media, as the 168-year-old News of the World (I hesitate to do a link) closed up shop with its last edition today after a lifetime of lurid headlines. I remember some case years back when someone accused NotW or its sister daily, The Sun, of trading on the very "fabric of people's lives". Now it appears the NotW at least, also

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-14306735702796914572011-07-08T08:20:00.019+01:002011-07-19T01:07:53.881+01:00

As more of the original players die out - Susanne Wenger a.k.a Adunni Olorisa (d. 12 January 2009), Ulli Beier (d. 3 April 2011) and Twins Seven-Seven (d. 16 June 2011) - the curtain closes gradually on the famed Osogbo Art School. But a curtain also rises, because their works live on. The Susanne Wenger Archives will open today in Krems, Austria. In attendance at the Susanne Wenger Foundation

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-31878909029724007252011-07-06T22:37:00.036+01:002011-07-08T13:12:51.100+01:00

My recent post about Ben Okri's appearance on CNN's African Voices got me thinking back with fondness to my one encounter with the Booker Prize winner. A very special encounter at that - a filmed interview at the Random House building on Vauxhall Bridge Road, London, on November 28, 2007.There's an hour-long film of the interview, commissioned by Farafina to coincide with their publication of

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-27056026766382872472011-06-29T23:26:00.013+01:002011-06-30T00:07:22.792+01:00

In CNN's African Voices, the Booker Prize winning author of 'The Famished Road', Ben Okri, reminisces about his time sleeping rough on the streets of London, unable to finish university, hungry and seeking the warmth of back doors to crouch in. It was difficult getting food and shelter, but "you could always get books" so he did a lot of intense reading because, "By then, I'd already become

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-71562826686047163452011-06-28T13:26:00.005+01:002011-06-28T13:40:58.832+01:00

The Farafina Trust Literary Evening is upon us again. Only once a year, the 2011 edition will close the latest Farafina Trust Writing Workshop. Details are now out for a literary evening the highlight of which is an interaction with Njabulo Ndebele (author of 'The Cry of Winnie Mandela'). Tash Aw, Faith Adiele and Binyavanga Wainaina and the initiator of the workshop, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie,

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-51282671137365469952011-06-28T00:52:00.013+01:002011-06-29T08:37:14.500+01:00

What a fun evening I've had, surrounded by writers known and on the way to being known. Spent some 3 hours with participants in the Farafina Trust Writing Workshop at their lagoon-front Lagos hotel talking about all sorts of things flowing from and leading to the art of writing. I'm seated 2nd left next to Elnathan John (in the striped shirt) and 1st right seated is Gboyega Otolorin. These

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-31513133110850942522011-06-27T00:46:00.014+01:002011-06-27T01:35:18.840+01:00

Here's Helon Habila, Fidelity Bank MD Reginald Ikejiani and writer/columnist Okey Ndibe at Friday's launch of Dreams at Dawn, the anthology of works by participants in the Fidelity International Writing Workshop.I had thought the Fidelity MD's penchant for hogging the limelight, especially in terms of photo-ops - which must impose a lot of unnecessary formality and 'Nigerian' protocol on literary

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-56600927443109754952011-06-26T18:41:00.016+01:002011-06-26T20:46:23.804+01:00

"Originally I was going to read from the ending. But the ending is dark, gloomy and tragic at best and I thought that would be a low way to end this evening of very intelligent and witty writing. So instead I’m going to read from the beginning when things are still looking up for our ill-fated protagonist. It all goes swiftly south from here, but these are the good days. This is a little short

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-17251988728024242602011-06-24T21:20:00.006+01:002011-06-24T21:32:10.239+01:00

---- Obituary: Peter Falk*

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-11462894842970412582011-06-23T23:21:00.008+01:002011-06-23T23:44:28.209+01:00

L-R: Jamal Mahjoub (who's facilitated many a Caine Prize Workshop), Fidelity Bank MD Reginald Ikejiani, Diana Evans (author of '26a' and 'The Wonder'), IK Mbagwu of Fidelity and Helon Habila, the Caine Prize winning author of a trio of books including 'Oil on Water'. They're shown in Lagos at last week's opening event for this year's Fidelity Writing Workshop (Friday June 17).Habila has since

