20 years of robust literary journalism

Literary news from around the world excites me no end. A writer has just experimented with literary non-fiction with a twist, an interview with a trending fiction writer, the tale of a Nigerian offshore novelist and Sefi Attah’s latest literary serving, how Black Panther is doing at the box office and Nollywood matters. These are […]

Literary news from around the world excites me no end. A writer has just experimented with literary non-fiction with a twist, an interview with a trending fiction writer, the tale of a Nigerian offshore novelist and Sefi Attah’s latest literary serving, how Black Panther is doing at the box office and Nollywood matters. These are the resources and stories that The Trust brings us week after week especially at weekends where literary news is pretty much bursting at the seams. When the Trust got my full attention, I was in the middle of conceptualizing a page of book recommendations to drive Nigerians literary appetite which was waning. I felt that if books were presented in an interesting way giving a short bio of the book and how it is relatable to humanity and to every individual, it will peak people’s interest in book reading. At this time, I was already addicted to Bookshelf edited by NLNG shortlisted poet and literary and development journalist Diego Okonyedo.  I had also taken an interest in the literary pieces of NLNG literature prize winner Abubakar Adam Ibrahim which were written in a quaint literary style that was all his own. I began to look forward to my weekend service of literary information and reviews of interesting books. It slowly became an addiction. I found that other papers focused on literary issues but not with the intensity that the Trust did and as a reader, I was always inside the paper at weekends the longest. There was deliberateness in catering for writers, readers, movie makers, thespians, artists and others in between. There were far more stories in the Trust newspapers concerning writers, readings, book reviews and writing retreats from all over the world than there have been in any other paper in the last ten years. Literary criticism, not so much, but Trust takes the premium prize for catering to the wordsmith and providing inspiration to those who take to their pens or computers to capture the world in such inimitable words, they have us asking for more.

With the love of these pages in my heart, I decided that my concept of pushing the boundaries of book reading will best be presented in a newspaper that already has excellent pedigree in literary journalism. My presentation to the Trust’s team led to the birthing of a full page book recommendation column within the literary journalism landscape of Nigeria, Five Favorite Books with Eugenia Abu. Thinking out a concept is good but when the organization it is presented to understands the value and supports it, then that is even better. Together, the Daily Trust on Sunday and I have continued to serve week in week out, recommendations of books to our teeming readers and fans across the nation and beyond. The column which I put out weekly has received accolades from far and wide for presenting current books, seasonal books, themed books and favorite books by many significant others. We have hosted some of Nigeria’s finest writers and some of the world’s emerging writers. We have hosted ministers, artists, foodies, housewives and students. Our guests have been wide and varied and our themes have been current and trending issues as well as issues that have bothered us and we have re-awakened nationalism and provided books on old, new and increasingly important issues. From corruption to migration, from parenting to sexual abuse. We have honored many persons of interest, paid tribute to Nigerians and the cognoscenti from all over the world who have passed and celebrated others.  The platform has been mutually beneficial and I want to put it on record here and now that it takes a visionary newspaper to understand the very idea of such a column. My thanks to everyone at the Trust, particularly my Editors at the Daily Trust on Sunday, past and present who continue to make it happen every week. The column “Five Favorite Books with Eugenia Abu” has been on now for about eight years. I am particularly thankful for its impact and for the number of persons who now call to ask after one book or the other or who simply text to thank us for the work on the pages. Like all columnists, there have been some weeks when between Bamako and Oslo, between Lokoja and Lagos, I am unable to find the requisite time, tools and inspiration to deliver on our promise. For that I apologize to our readers. Everyone is a work in progress and I will continue to do my best going forward. I thank our readers without whom the page would not have been as successful, I thank all those who have texted, emailed or simply written me a letter.  I am truly honored and I am excited about the prospects of the next couple of years, God willing.

The Trust holds an enviable and amazing position with its literary robustness and more importantly has attracted some of the finest minds to its stable from the literary community. With columnists like Caine prize shortlisted writer, El Nathan John doing his satirical pieces to the inimitable Dzukogi and the ever present literary editor, multiple award winning novelist, Abubakar Adam Ibrahim,   among many others, the Trust continues to provide a veritable platform for writers and artists in its twenty years of existence. Juxtapose this with its fine collection of columnists from experienced and mature to young and growing, The Trust has kept us engaged and our minds have become open and curious, analytical and enriched, seeking, savoring, getting even more educated. Indeed, its pages’ leap at us like a favorite meal waiting to be unraveled, enjoyed and remembered on the palate for a long time.

In addition, The Trust provides artistry like none other with Bulama’s portraiture, some caricature, unparalleled cartoonists and excellent infographics to breakdown in figures and timelines trending subjects and give the required clarity we are all seeking for on an issue that seems otherwise complicated. It also never ceases to enthrall with travelogues from far flung places that titillate us, enrich us and make us want to go to these interesting places from around the world.

Books are the window to a nation’s soul. Writers, creatives, readers and artists would carry a nation’s history forward no matter what the future brings. I salute The Trust newspapers for understanding this and promoting this demographic whose thoughts, ideas and stories will propel Nigeria into the 21st century, for celebrating our writers and novelists wherever they are in the world and bringing the world to us through books and literary festivals, interviews, reviews and much more. This robust literary thrust has also led unwittingly to improving Nigeria’s reading culture.

Three hearty cheers to a newspaper that has stood in the gap for Creatives and Readers in the last twenty years. As you soldier on, I wish you many more years of elevated and robust literary journalism.