Soqaga reviews the book, KUNLE APANTAKU

Recently the world of literature was completely appalled by the demise of the celebrated African writer of all times and seasons, Mr Chinua Achebe.  

Astonishingly while his death is still very much fresh in the memory of many in the world of literature O Bolaji has produced another fine literary essay (book) dedicated to his friend Kunle Apantaku. Although he may not be famous in the literary world (like Achebe) Bolaji has successfully managed to write a book about him. 

This is another brilliant, breathtaking work of literature produced by Bolaji.  Those who are familiar with his books might tentatively think the book is one of the phenomenal fiction books of the author. Bolaji is largely known for his excellent fiction which attains popularity in many circles. However, in this new book dedicated to Kunle you find a rather different style of writing that is fundamentally imperative to quintessential literature.  

Unequivocally, the author is not afraid to ventilate his opinion concerning the current trends that attempt to change the tenor of idyllic literature.  “These days, books publishing, even among blacks in SA, has become something of a techni-colour ‘fashion show’.  The simple truth is that few people actually read the intermittent books churned out; the concern seems to be about how ‘beautiful’ the book looks physically. 

“In the good old days a large spectrum of people read books regularly, and they really enjoyed devouring the printed word.  There were in-depth discussions of books by the young and the old, and people took delight in replenishing their libraries even at home...”

Interestingly enough, the book is largely detailed in particular about what O. Bolaji summarised on Kunle Apantaku in his earlier book My Life and Literature. (2007).  What is central about this new book is that it provides outstanding general lessons about literature. Conspicuously, it explains how the protagonist (Kunle) experienced melancholic situation in congruence with his early frustrations.

Patently, we learn from this work that Kunle Apantaku was a precocious, brilliant person since his teens; he was able to write novels of more than 200 pages. He was a very ambitious and optimistic young man who wished by all means to become one of the greatest African writers idyllically acknowledged around the world.  His sacrifice for literature as a youth was gargantuan and incredible.  He was strongly affectionate about books and literature was his favourite subject; and amusingly he even emulated Bolaji’s hand-writing! 

We learn that books were Kunle’s treasure; as his then home in Kano (Northern Nigeria) had a splendid home library which had all kinds of literary material.  Bolaji had an opportunity to visit his family in those days and he was very impressed with the extraordinary family library of the Apantakus’.  

“It was clear that this was a family of bibliophiles.  I marvelled at the sprawling library which was almost like a small house on its own.  There were countless titles to choose from, including many of my personal favourites.  “How did you manage to build up such a library?”  I had to ask Kunle this question. Kunle smirked.  “My brothers and I love buying books regularly and my parents, my Father and Mother are only too keen to indulge this.  We receive generous allowance all the time.  And though my younger brothers are still kids they are already reading adult novels.  This one in particular “At this stage, Kunle with a saturnine smile, pointed at his baby brother Abiodun- “is already reading very big books like your Sidney Sheldon.  Lanre (the other brother) reads everything...”

Dolefully, Kunle Apantaku’s agony and suffering for literature was very excruciating; frustrations and fallacious expectations denied him the chance to potentially become one of the greatest African writers.  However, kudos to the author (Bolaji) who excellently manages to resurrect the literary spirit of Kunle Apantaku to the world.  Kunle was exceedingly passionate about literature!  

I strongly believe that this new book needs to be used as a guide to young people. Alas,  nowadays technology in particular - smart phones with electronic features like Facebook, Twitter and What’s up etc - gobbles up most of the time of young people; and subsequently literature in general is dwindling.  

Comprehensively, this book reveals a most interesting story about young boys who were so keen to be writers. The youth throughout the continent in Africa must make efforts to read and write books. It is completely unacceptable for literature to be the privilege or domain of only a few people, like academics. Inevitably, literature in Africa must flourish and avoid the current deteriorating situation.   

 - Review by Ishmael Mzwandile Soqaga

GLEE FOR ZOE WICOMB

The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale announced the inaugural winners of the Windham Campbell Prizes, a new global writer’s award created with a gift from the late Donald Windham and his partner, Sandy M. Campbell, and now one of the largest literary prizes in the world. Nine $150,000 prizes were awarded for outstanding achievement in fiction, nonfiction, and drama.