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-22122998428988989522011-06-19T15:26:00.034+01:002011-06-19T17:14:47.620+01:00

'They are trying to keep me destabilised-' so begins a recent interview with Arundhati Roy, published in the UK Guardian on the eve of the release of 'Broken Republic', the latest in an ever elongating list of non-fiction books by the author of the great Booker Prize winning novel, 'The God of Small Things'.Ms Roy may be writing's equivalent of Lauryn Hill, the influential singer without whom we

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-23252572674094520872011-06-16T23:42:00.044+01:002011-06-18T23:55:48.128+01:00

News broke today of the death of Twins Seven-Seven, the great avantgarde artist of the Osogbo School, one of those that rose to prominence through the now historic art workshops organised by Ulli and Georgina Beier in the town on the River Osun in the 1960s. Twins Seven-Seven - so self-named because he was the sole survivor of seven sets of 'abiku' twins born to his mother - had been known to be

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-86148815238708629412011-06-15T08:44:00.022+01:002011-06-15T20:28:20.107+01:00

LAGOS: Yinka Shonibare with artists Peju Layiwola (m) and Rom Isichei at Terra Kulture on April 20. In the pictures below we have the artist's mum; and he's shown with Yusuf Grillo, who his father had sent him to at YABATECH over 30 years ago when he indicated his intention to become an artist. Grillo had made time to talk to the young man that came calling; and on April 20, Shonibare said from

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-57371409650933896962011-06-14T21:59:00.007+01:002011-06-15T22:48:26.766+01:00

Tayo Aderinokun (left), managing director of the Guaranty Trust Bank, who died in London earlier today, was a major art patron. His longstanding support for the arts culminated in Yinka Shonibare's 'Nelson's Ship in a Bottle' sculpture, sponsored by Aderinokun's bank and unveiled in London's Trafalgar Square in May last year. He is here shown with London Mayor Boris Johnson and Shonibare. May

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-87696718497732542672011-06-14T00:20:00.016+01:002011-06-15T10:39:29.683+01:00

Sir Vidia has gone and done it again. He made up with Paul Theroux at this year's Hay Festival only to stir the hornet's nest at the same event with a diatribe about female writers. "[They are] unequal to me," Naipaul said, going ahead to single out Jane Austen for particular criticism for her supposed "sentimentality, the narrow view of the world. And inevitably for a woman, she is not a

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-85577819578822198352011-06-13T21:50:00.015+01:002011-06-15T10:39:50.563+01:00

I like when writers are asked deceptively simple questions in interviews, like 'Which word do you most overuse?' Or when a publication allowed writers to answer the question they would have liked to be asked but which interviewees invariably overlooked...If Isabel Allende had not been asked to recall her 'most embarrassing moment' by The Guardian (UK), we would never have had this gem:"Once a man

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-6895989963276219522011-06-13T10:21:00.022+01:002011-06-15T10:41:10.140+01:00

Cinematographer Tunde Kelani presents his latest film in Ado-Ekiti today in collaboration with the state government in commemoration of June 12. Details below.MAAMI PremiereMonday 13, June, 2011Venue: Bishop Adetiloye Hall, Fountain Hotel, Ado-Ekiti.Time: 4pm At the Lagos premiere held at the MUSON Centre in Lagos on June 4, the filmmaker had introduced his film with words including the following

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-12747215869921151312011-05-05T09:23:00.016+01:002011-05-05T10:35:22.095+01:00

Was at the auction preview exhibition at Terra Kulture auction on Tuesday, May 3 and also in the hall was none other than Jossy Ajiboye (above), legendary cartoonist of Daily Times fame. Bolanle Austen-Peters introduced us. It was a lovely afternoon. I'd earlier been to Quintessence to catch the preview of Alimi Adewale's forthcoming exhibition, 'Sublime'. Had an interesting chat with the artist

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-75378584454597669692011-05-03T10:16:00.015+01:002011-05-04T00:33:45.411+01:00

It's auction season in Lagos, with over 200 art pieces by some of the most significant visual artists this side of the hemisphere going under the hammer in major auctions by Terra Kulture and ArtHouse Contemporary in the next few days. Left is 'Face' by Kainebi Osahenye, one of 113 pieces of modern and contemporary African art on auction at Terra Kulture tomorrow. Leading collector, Yemisi

