By Su’eddie Vershima Agema
Have
you heard about the Nigerian Writer Series (NWS)? No? It is a publishing imprint
of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), modelled after Heinemann’s
African Writers Series (AWS). The AWS pioneer editor was the literary legend
Chinua Achebe. The Nigerian Writers Series was started with a ten million naira
grant given to the Association by Governor Aliyu Babangida Muazu of Niger state
in 2012. In 2013, submissions were received all over the country and ten manuscripts
were selected from the pool by the Series editors: Unoma Azuah, Tanure Ojaide
and Chuma Nwokolo. The manuscripts were published in November 2014 by four
publishing consultants to the NWS: Parresia, Kraft Books, Jemmie and The Book
Company. Presented here (as taken from the blurbs) are the ten servings from
the NWS kitchen… Open mouth J
Burning Savannah echoes the menace terrorist groups like Boko Haram inflict on
Northern Nigeria even as it convincingly captures the ethno-religious conflict
in Jos. In the midst of this chaos is a story of love.
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| Burning Savannah |
Emeka, an Igbo resident
of Haliru Street, Jos, falls in love with Hauwa, a Hausa-Fulani girl. The city-dwellers
frown at the relationship, describing it as "haram", evil. Unknown to
the lovebirds, Hauwa is betrothed to Hassan, the son of a popular Sheik who
happens to be the father of the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jos. Trouble starts for the young lovers when they
are caught pants down by Hassan. The crisis that ensues does not only engulf
the innocent lovers, it engulfs the entire city.
Anugba Chikwendu is from
Umuchieze in Abia State. He is a graduate of Materials and Metallurgical
Engineering from the Federal University of Technology, Owerri. Currently, he is an Assistant Superintendent II in the Nigerian
Customs Service.
Cat Eyes is the story of
Pededoo, a country boy, who struggles to maintain a civil relationship with his
father who has just returned home after many years abroad with a family of Cat
Eyes (a white family).
 |
| Cat Eyes |
Despite Pededoo's resentment for his father and the new family, he
is hardly able to resist and truly dislike Melissa-Jane, the amiable
and dashing cat-eyed blonde. Cat Eyes
is a bildungsroman, a book of family, adventure, self-discovery and love that
would take readers on a voyage they would hold dear.
Pever
X’s
real name is Pever Martins Paul Aondofa Marie. He is a trained accountant,
student member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and
Managing Partner of PEA and Associates, a firm into everything in the book
industry. In 2013, Pever emerged first runner-up for the ANA Prize for Prose
Fiction with his book, Cat Eyes. He
lives in Makurdi. Cat Eyes is his
first published book.
Crimson Clouds by is a rollercoaster ride into the world of deceit, power,
crime, politics and relationships. It is the story of two people from extreme
worlds who decide to fight for their right to love each other against all odds.
In the process, they find themselves on a quest for justice and become the hope
of a nation that wishes
 |
| Crimson Clouds |
to bring evil-doers to justice. While written with a
political nuance and a plot that progresses fast, Crimson Clouds is ultimately a love story that explores love as it
rises above difficult circumstances and triumphs in a world turned upside down
by greed and injustice.
Ayodele Arowosegbe is an
essayist, literary blogger, and media professional. His works have appeared in
SAGE, a lifestyle magazine, and Inscribed, an online literary magazine. In July
2011, he co-founded the Literary Café, now LitCaf Nigeria, an outfit that seeks
to promote creative writing as a social consciousness in Nigeria. Ayodele
completed a Master’s degree in Media Enterprise at the School of Media and
Communication, Pan Atlantic University, Lagos. He currently does freelance
media consulting and blogs at Ideology’s Corner. Crimson Clouds is his first Novel.
Cupid’s Catapult is a
collection of twelve short stories set in Nigeria,
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| Cupids Catapult |
depicting how love
relationships often begin and blossom. From Lawrence who comes to Amina’s rescue
in “Baggage to Love”, until we meet
Kate in “Subtle Changes”, who after her stepfather’s death, moves to her
benefactor’s house where she slowly loses her heart to Jude, Cupid keeps aiming
and shooting, spinning this universal emotion as he pleases. The stories in
this collection show us the many faces of love within life’s potpourri of
laughter and pain. Above all, they urge us to keep believing in love despite
all odds.
Hannah Onoguwe spent most of her
growing-up years in Jos where she discovered her love for writing. She studied
at the Universities of Ibadan and Jos. Her work has appeared in various
journals in print and online. She enjoys travelling and has a weakness for
romantic comedies.
Patroits and Sinners x-rays a typical under-developed country bedevilled by
corruption and sundry ills. Siella, the stubborn and self-willed daughter of
the President is in the centre of the story. Siella refuses to school abroad,
choosing instead to confront the rot in her home
 |
| Patriots And Sinners |
country. She becomes a victim
of a high-profile kidnap saga that brings her face-to-face with the rampaging
evils that hold sway in the country she loves unflinchingly. When she meets the
patriots, a group of deadly, dare-devil men, she is forced to see the other
side of crime and to assess patriotism from a different angle. It is a story of
love, crime, betrayal, corruption and above all, hope.
