Ifedigbo, Olisakwe, Fasua pen the image of today’s reality …as they feature in ALS October BookJam

Ifedigbo, known for his love of social commentary, following his Sunday columns in Daily Times, blog sites and Twitter, recently channeled his passion to the creation of a full-length short story collection, The Funeral Did Not End, a collection of 20 captivating short stories ranging from current and persisting issues of politics, religion, social injustice, […]

Ifedigbo, known for his love of social commentary, following his Sunday columns in Daily Times, blog sites and Twitter, recently channeled his passion to the creation of a full-length short story collection, The Funeral Did Not End, a collection of 20 captivating short stories ranging from current and persisting issues of politics, religion, social injustice, culture and tradition.

Aba-based banker Ukamaka Olisakwe is the author of Eyes of a Goddess, her debut novel which throws light on the imperfections of a democratic system that emasculates the people.

Tope Fasua is a well-known newspaper columnist, who has put his creativity to the production of the non-fiction, Crushed, an introspective book on the issues debilitating economic and social development, with Nigeria as a case study.

The BookJam@Silverbird Abuja is a collaboration of the Abuja Literary Society and Silverbird Lifestyle. It holds every last Friday of the month and is anchored by co-host of the Abuja Poetry Slam, Jide Attah. The BookJam consists of book readings, book signings, musical presentations, raffle draw and a discussion by the guest writers. In addition, there is usually a special Slam poetry performance by some of Abuja’s finest Slam champions.

 

Nze Sylva Ifedigbo:

He has won several awards as a writer and an essayist. The most recent being the 2012 Grand Prize winner, National Youth Essay Contest. He won the second prize at the Ken Saro Wiwa, Candle Light Vigil Poetry and Writing Competition 2010,an Honorable mention, 2010UNESCO/GIO Peace Foundation Essay Contest for Young People, by Microsoft Internet Safety, Security and Privacy Initiative for Nigeria (MISSPIN) and YGC, Africa, National Essay Competition on CybercrimeCompetition and the Abuja Writers Forum, Short Stories Contest.

Several reviewers and commentators have described his stories as ‘well delivered with an understanding of where the ordinary blends with the profound.’  Perhaps, a better description is Australian writer and literary critic’s insightful view, ‘The stories in The Funeral Did Not End are varied in scope and theme, but all show the restless energy of a young author struggling and succeeding at encapsulating the tumultuous awakening of a nation convinced it is mighty and willing to show the world exactly what it can achieve.’

Nzedigbo wields successfully, the narrative voice, symbolism, simple diction, Irony, Imagery and allusions in telling reality with a dollop of the hyperbolic to deliver in a fresh light the mundane and an open-end technique bound to excite or irritate readers.

Ukamaka Olisakwe:

For Olisakwe, creative writing began after much encouragement from her friends and while trying to find an escapist means to create, and direct the world to the benefit and empowerment of females and the voiceless in society. She started out with flash fictions published in NaijaStories, an online based blog site for budding writers. Girl to Woman ignited the interest of Sentinel Nigeria, which later published her short story, Running. It was re-published by a South African Magazine, Short Story Day Africa.

Olisakwe has come some ways and waxing stronger. She is the moderator, AfricaReadsWritesTheVision, an online book club initiated by Dr. Claudette Carr of the Jethro Institute, London. The Book Club aims to encourage reading and thinking in Africans and successfully runs monthly book reading for its writers and readers the world over.

Her debut prose fiction, Eyes of a Goddess, is the story of a fifteen year old girl, Njideka, whose family gets mired in political intrigue when her father, broken and disillusioned after a peaceful protest, underwent drastic changes. It is the story of hardship, abuse and most importantly, the resilient spirit of those gasping for freedom.

Olisakwe was born and raised in Kano State where she had her primary and secondary education. She moved to the south east for higher education and currently resides in Aba, Abia State, where she works in a bank

Tope Fasua:

Fasua has been writing for the past six years in Sunday Trust newspaper where he has a weekly column. He is also published by other weeklies across the continent like Modern Times, Ghanaian Magazine, Africa Development Magazine, Inside Watch, This Day, Champion, The Sun Newspaper among others.

In writing his book, CRUSHED, Fasua seeks to examine the peculiar issues militating against economic and social development in Africa, using Nigeria as a case study.    The book has been acclaimed by pundits to be one of the best to have come out of Africa, in the non-fiction genre.

A graduate of Economics from the University of Ondo State, now Ekiti State University, in the year 1991, he became a member of the prestigious Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) in 1996. After thirteen-years experience in the banking sector, in 2005, he gained a Masters Degree in Financial Markets and Derivatives at London Metropolitan University. He has also attended executive programmes on Leadership and Strategy at the prestigious London Business School, and Harvard Business School.

Source: Abuja Literary Society