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-63015484635713457752011-05-03T09:47:00.015+01:002011-05-03T10:13:02.130+01:00

Artist Statement by Victor Ehikhamenor on his new solo exhibition 'Entrances & Exits: In Search of Not Forgetting' - opening at the Centre for Contemporary Art in Lagos on Saturday:Entrances and exits: A personal journeyIn December of 2010, I left Lagos for a week to go back to my village, the scenes of my childhood and my ‘primary colours’, with the sole purpose of discovering what has

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-18268158989542976072011-04-21T10:27:00.005+01:002011-04-22T12:14:30.000+01:00

Here is the massive stage set for the Fela! Musical, as under construction at the Expo Hall of the Eko Hotel in Lagos last week. The cast also met with the press at a briefing where Iris Wilson (with Fela poster behind her in the photograph above) who plays Fela's wife Najite, brought tears to the eyes with her poetic, soulful words about being in Africa for the first time; and getting to play

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-65648680973028701772011-04-19T22:54:00.004+01:002011-04-22T12:12:37.743+01:00

PRESS RELEASE:Ankara Press, a fresh new voice publishing romantic fiction for the African market, is looking for writers. The press is devoted to publishing easy-to-read, purse-size books with African settings, storylines and characters.Need for African RomanceWomen of all ages have always enjoyed romance. They ask for it in their movies, their music, from their lover and in their books. But in

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-80629934928688718372011-04-17T17:01:00.004+01:002011-04-17T17:53:58.567+01:00

The latest in the CCA's Art-iculate Lectures series features Yinka Shonibare and it holds at Terra Kulture at 4pm on Wednesday, April 20.According to the CCA, the Trafalgar Square London's Fourth Plinth artist "will discuss his artistic trajectory over the past two decades, presenting key themes from his vast and diverse artistic practice." Not to be missed.

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-68623145926941271682011-04-17T15:40:00.020+01:002011-04-17T17:53:11.254+01:00

Concerning the epochal passing of Ulli Beier on April 3 at the age of 88, I feel the words are better left to those who can say it best. Many rose to the challenge, and there was an avalanche of writings in the Nigerian press in the first few days, perhaps reaching an apogee on Sunday, 10 April (the man having been cremated the Friday before).Among the pieces published last Sunday, Muraina

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-27347334959768375042011-04-17T15:10:00.008+01:002011-04-17T15:32:25.412+01:00

Here are my own pictures Women Rule!, which was attended by quite a few brave men. Shown above are Toni Kan, Simi Dosekun and Bibi Bakare Yusuf. Karen Patterson held the house captive for some 30 minutes, playing on a 274-year-old cello.Writer and radio personality Wana Udobang (who read a poem during the open mic session) and musician, Ade Bantu in the Life House garden. Olajide Bello, Oyiza

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-48765552910729641372011-04-17T14:29:00.008+01:002011-04-17T14:54:27.983+01:00

Courtesy of The Life House, here we are - Victor Ehikhamenor, Olajide Bello, Ugoma Adegoke (who manages The Life House) and that's me holding a copy of 'A Life in Full' - in the garden of the place, ahead of our Women Rule! reading (featuring Bibi Bakare Yusuf, Simi Dosekun and MW) on March 12. See the rest of The Life House's images of the event here. Meanwhile, here's the programme of what's

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-18816759121265649532011-04-17T13:50:00.003+01:002011-04-17T17:50:30.556+01:00

A German television crew was in Lagos recently for an interview with Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani, for a programme, 'Kulturzeit' on 3SAT, which we understand is shown in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.The documentary should familiarise the programme's audience with the author, as the German edition of her novel 'I Do Not Come To You By Chance', to be titled 'Die Meerblauen Schuen Meines Onkels Cash

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-25404238692235179142011-04-17T09:47:00.030+01:002011-04-22T20:46:54.669+01:00

I was not blogging at the time of her passing on March 23, but the death of Elizabeth Taylor cannot go unremarked on Wordsbody, just as I could not but write a tribute, 'The Most Beautiful Star in the World', published on March 27.In my tribute, I touched on my first real awareness of Elizabeth Taylor the cinema legend, whose persona in A Place in the Sun was perfection itself. That film stands