The recipients, who range in age from 33 to 87, are James Salter, Zoë Wicomb, and Tom McCarthy in fiction; Naomi Wallace, Stephen Adly Guirgis, and Tarell Alvin McCraney in drama; and Jonny Steinberg, Adina Hoffman and Jeremy Scahill in nonfiction.

“We hope to make this a truly global writer’s prize,” said Michael Kelleher, the prize program director. “Fifty-nine writers from around the globe were nominated, including from India, Pakistan, Jamaica, New Zealand, Australia, Trinidad & Tobago, South Africa, the United States, and the U.K.”

A prize jury in each category chose five finalists, from which the nine recipients were selected to receive awards. Prizewinners did not know they were nominated, and many expressed shock as well as gratitude on receiving the news.

“To say that I’m excited by this news is a pointless understatement,” said Adina Hoffman, author of “My Happiness Bears No Relation To Happiness,” a cultural biography of the late Palestinian poet Taha Muhammad Ali. “As a writer for whom archival sleuthing is part and parcel of the imaginative process, I’m especially thrilled to receive a prize administered by the Beinecke. The fact that the shared lives of Donald Windham and Sandy Campbell were grounded in a total devotion to literature and art, and the friendships that evolved around them makes this incredibly generous prize all the more meaningful.”

It was Windham’s wish that the prizes recognize writers at all stages of their careers, including younger writers and writers with bodies of work that deserve a wider audience. Zoë Wicomb, who is the author of the groundbreaking Apartheid-era story collection, “You Can’t Get Lost in Cape Town,” and is published primarily by small presses, is an example of the latter.

“For a minor writer like myself,” said Wicomb, “this is a validation I would never have dreamt of. I am overwhelmed — and deeply grateful for this generous prize. It will keep me for several years, and it will speed up the writing too since I can now afford to go away when the first draft proves difficult to produce in my own house,” she said.

All nine writers will accept the prize in person at a ceremony on Sept. 10. The ceremony will be followed by a literary festival celebrating the work of the prize recipients with a series of events in New Haven.

“Those we recognize this year are artists of the first order, and it is truly exciting to provide these authors with the means to develop their work in ways that will benefit all of us who love to read. We are all indebted to Donald Windham and Sandy Campbell for having created this legacy,” said President-elect Peter Salovey, who announced the winners.

·         First published by The Feminist Press

ADIEU, KUNLE APANTAKU

Adieu Kunle Apantaku

By O Bolaji

“Upon our son Larry James Olukunle Apantaku falls the hierarchy!” . This phrase will always haunt me to my grave; penned by Kunle Apantaku in his debut novel when he was a kid; the erstwhile Lagos-based lawyer and writer who has just died. Kunle was only 15 – 16 when he churned out his first remarkable novel – which alas was never published.

Kunle, a very close childhood friend of mine, was a born writer, a man with remarkable imaginative skills, nous and savvy. He should have gone on to become one of the greatest writers Nigeria and Africa has ever produced. Nigeria of course continues to lead the continent in this wise having produced the likes of Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Chukwuemeka Ike,John Munonye, Ola Rotimi, Ben Okri, Helon Habila, Chimama Ngozi,  Adochie, Sefi Ata among others.

What made Kunle a special case was that his extraordinary love for writing was complemented with rare skill in this wise from a very young age. Looking back on it now, the problem, apart from our naivety as regards publication as youngsters, was that we started too young. Kunle in fact was already light years ahead of his time by 18, having written two or three superb novels which SHOULD have been published and celebrated.

Now, this is not looking back at the past with rose-tinted spectacles. Kunle was the real deal; it is just that he never received a lucky break, the fillip that all writers need to get off the ground as it were. Kunle’s greatest moment came when at the age of 17,(we were both 17 years old then)  he and I had our manuscripts accepted for publication by Fagbamigbe Publishers, based in Ibadan, a major national and international publisher at the time.

Fagbamigbe Publishers was then printing and publishing fine quality fiction written by superb wordsmiths like Loius Omotayo Johnson, Kole Omotosho and Sola Oloyede among others, It was a heady feeling having our books accepted for publication!

