Nigerian independence celebrations in October 1960.
Photograph: Express Newspapers/Getty Images
Today Nigeria turns 53 andit has been quite an interesting 365 days for Nigerian literature. A. Igoni Barret and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie had new releases, 4 out of 5 of the Caine Prize shortlistees were Nigerian - with Nigerian-American Tope Folarin being the over-all winner with his short story Miracle, The Spider King's Daughter was translated into Spanish, Etisalat (a telecommunications company in Nigeria) announced its Prize for Literature, two crime fiction imprints - Cassava Crime from Cassava Republic and Cordite Books from Parresia Publishers - were launched, Half of a Yellow Sun was adapted for the big screen (it was also announced that Beasts of No Nation would be made into a film), London Life, Lagos and Living was adapted for the stage as part of the Taruwa Arts Festival, while it was announced that there would be a play of The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives at the Ake Arts and Book Festival. Sadly, it was not all great news with the saddest being the loss of Chinua Achebe in March.
Similar to last year, to celebrate Nigeria's literary history, I will be doing a series of posts throughout the month of October. It's my little way of saying Happy Independence.