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-63205471220039579272011-04-13T11:14:00.004+01:002011-04-13T15:23:35.885+01:00

And so Aminatta Forna's 'The Memory of Love' continues its onward awards march. The novel, already winner of the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book, Africa Region, has made the shortlist for the 2011 Orange Prize. Also on the shortlist: Emma Donoghue for 'Room', Emma Henderson for 'Grace Williams Says It Loud', Nicole Krauss for 'Great House', Téa Obreht for 'The Tiger's Wife', and Kathleen

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-62237590912639629992011-04-13T10:27:00.003+01:002011-04-13T10:43:08.089+01:00

Life House on 33 Sinari Daranijo Street, Victoria Island, Lagos, is fast becoming the place to be. The folks at the Life House are doing amazing things. There's a Ghariokwu Lemi exhibition next week, as well as music by Fatai Rolling Dollar and Fela collaborator Duro Ikujenyo to coincide with the Fela Musical bursting onto the Lagos stage.The Life House hosted the Women Rule! readings for

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-29601749169946874732011-04-13T10:10:00.002+01:002011-04-13T10:20:12.728+01:00

What a difference Broadband makes. Wordsbody's enabled and back in the groove - apologies for the long absence. Here are images of the 50-strong crew of Fela The Musical! arriving at Murtala Muhammed Airport. Fela! in Lagos is at Eko Hotel Expo Hall next week, from April 20 to 25.Photos: Inspiro Productions

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-70305317419651284042011-03-01T19:06:00.010Z2011-04-13T10:25:22.096+01:00

Fela! The Musical is finally coming home. The hit Broadway musical about the life of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti was a critical and commercial success in New York and later London, where it was sold-out for three months and got nominated for three Olivier Awards (having won 3 Tonys in the US).Many have asked whether the world conquering show about one of Africa’s most potent icons should not have been

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-1354433657888879762011-02-26T21:55:00.011Z2011-02-26T22:52:43.910Z

Nollywood star power with more than a little Ghollywood help last night in Nairobi at the Africa Movie Academy Awards' Nominations event . L-R: Jackie Appiah, Joke Silva, Kate Henshaw-Nuttall, Ini Edo, Rita Dominic, Ramsey Noah, Mike Ezurounye and Majid Michel.And so, the nominations are out for the films that will vie for AMAA glory on March 27 in Bayelsa State, Nigeria. The big contender for

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-42263575527179759062011-02-26T21:34:00.006Z2011-02-26T21:42:29.745Z

Invite from Jo'burg....Lyrics of our SongA dedication to Don Mattera’s Azanian Love SongLike a weeping willowI drop my soulInto a pool of fireSomewhere in a dark sanctuaryI hear the sound of a freedom song:The child has risenAnd walks defiantlyTowards the lion’s lairUndaunted,unafraidDon Mattera-Azanian Love SongOn the 3rd of March 5 amazing poets will be coming together to present a heartfelt

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-8741468896364901852011-02-26T21:08:00.008Z2011-02-26T21:30:03.534Z

It's been argued in some quarters that Binyavanga Wainaina is the best thing that ever happened to the Caine Prize. It would seem Granta's views aren't that far off, as the journal now tells everyone who cares to listen that the Kenyan writer's essay, 'How to Write About Africa' is the most popular ever on its website. It will be recalled that the essay went viral after it was published years

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-66063023143739320072011-02-26T20:28:00.007Z2011-02-26T21:01:56.604Z

While Wordsbody was sleeping, the Commonwealth Writers' Prize shortlists were announced...Here's the UK-based Chioma Okereke, a writer whose face some are only just beginning to notice, after noticing her book first, of course. Especially now that her debut novel, 'Bitter Leaf' has been shortlisted in the first round of the prize, in the Best First Book category in the Africa Region. I love this

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-78067275040454661282011-02-26T20:11:00.003Z2011-02-26T20:17:44.516Z

A Nigerian Scribe in South AfricaReview by Raselebeli KhotsengOMOSEYE BOLAJIHector Kunene Ed.New Voices Publishing (Cape Town, SA) Nigeria’s influence on African and world literature is awesome. It is extraordinary that Africa’s two all-time greatest black writers – Chinua Achebe, and Wole Soyinka (the first African to win the Nobel Award in Literature) both come from the same country, Nigeria!