As I wrote in one of my published books, My life and Literature (2007):

“It was probably the greatest day of our lives when Kunle and I met the editor of Fagbamigbe (Publishers) a few months later and he told us, “We are going to publish both your novels. You boys have done well.” To augment our joy, the then manager chipped in: “I read your manuscripts too. You (Kunle) will be a great writer. You (Bolaji) are too economical in your writing, but your ideas, and pace, are gripping.” Imagine our glee!

“But alas, two years passed and the manuscripts were not published (We were told they were being printed in England). We continually received assurances along the way but on my part, the doubts were surfacing. Then the publisher (owner of the firm) died (was brutally killed) and the publishing firm folded!...The effect in particular, on Kunle was devastating…”

(Pages 16 – 17, My Life and Literature)

Kunle and I went on to finish our tertiary studies at the time (at Obafemi Awolowo University). Essentially starry-eyed then, Kunle had always said to me with his lilting, humorous accent: “I am just getting this degree for the fun of it. I don’t give a damn about it. All I want to do is become a professional writer, living on the royalties from my published books,”

I had flinched even at that time; realizing only too well that this was unlikely to happen in real-life; but Kunle was an optimist – until he could no longer take the early frustrations that form the unsavoury warp and weft of a burgeoning writer. Yet Kunle had a zany zest for life, for music (he was incredibly crazy over Michael Jackson at the time; whilst I loved ABBA music in particular then). And although I loved Michael, too Kunle would often turn on me with his histrionic, mock-anger:

“Ki lo’n se e? (What is wrong with you?) Michael (Jackson) is the way to go…This is a boy who is worshipped around the world…(as if I didn’t know)” Thereafter Kunle would reel out extraordinary, updated information on the whole Jackson family including their parents, the sisters (LaToya, Janet) to all the male children. Kunle, for some reason was very fond of Randy (Michael’s younger brother) then.

Kunle also loved his original nuclear family. Even before I met them he would talk about his baby brother, Biodun (Sir Ted) “the most handsome boy in the world; the girls are in trouble!” and the baby girl, Yetunde “so beautiful it practically hurts”. And then during one holidays I travelled with him far far away to Kano (northern Nigeria) where their family was based then. And I met them all; magnificent, magnanimous family. I also met Kunle’s other younger brother, Lanre (now based in London), practical, zany, humorous, much wiser than his years…

But back to literature. There can be no doubt about it that if Kunle’s initial manuscript had been published by Fagbamigbe when he was a teenager he would have gone on to become one of the continent’s outstanding writers. That early break is very important, liminal, like an epiphany. A case in point is Ben Okri. Very early in his career he was frustrated by Nigerian publishers, but after moving overseas he published Flowers and Shadows at around 21 years of age…and look at him now! One of the world’s best.

In this wise, consider other great African writers who got published very young, and continued to grow by leaps and bounds. Like Ghana’s Ama Ata Aidoo. Like Congo’s Kama Sywor Kamanda. Like Zimbabwe’s legendary Tsitsi Dangarembga (world famous for Nervous Conditions, but had a play published whilst in her early 20’s)

But it was not to be for Kunle. He found himself descending downhill whilst still very young.  As I have said, he seemed to peak too early, even before 20; or rather, the frustration at the time was too much for him to bear which engendered transcendent bitterness, confusion, doubt, and patent disenchantment about the unfairness of life generally. Nor did it help that Kunle destroyed his early manuscripts decades ago in a fit of pique.

Kunle, much later on in life would derive some vicarious satisfaction that on my own part (a literary talent much lesser than his) I would go on to make my mark as a writer of some note. But if we are honest and blunt, what type of satisfaction is that when his own palpable life ambition to become a successful writer was truncated in devastating fashion?  It was also of little consolation to Kunle that though I have published some 30 books myself till date, I still consider myself largely as a failure.

Rest in peace, great friend…

“DR COOL” BOUND FOR GRAHAMSTOWN

“DR COOL” REVELS IN GRAHAMSTOWN TRIP

Seiso “Dr Cool” Mpete (above) is one of the 18 writers in the Free State who were bound for the Grahamstown National Arts Festival this year (June 29 to July 7).

