Nigeria Content Online

The organisers of
the book review for Nnedi Okorafor’s novel, ‘Zarah the Windseeker’,
kept to time. While some supposed attendees were only just arriving the
venue, the one hour thirty minutes event had ended; giving adherents of
“African time” something to think about.

The event recorded
a low turnout, however, as its timing clashed with the highly popular
BookJam @ Silverbird, holding only a few kilometres away. Farafina have
introduced the new book reading and discussion event, in the hope it
will become a permanent monthly fixture at Terra Kulture, Victoria
Island, Lagos. Tagged ‘Book Reviews @Terra’, the session debuted on
June 26 with Okorafor’s book.

Platform for discourse

“It’s not just
about the author; we look at the stories and try to glean those aspects
that relate to our culture and background,” said a Farafina
representative. On-air-personality, writer, and musician, Tosyn
Bucknor, was on hand to read excerpts from ‘Zahrah the Windseeker’, a
young adult fantasy /science novel about a girl with superhuman
abilities.

A forest with
computerised flowers and a large, pink, talking frog are not things you
will find in too many books; but discussing the relevance of living in
a world of make-believe, and its relationship to African customs,
topped the agenda at the pilot edition.

The almost empty
venue came alive at 3pm as the moderator started to introduce the
topics of the day. Considering the genres of science fiction and
fantasy, a member of the audience drew comparisons between similarities
between the characters in the blockbuster film, ‘Avatar’ and D.O.
Fagunwa’s ‘Forest of a Thousand Deamons’.

He also suggested
that Africans are the creators of the fantasy genre. Another audience
member complained that while a movie like ‘Alice in Wonderland’ is
celebrated, other stories incorporating fantastical elements are seen
as a propagation of witchcraft.

Hidden from the wind seeker

“‘Zahrah the
Windseeker’ is about hiding things,” observed Bucknor. “The parents
were hiding the existence of the forest and the market from Zahrah in
the book. This is how we protect our children; by lying to them, [to]
prevent them from doing some things.”

She asked members
of the audience to give examples of ‘tall tales’ told to them by
adults. Many examples were offered by the audience, including: how not
cleaning lines drawn on sand could attract witches, or affect one’s
mother’s breast size; the bizarre notion that whistling at night can
attract snakes; and the one that says: ‘if you eat while standing, the
food goes straight down to the feet.’

Striking a balance

The discussion
moved on to the ability of a Nigerian writer to write fantasy while
still remaining relevant in the African context. An aspiring writer in
the audience said, “Just write, don’t try to strike a balance.” He
suggested that an attempt to strike a balance could lead to a loss of
originality. “You need to know what you’re writing about, otherwise it
would be shallow,” said another discussant.

All agreed
eventually that the most important factor when writing fantasy is the
sincerity of the voice of the writer – as it is through this that the
author’s originality is perceived.

New kid on the block

Book Reviews @Terra
has joined the league of monthly literary events in Lagos and Abuja.
“We might schedule the next one for Friday or Sunday… We are still
trying to find the day that works best for us.” Fixing the time-clash
with the more established BookJam, would be a start.