Thursday, August 13, 2015

RICCI NIEKERK-GROENEWALD PUBLISHES THINGS UNSAID






South Africa has produced very fine women poets over the years - regardless of colour. From Ingrid Jonker, Colleen Higgs, Sindiwe Magona, Lebo Mashile, Napo Masheane, Philippa Yaa De Viliers, to Jah Rose
Jafta. One of the very latest female talents to emerge is Ricci Niekerk-Groenewald (below) who has just published her debut book (of poems) titled,  THINGS UNSAID.

Wednesday, August 5, 2015

THE WRITINGS OF WALE OKEDIRAN



By R Mokoena

Nigeria's Wale Okediran is easily one of Africa's most prolific writers of fiction. Think Meja Mwangi of Kenya, or David G Maillu - you get the idea. Or if you like, since Wale Okediran is also a qualified medical doctor, you might want to compare him with South Africa's Gomolemo Mokae, a revered medical doctor and creative writer. Oh, and by the way, Wale Okediran is also a formidable politician in his own right too! 

        
But of course, here we are mainly concerned with Wale Okediran the award-winning quality writer, who has been publishing his works for decades. The Bibliography of the man can be seen below, but we advise the general reader in Africa perhaps unfamiliar with this outstanding writer to try to lay their hands on some of his published work. 

  

As one would expect, Okediran is an erudite man; his varied intellectual pursuits and experiences guarantee this. He is a visionary and innovator, as witness what he has been doing for the world of writers as a whole for years.


Okediran is a mine of information, and again we encourage the general reader to at least scour the internet to garner more information on the man and his works. Here we reproduce just one miniscule comment of his:     


Okediran: "I enjoy Russian literature, especially the works of Pasternak and Dostoyevsky among others, because the Russia of their time had so many similarities with Nigeria of today. In fact, Dostoyevsky's The Possessed inspired my Dreams of Twilight. In Nigeria, Soyinka, Achebe, Osundare and many of our up and coming writers continue to fascinate me," 

Books by Wale Okediran

 Strange Encounters
The boys at the Border
Rainbows are for lovers
Dreams die at twilight
Sighs of desires
Tenants of the house
After the flood
 Storms of passion
The weaving looms: fiction
The Riot and other stories
Reflections on the engaging tripod of literature, medicine and politics