Kachifo Limited, publishers of the Farafina imprint is pleased to announce that one of its writers, Nnedi Okorafor – Mbachu was on Sunday, November 2, 2008 awarded the prestigious Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa. Nnedi's award winning book, Zahrah the Windseeker, was published by Farafina in July 2008. The award ceremony took place at The Ballroom - Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos and the Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka, presented the award in person. The prize money which is $20,000, is administered by the Lumina Foundation.

Also present was one of the other finalists, Wale Okediran, author of The Weaving Looms. Uzodinma Iweala, the third finalist and author of Beasts of No Nation, was unavailable.

Nnedi has several short stories which have been published in anthologies and magazines. Zahrah the Windseeker is her first novel. It is a tale of adventure, friendship and courage. Nicely illustrated and beautifully told, Zahrah the Windseeker makes a good read for both adults and children.

The recommended retail price is N1000 and it is available in all major bookstores in Nigeria. It can also be purchased online at www.kachifo.com or at Kachifo Limited, 8th Floor, SIO Towers, 25 Boyle Street Onikan, Lagos.

Kachifo Limited, the publisher of Farafina Magazine and Farafina books, is proud to announce the release of Weaverbird, a collection of exciting new work written by Nigerians and exploring the major themes of our contemporary experience. Weaverbird is out in major bookstores and is sold at a recommended retail price of N1500.

SYNOPSIS

Weaverbird is a collection of fourteen short stories touching all aspects of Nigerian life—from the deeply personal to the overtly political. National crises like corruption and conflict in the Niger Delta are explored, but also individual experiences of love, sex and pride. Many of the stories also balance the complex interplay and contradictions between the individual and the social, so that Ayodele Ayogbami's "Shadow of Eclipse", for instance, is at once the tale of a young girl's desperate choice to sell her body and a commentary on the national condition. Other authors in the collection are bold, even provocative, in their choices: Uche Umezurike in his "A Night So Damp" confronts homosexuality, an issue most Nigerians would rather silence, and Tolu Ogunlesi writes about how corruption in Nigeria corrupts even the seemingly incorruptible.



Edited by Akin Adesokan, Ike Anya, Sarah Ladipo Manyika and Ike Oguine, Weaverbird presents a wonderfully thought-provoking body of new Nigerian writing.

Featured authors are: Ike Oguine, Adebayo Ayobami, Unoma Azuah, Khalidah Bello, Ike Okonta, Ikhide Ikheola, Mogbolahan Koya-Oyagbola, Ayodele Arigbagbu, Tolu Ogunlesi, Shylle Shonoiki, E.C Osondu, Victor Ehikhamenor, Tade Ipadeola and Uche Peter Umez.

Kachifo Limited, the publishers of Farafina Magazine and Farafina books is proud to announce the release of the West African Paperback edition of Chris Abani’s new novel Becoming Abigail in Nigeria. It’s available in all major bookstores.

SYNOPSIS

Becoming Abigail is a coming-of-age story of a young girl who has been forced to grow. A girl whose childhood is lost in the shadow of a mother she doesn’t even know and whose innocence has been sacrificed on the altar of experience. Chris Abani in this novella gives us a graphic representation of Abigail’s sufferings, the inhumane treatment she undergoes in the hands of Peter who claims he’s taking her to London to give her a better life and the struggle to find her identity and establish it in her father’s heart.

The book explores human trade, sexual abuse, identity struggles, re-incarnation, love and death.

REVIEWS

“Moody,lyrical prose reminiscent of Toni Morrison’s Beloved… Though the fictional Abigail exists only on the pages of Abani’s novella, her character will seize the imagination of everyone who reads her story.”
• Essence Magazine

“Becoming Abigail,a spare yet voluptuous tale about a young girl’s escape from prostitution is so hypnotic that it begs to be read in one sitting… Abigail is sensitive, courageous, and teetering on the brink of madness. Effortlessly gliding between past and present. Chris Abani spins a timeless story of misfortuneand triumph.”

• Entertainment Weekly

“A darkly poetic investigation into the past’s deceptive hold over the present … Abani writes in dense, gorgeous. Abigail is not a creature of pity but inspiration.”

• The Nation

I slept and dreamed that life was JOY.
I awoke and saw that life was SERVICE.
I acted and behold SERVICE was JOY.

-Rabindranath Tagore
(Anwuli of farafina's e-signature)

Attended a Press briefing/Dinner at Yellow Chilli last night with the farafina publishing house crew. The occasion was the presentation of the London-based Biyi Bandele, and his novel, Burma Boy , published by farafina in Nigeria. It is a story based on a 14 year old Northern Nigerian, Ali Banana, who fought in the 2nd World War. Biyi is the writer of many plays and novels including the critically-acclaimed stage adaptation of "Things Fall Apart".

In attendance were Muhtar Bakare, C.E.O. of Farafina, Jide Bello the lawyer and almost unequalled arts enthusiast, Makin Soyinka, Tunde Aladese and laspapi amongst several others. Biyi Bandele, modest and soft-spoken, discussed his book and the Nigerian literary situation with all present.

The book tour is in collaboration with the British Council.

Tour dates:

Lagos - Saturday the 5th of April at 5pm.
British Council- 20 Thompson Ave, Ikoyi

Kano - Tuesday the 8th of April at 6pm
British Council- 10 Emir's Palace Rd, Kano

Abuja - Wednesday the 9th of April at 6pm
British Council - Plot 3645, IBB Way, Maitama

Port Harcourt - Friday the 11th of April at 6pm
British Council Information Centre - Plot 127 Olu Obasanjo Way
GRA II

laspapi will be the compere for the Lagos reading

RSVP- Nkemjika Ojiji- 0803 409 7613

You're invited to Chika Unigwe's THE PHOENIX book reading.

Sunday Dec 8
Jazzhole, 168 Awolowo Rd, Ikoyi.
Time-4pm

Fri Dec 14
Quintessence, Falomo Shopping Centre,
Ikoyi
Time- 5pm

Saturday Dec 15
Bookworm, Eko Hotel Shopping Complex
Ajose Adeogun St, Victoria Island
Time 2pm.