The 22 year old hopes to launch his audio book called “New Civilization” to the world of artists who will be converging at the arts festival the next coming weeks.

According to Mpete, the arts festival hopes to expose his talent to a wide market where he will be able to expand his brand.

“We are hoping to expand our brand as Free State writers and hoping to get recognition for the work that we have done,” he said.

Mpete who is a poet, writer, hip hop artist and film-maker said the group was funded by the Department of Arts, Culture and Recreation in the province will be funding their one week stay.

According to him, the support they received from government is beneficial to the growth of Free State literature.

Mpete is one of a few writers who are able to write in their mother tongue languages (Sesotho). He is remembered for his poem “Rohaka Modimo wa hao” meaning curse at your God which is a poem about how people have turned away from God. It is a controversial poem which aims to question people’s faith in God.

Another of his most common poems include “Ba re na ebe ke tswa kae” meaning ‘they ask where I come from’ which is a poem about a warrior who returns home to reclaim his kingdom.

According to Mpete, most of his Sesotho work was inspired by his father, Thabiso who still lives with his mother, Violet Mpete in Botshabelo Township 45km outside of Bloemfontein.

Mpete said he remembers his father, reciting Sesotho poems at a very young age. “He used to recite them to me and for some reason, that passion was instilled and grew inside me. He was my mentor in a way and without realizing it, harnessed something great in me,” he said.

 Mpete said the support he received from both his parents is what had sustained him and motivated him to achieve success. “My mother, although not a writer, said a few simple words to me that resonates within me till today. She said a man is judged by his actions rather than his words I have strived to live by,” he said.

Mpete was exposed to poetry at a young age but began writing in 2001, in primary school. In later years he learned to write in both English and Sesotho but the ones people seem to remember are the ones written in mother tongue. 

He then opened a poetry group called African Mind Speakers at Pertunia High School in Bloemfontein when he was in grade 11. “I moved from one school to the next but it was when I went to Pertunia when I began a poetry club,” he said.

Mpete said one of the major challenges was that writers did not read and said that the only way they could measure their growth is by judging themselves according to the standard out there.

According to him, he has travelled to Angola to market himself and expose himself to a different culture of writers.

“Most of the Angolan writers I met were mostly Spanish speaking and so language was one of the barriers of communication. Although many of the writers did not understand Sesotho, it was surprising to find that most of them enjoyed the Sesotho ones. They said they enjoyed the tone of the poems and my stage performance and that for me was a humbling experience,” he said.

Mpete said that he hopes to take the Angolan experience and take it to the Grahamstown Arts Festival. 

-  Neo Mvubu

VISITING THE NATIONAL LIBRARY, PRETORIA

VISITING THE NATIONAL LIBRARY, PRETORIA

By Kgang Abel Motheane

I had a wonderful, illuminating visit to the National Library of Pretoria. I was welcomed by stalwarts Margaret Kibido and Narios, and Prof John Tsebe the CEO of the library and the other staff. What was amazing was the spacious area where books were kept and displayed, all things are allocated electronically.

I was accompanied by my son-in-law, Tshepo John Baleni. The other department that roused my curiosity when Maggy showed us that, that section is where books are washed with chemicals, if students for example have dirtied the books, coffee or tea or any substances – like grease - has spoiled the books. There is also the binding section and repairing of books’ section.

There is also the auditorium that accommodates three hundred people. There is also a spacious hall that accommodates people for conferences. The books are the most important factor; there is the section of books where the books of the politicians that were banned during the time of apartheid, books like Steve Biko’s, Mandela’s, Sobukwe’s and the others.

The comment that Prof John Tsebe and fellow workers said that the Free State Authors are making a great deal impact in literature in the Free State, they said Bloemfontein writers beat and achieved more than the other provinces. The Bloemfonteiners must hoist the flag of literature up all the time!

As an extra bonus, we also visited where Dr Nelson Mandela is hospitalized – journalists from all over the world were watching and capturing with cameras around the hospital listening to what might happen to the former President (Mandela). The place witnessed a heavy traffic of cars, people, journalists; but they were kept outside the hospital, they even slept on the caravans.

I am fortunate to have experienced the history of our former President.

*Kgang Motheane is the author of several published titles