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-34177891888312108842011-02-21T19:04:00.011Z2011-02-21T19:29:44.560Z

Suddenly, it’s impossible not to feel the explosive impact of Teju Cole’s ‘Open City’ even all the way down here in Lagos, despite the fact that his new novel has only just been published all the way in America, on February 8, to be precise. And so there I was last week, doing some delicate bargaining with a writer-friend currently in the US; I had the upper hand in the negotiation until he

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-9362167571866116892011-02-07T08:28:00.001Z2011-02-07T08:32:10.739Z

Press releaseWe the undersigned condemn in the strongest possible terms the murder of Mr David Kato the Ugandan gay rights campaigner. We wish to state emphatically that homosexuality is neither a sin nor a social or cultural construct. It is a biological given. Homosexuals are human beings like everybody else. Scientific research has been helpful in clearing the fog of ignorance entrenched by

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-72165386169085090142011-01-15T21:43:00.001Z2011-01-15T21:50:37.818Z

ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIAN AUTHORSA DECLARATION OF INTENTION TO SERVE AS PRESIDENT OF ANAPreamble to the Manifesto:BOOKING THE FUTURE, BRINGING BACK THE DREAMDear compatriots and friends, all-Nigerian authors at home and in the Diaspora, the time is close by. Towards the next election hour of ANA, which holds later in the year in the Federal Capital Territory – Abuja, I hereby make a declaration,

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-77538825252950880712011-01-11T14:23:00.001Z2011-01-11T14:25:48.040Z

PRESS RELEASE/INVITATION CORA Holds Conference On Bring Back the Book Initiative As a follow-up to the ‘Bring Back The Book’ initiative of the administration of President Jonathan, the Committee for Relevant Art, CORA, has resolved to stage a one-day conference of stakeholders in the Book industry and the creative and educational communities to fashion out an implementable document that could

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-36351247656334544842011-01-09T21:17:00.006Z2011-01-11T15:43:04.199Z

Now, here's the kind of writer interview you don't get to read everyday. In today's Guardian, Sefi Atta is shooting from the hip. She takes pot shots at a certain critic who reviewed her second novel, the identity of whom is not difficult to guess:"I’m only aware of one critic who reviewed Swallow negatively, and that was in Next. Apparently, he is a bit of a joke and his reviews barely qualify

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-30785577276150966922011-01-09T19:54:00.022Z2011-01-11T07:15:36.214Z

This is what happens when you have a showbiz impressario having such a heavy hand in the organisation of a supposed book campaign...No one in attendance at the Eko Hotel on December 20 could have missed the fact that Ben Murray-Bruce of the Silverbird entertainment conglomerate was the main man in terms of the organisation and stage-managing of the two events attended by President Jonathan,

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-25781478932401786182010-12-28T13:05:00.008Z2011-01-09T19:18:23.571Z

Usual suspects you don't get in a police line-up everyday. L-R: Reuben Abati, Fatima Akilu, Jahman Anikulapo, Ayodele Olofintuade, Molara Wood, Sefi Atta, Ololade Otitoloju, Jumoke Verissimo, Toni Kan, Ken Wiwa Jr, Helon Habila and Lola Shoneyin.Pushers of the pen all, we were at President Jonathan's 'Bring Back The Book' campaign at the Eko Hotel on Monday, December 20. Round about 7.30pm,

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-81868448800783237662010-12-26T00:40:00.004Z2010-12-26T00:51:39.784Z

Ikhide R. Ikheloa cries foul about what he describes as the bigotry and misogyny of Ahmed Maiwada's debut novel, 'Musdoki'. The reviewer also reckons the novel is a pretty shoddy production all round. ExcerptAt some point in the book’s journey, Musdoki is in a car filled with Northerners, fleeing the South and an alleged pogrom. This is Maiwada at his best, or some would say, at his worst. The

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-1735082771098751402010-12-21T11:48:00.006Z2010-12-21T12:37:20.373Z

