RELISHING BOOKS AND LITERATURE...

By Leke Giwa

As a new year kicks off we can perhaps look at our reading habits – if it exists at all. A depressing fact in Africa is that too few people read for leisure, or just for the sake of literature.

Many times I have heard people lamenting that they have little guidance and there are too many books out there. This is true, but it is no excuse.

 If we go by number of authors - African authors alone - it must be admitted that over the decades so many fine authors have been writing in our continent. In Nigeria and South Africa, just a couple of countries, hundreds of excellent writers have emerged over the years.

This might surprise many, but it is true. Those who know about Nigerian literature would realise that apart from names like Achebe, Adichie and Soyinka so many other novelists, poets and playwrights exist. In South Africa once we include the white writers we can mention hundreds of writers from this country!

But the fact that African writers run into hundreds and more should not discourage us from reading. The fact that there is scant guidance for us in this wise should not discourage us. The fact that many of our libraries have been vandalised should not fill us with despair.

It should be taken as a positive that there are so many authors and books out there. Most of these books are no longer available or in print anyway. As our economies generally take a turn for the worse, few can also buy
new, or even old books.

But we should try to read as many books as possible, books written by many of our fine authors. One would expect that even young or younger writers would do all they can to read sample books written by the likes of Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Achebe, Camara Laye, Es'kia Mphahlele, Ayi Armah, Soyinka, Senghor etc

However with the internet there now, all lovers of literature can read about authors, books easily now - whether the books are available or not. One must admit that reading literature on the internet is often mainly superficial, as there is nothing like reading books in the original.

Yet reviews, essays, critiques of books on the internet can be invaluable. These days, even experts, scholars worldwide consult the internet everytime on authors and books. It is a very exciting process on its own as we are highly unlikely to be able to read most books anyway. For example, the information on this blog -
Black African Literature - is staggering.

As one advises our people to read as much as possible this year, it must also be pointed out that we often have our own favourite writers or books. This means that we cannot force anybody to love a particular writer or book, no matter how great they are! The reader will decide what author, or
which books appeal to them most. But we believe it is a "crime" not to read at all!