Nnenna Ihebom hails from Mbieri in Mbaitoli Local Government
Area of Imo state. She is married into the Ihebom family of Umuomi Uzoagba in
Ikeduru Local Government Area of Imo state. She wrote her first story book, The Rejected Stones in 2007. Her novel, The
Web, won the ANA/Chevron prize for
environmental writing 2009. She has a passion for Igbo writing and also won the
ANA/Ken Nnamani prize for Igbo literature 2007.
Souza Boy
is a moving account of a motherless Nigerian boy who is born in Cameroon and
grows up
 |
| Souza Boy |
with his father to become inextricably involved with the foreign
surroundings in which he is birthed. But a sudden relocation into a supposed
“Land of Promise” soon casts a terrible cloud upon him and the bliss he once
experienced abruptly turns into nightmares, a shocking experience from which he
never recovers. The result is a gripping work of art – a work of art committed
to its artistic values. The author, with remarkable deftness, takes his readers
on a gripping voyage from Cameroon to the West African nation of Nigeria to
produce a literary piece which is unputdownable.
Elias Ozikpu is a playwright, autobiographer, novelist, student, and a
social commentator. He was born in Souza, the Littoral Region of Cameroon but
hails from Obudu, Cross River, Nigeria.
 |
| The Angel That Was Always There |
The Angel That Was Always There talks about single parenting in the Niger Delta. It is a true-life
account of the author who is himself a product of a single parent.
Julius Bokoru is an essayist, historical-fiction
writer and memoirist. His works have been featured on various local and
international literary magazines. In 2012 the government of Bayelsa state named
him among the 50 most influential people of the state for his literary
contributions.
The Oath is about Ojeiva Jumbo, a poor school teacher, who realizes he
needs to get involved in partisan politics and secure power to save his people
from the onslaught of poverty, violence and illiteracy in the fictional state
of Azayi State. But this power will not come free as he will require
the
 |
| The Oat |
assistance and connections of a powerful godfather. Jumbo is made to take
an oath to reward his godfather financially when he becomes the governor which
he will break eventually, drawing the ire of forces hell-bent on
destroying him. Jumbo will however survive plots against him, and work hard to
fulfil his mission in the government house in this suspenseful political
thriller.
Habib Yakoob was born in Okene, Kogi State. He
had his first degree in Mass Communications from Bayero University and second
degree in Media Arts from University of Abuja. He has published
several articles, and written many yet-to-be published short
stories and poems. His play, The Ugly Ones Refuse to Die, published
in 2004 has been on the reading list of secondary
schools since 2006.
The Right Choice is a novel about
a group of young military officers who, under the
leadership of Brigadier Saleem Sa’ada, strikes and overthrows the regime of
General Danjuma. The new military
 |
| The Right Choice |
government designs a five-year transition
programme to shift power to a democratically-elected government. As the
elections approach, the UPP, a political party, lobbies Sameera, a radical
writer and journalist, to accept its presidential ticket. After a heated race,
Sameera emerges victorious. She will instantly become a world political figure who
will set about to actualise her vision of a united economically and politically
vibrant African continent.
Zaharaddeen
Ibrahim Kallah is a Kano-born writer. He holds a B.Sc.
Sociology/Political Science, and Masters in Development Studies. He is a bilingual
writer, writing in English and Hausa languages. He works with the Directorate
of Academic Planning, Bayero University.
The Threshing Floor is a
collection of a dozen short stories that has just a bit of everything. From
religious hypocrisy, marital infidelity and human deception and fraud, to
spiritual mysteries, the limits of justice (in our land), the many and
uncertain shades of love, and the redemptive value of
 |
| The Threshing Floor |
suicide, Isaac Attah
Ogezi skilfully and sensitively explores the human condition in its social,
psychological and spiritual dimensions. The stories are both universal and uniquely
individual as everyone can identify with one or another of the characters whose
experiences are portrayed in The
Threshing Floor. The author's mastery of language and power of narration
will surely seduce any reader.
Isaac Attah Ogezi is a legal
practitioner and writer. His published works include: Waiting for Savon (2009), Casket
of Her Dreams (2010), Under a
Darkling Sky (2012), Embrace of a
Leper (2013) and The Threshing Floor (2014). In 2014, he was nominated
for both the Soyinka Prize for African Literature and NLNG Prize for Nigerian
Literature for his Under a Darkling Sky.
So,
there you have it! The books as told by the blurbs… What do you think?
Interesting enough? Go grab a copy and see why the Editors took these ones from
a full pool… And please, don’t forget to share your thoughts too. You can follow Nigerian Writers Series on twitter @NWSBooks or like the facebook page.
Su'eddie blogs @ http://sueddie.wordpress.com and tweets @sueddieagema
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