“For a first novel, ‘The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives’ surprises as a powerful, mature and absorbing work of fiction… This novel will continue to haunt the reader’s imagination with suggestive ripples of wonder, sadness and delight long after the last page has been turned.” – Biodun Jeyifo“Politely defiant Shoneyin bends every cultural artefact and taboo in her brainy sensual path. This

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-78152486090865521462010-12-20T07:10:00.004Z2010-12-20T07:22:34.732Z

Plans are afoot for Lola Shoneyin to read from her novel 'The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives' tomorrow in Lagos. Venue is The Life House, 33 Sinari Daranijo Street, Off Ligali Ayorinde, Victoria Island, Lagos.Time is 6.30pm.Come one, come all. More details shortly.Meanwhile, it's off to Eko Hotel now. President Goodluck Jonathan launches his 'Bring Back The Book' campaign there today.

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-67346268434284928622010-12-18T12:13:00.023Z2010-12-20T06:44:09.980Z

The literary event of the last week has to be not so much the op-ed piece written by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani for the New York Times, but the reactions to it, of which there are many, the tones of which have been of the almost universally aghast kind.My own reading of Nwaubani’s ‘In Africa, the Laureate’s Curse’ was predictably complicated. I am a great admirer of Mario Vargas Llosa (a worthy 2010

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-65514237596319901972010-12-16T14:22:00.012Z2010-12-19T21:28:09.506Z

The news broke today that he's off to Fuji heaven. Sikiru Ayinde Barrister, one of the greatest names in Fuji music, died this morning in St Mary Hospital in London. News now confirmed by a close family source. He was 62.This piece of news has sent me back to my London days. How my generation of then young Nigerians raised on Juju and Western music back in Nigeria discovered Fuji as part of the

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-1681055220101925352010-12-15T17:03:00.004Z2010-12-15T17:29:07.737Z

From the 23rd to 31st of December 2010, ‘Kayode Adegbola will be exhibiting his debut collection of 20 photographs, hosted by The Address 21 - a boutique hotel in Bodija, a residential area in Ibadan, Oyo State.Adegbola has earned his reputation as a promising new generation photographer - the 20 year-old was winner of the 2008 "Fifth Element of Bar Med" and the 2009 "Reflections of Queen Mary"

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-44316946995024391742010-12-15T16:49:00.004Z2010-12-15T19:23:56.002Z

So here it is, folks! Lola Shoneyin’s flagrantly titled debut novel ‘The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives’ is here in Nigeria at last. The book is already available to buy at Quintessence (Falomo Shopping Centre, Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos) and other places. Shoneyin launches ‘The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives’ at a Book Party organised in collaboration with the French Cultural Centre on

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-67065150952331532792010-12-09T05:43:00.018Z2010-12-09T19:59:22.578Z

Here's Pakistani actor Adnan Siddiqui in the departure lounge of the Port Harcourt airport on December 5. He's in an upcoming film with Morgan Freeman directed by Clint Eastwood, 'The Athlete', coming out in the new year (great to hear of another onscreen partnership between Eastwood and Freeman, after 'Unforgiven' and 'Million Dollar Baby'). There were lots of actresses in the hall but most kept

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-77003027943096841802010-12-08T00:30:00.001Z2010-12-08T00:37:08.710Z

RELENTLESS from Lluís Prieto on Vimeo.

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-86829262375172011252010-12-07T22:39:00.015Z2010-12-08T00:17:04.254Z

3 outstanding scripts from Tyger Williams' lab were selected for AFRIFF's Script-to-Screen project. Pictured here with Williams (in white) are, from left, Adeyemi Ayoyemi Adeniyi (for 'One Window'), Abiola Hameed ('Task') and Iliyasu Kassim (for 'Tsangaya'). They will be assisted with funding by the festival organisation to turn their scripts into short films that will be shown at next year's

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-57817828718405896982010-12-07T06:45:00.003Z2010-12-07T07:05:33.262Z

Victor Ehikhamenor and I are recent returnees into the ever churning vortex that is the metropolis of Lagos. How he manages to stay so prolific as a visual artist, is a neat trick that I as a fiction writer have not mastered. Ehikhamenor's last exhibition, 'Roforofo Fight', held as recently as October, as part of Felabration. Now he's back with another exhibition, this time exploring Nigerians'

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-76937498776483363562010-12-07T05:56:00.010Z2010-12-07T22:08:39.220Z

The third Garden City Literary Festival starts in Port Harcourt tomorrow and goes on till Saturday, December 11. Two Nobel laureates, Wole Soyinka and J.M.G Le Clezio, will hold a historic conversation in front of a festival audience, in what promises to be the golden ticket of the GCLF.Helon Habila, Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani and Zainabu Jallo will hold workshops, there'll be a book fair, photo

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-8705408725481652452010-12-04T14:07:00.012Z2010-12-07T05:24:52.452Z

Hello, patient blog readers, who have watched uncomplainingly while Wordsbody took a long snooze.The failure to update this blog is never intentional. It's just that Lagos life throws a lot of challenges in one's way, like you get home and there's no light and you have to power your generator, which breaks down sometimes, leaving you clutching in the dark for rechargable torches or candles. Other

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-22229698428470337102010-09-30T19:36:00.003+01:002010-09-30T20:49:20.248+01:00

Opens tomorrow, Independence Day, at 3pm - displays till October 14.

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-89266492850066904432010-09-27T17:58:00.001+01:002010-09-27T18:14:25.435+01:00

Julien Sinzogan: Spirit Worlds29th September – 6th November 2010October Gallery presents Spirit Worlds, a bold new series of works by West African artist, Julien Sinzogan, in his premiere UK solo exhibition.Sinzogan originally trained as an architect and his use of painted pen-and-ink displays the astonishing, technical sophistication of a master draughtsman. His work is as much about the

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-25478671233650083332010-09-27T16:15:00.004+01:002010-09-27T16:35:03.708+01:00

The mega show known as 'The National/Historical Exhibitions' is on at the Velodrome, in the grounds of the National Stadium, Abuja, until October 31. Worth seeing.Collage by John Okosun from photos by Molara Wood

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-2201335003745814982010-09-27T15:54:00.001+01:002010-09-27T16:06:49.888+01:00

Satirical Comedy PlayWritten by Femi OsofisanTranslated by Dotun OgundejiDirected by Niji AkanniProduced by Tunde Kelani and Mufu Onifade Venue: CINEMA HALL 2, NATIONAL THEATRE, IGANMULAGOS Dates: TUES SEPT 28 & WED SEPT 29, 2010 Time: 5.00 P. M. DAILY ADMISSION IS FREE! FREE!! FREE!!! This is a special collaborative play between Mainframe Productions (Opomulero) andNational Association of

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-41604875019221335232010-09-06T09:58:00.005+01:002010-09-06T11:07:08.362+01:00

Congratulations to writer and scholar, Pius Adesanmi, who was unveiled as the winner of the inaugural Penguin Prize for African Writing in the Non-fiction category on Saturday September 4 in South Africa. Adesanmi won for his manuscript for a book of essays, 'You're Not A Country, Africa!' Here's what the organisers said about Adesanmi's manuscript, which will now be published by Penguin South

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-16020189330131918382010-09-03T19:57:00.004+01:002010-09-03T20:20:22.844+01:00

Ebedi International Writers' Residency, the first of its kind in Nigeria, was officially opened in Iseyin, Oyo State, earlier this week, Wednesday 1st September. The first beneficiaries of the programme, Abiodun Adebiyi and Lola Okusami (pictured left, by Akintayo Abodunrin) were there, as were the town's king and the chairman of the occasion, Femi Osofisan.The next session of the residency

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-82473660023584647232010-09-03T19:38:00.002+01:002010-09-03T19:45:53.770+01:00

Here are the children the Biodun Omolayo Gallery's Young at Art summer programme; Omolayo is first left. The kids were photographed at the Lagos International Art Expo opening event at the National Museum in Lagos, on August 21. Here's an invitation to a 1-day exhibition of the kids' works, holding tomorrow:You are hereby invited to the 6th edition of YOUNG AT ART CHILDREN ART EXHIBITION and

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-31034290083547308982010-09-03T12:31:00.003+01:002010-09-03T13:07:23.198+01:00

One of the plenary sessions of the just concluded International Colloquium on Slavery, Slave Trade and their Consequences was 'Slave Markets, Routes, Monuments, Relics and Tourism'. It emerged that little is known among the general Nigerian public about Nigeria's slave relics, especially places like Badagry, and not enough people visit these places. It was a bit unfortunate when Dr Yusuf Abdallah

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-3338432655022202032010-08-27T19:52:00.003+01:002010-08-27T20:08:14.555+01:00

Well, see this. This is the royal stool of the king of Osogbo, left vacant by the monarch's death on August 4. The king normally has a role to play in the festival, and has to wear the crown in this picture, the Adeosun, once a year during the Osun river deity festival only. Oba Matanmi's passing so close to the festival made this the first edition ever without an Osogbo king on the throne. Word

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-45085741186306417222010-08-27T00:43:00.009+01:002011-07-19T01:34:10.813+01:00

Erelu Lola Ayonrinde saying prayers by the riverLike sirens by the water: Osun devotees Robin Campbell (right) of the Adunni Olorisa Trust.It's the day of perhaps the most famous and the most successful cultural festival in Nigeria, and let's not forget that for believers of the Osun river deity, it's a religious occasion. Osun State, Osogbo especially, is teeming with hundreds of foreign guests

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-28431931592269604692010-08-26T23:51:00.008+01:002011-07-19T01:09:12.657+01:00

Here's Susanne Wenger's room in her house on Ibokun Road, Osogbo, Osun State, photographed by me 3 months after her death, on 12 April 2009A new book on the late Adunni Olorisa, Susanne Wenger: Artist and Priestess, is significant for many reasons. One of these is the fact that it sheds like on the Osun priestess' marriage to an Osogbo man after her divorce from Ulli Beier. Little had been known

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-18997192355448939522010-08-26T18:43:00.006+01:002010-08-26T19:13:14.327+01:00

I'm blogging from the International Colloquium on Slavery, Slave Trade and Their Consequences, which opened at the Royal Park Hotel, Iloko-Ijesa, Osun State, on Monday 23 August.The Colloquium is organised by the UNESCO Category II Centre of Black Culture and International Understanding, based in Osogbo, headed by Professor Wole Ogundele. Heading the organising committee of the colloquium is

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-57492348852436114402010-08-26T17:29:00.015+01:002010-08-26T18:43:09.796+01:00

It's difficult to crop Ogun State governor Gbenga Daniel out of this picture, so he stays - but the people I'm particularly concerned with, are the men on either side of him. Reason is that these 2 signify for me the bridging of whatever gulf there might be between Africa and her Diaspora. Left is US Academic Runoko Rashidi who has undergone a life's journey to his African roots, and next to him

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-86024658493709486782010-08-26T16:48:00.008+01:002010-08-26T17:27:11.299+01:00

PRESS RELEASE…Celebrating Nigeria at 50Araism Movement 7 opens in AbujaVenueThought Pyramid Art Gallery,62, Parakou Crescent, Wuse 2, AbujaDateTuesday September 7, 2010Time: 5pmExhibiting artistsMufu Onifade, Abiola Mautin Akande, Oludotun Popoola, Abolore Awojobi, Oluwanbe Amodu, Esther Emmanuel, Kesa Babatunde, Jimoh Saliu Babatunde, George Egunjobi, Bolarinwa Olowo, Jonathan Imafidor, Odumbo

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-24885925194418337392010-08-26T16:01:00.007+01:002010-08-26T16:47:58.353+01:00

There’s over 400 works of art from about 30 galleries on display at the third International Art Expo Lagos, which opened in Lagos last Saturday at the National Museum, Onikan. The opening ceremony was chaired by Nduka Obaigbena, publisher of This Day Newspaper.In the group picture below are children participants in the ‘Young at Heart’ programme of the Biodun Omolayo Gallery, based in the Onikan

Wordsbodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17965726929008839788noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32275650.post-9872502346283134192010-06-27T19:48:00.003+01:002011-04-25T02:29:43.321+01:00

Unoma Azuah, Molara Wood and Victor Ehikhamenor - photographed May 2009 in LagosHere's a picture that would have qualified for a 'While Wordsbody was sleeping' slot... US based writer Unoma Azuah with two of her constituency - myself and Victor Ehikhamenor - both of whom were not long returned from the UK and the US respectively. Azuah was around for the summer last year; it's a year on and she's

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