How Wole Soyinka Inherited the Drama of the Gods — and Shadowed the Nigerian Tragedy Since the 1950s, the Nobel laureate has worked in rebellion, carving out a complex, fecund torque of an oeuvre. But as his plays of mythic vigor and Yoruba impulse revitalized Anglophone theatre, raising an art form to ritualistic heights, his force of personality kept him in the political arena, a close witness of an African affliction. Few artists have lived like him. Yet at 91, carrying the mantle of “greatest living writer,” he has one more great battle on his hands — with generations who once deified him. opencountrymag.com/wole-soyi…

Afreximbank (@afreximbank) has announced the third edition of the CANEX Prize for Publishing, an arm of the CANEX Book Factory. Narrative Landscape Press Limited (@NarrativeLscape) is proud to support this initiative as a resource partner. The CANEX Prize for Publishing was inaugurated by Afreximbank in November 2023 and aims to promote and celebrate excellence in African and Caribbean publishing. Beginning this year, the Prize now reaches beyond the African continent into the wider African diaspora via the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and its environs (Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Brazil, and Panama). Delivered as part of CANEX Book Factory 2026, the Prize contributes to long-term intellectual property development, intra-African cultural trade, and the sustainability of Africa-Caribbean’s creative economy. The Prize is for trade books first published by African and Caribbean publishers on the continents in the preceding year. Thus, for this third edition, books published in 2025 are eligible. Submissions will be judged on the quality of writing, editing and production. A USD20,000 prize will be awarded to the publisher of the best trade book in 2025. Additionally, four finalists will each receive USD2,000 in prize money. The winner will be awarded during the CANEX WKND to be held in Lagos, Nigeria, between 5-8 November, 2026. CANEX invites publishers in Africa to submit published trade books for the inaugural CANEX Prize for Publishing in Africa. To submit your entry, please visit bookfactory2026.evalato.com/. For enquiries, please email pubprize@narrativelandscape.com. #opportunity #ocm #CANEX

I beg to differ, but there are tons of Nigerian culture journalists who can pull this off. Tons! The good people at @OpenCountryMag, for example, like Paula Willie-Okafor (one of the most talented literary journalists I know) and @BubeOrji, who is brilliant to boot. (Check out his profile of @Tai_Egunjobi). Then there is @esomnofu_e and @officialtodah. The real problem is that there is no inspiring reward system for this kind of work, which is connected to the fact that there is little demand for it. But I'm also convinced these talents can effectively translate their work into audio or video form to meet audience needs, provided there is a sufficient reward system.

“When people say, for instance, that we failed to practice democracy in Africa (for instance), they assume that we were taught democracy during colonial rule and that we somehow betrayed our education. That is not the case. That is not true at all. The colonial regime itself was not a democratic system. It was an extreme form of totalitarianism…” In this 1988 interview on “A World of Ideas with Bill Moyers,” the acclaimed Chinua Achebe challenged the assumption that Africa’s post-independence struggles reflected a failure to absorb democratic values transmitted under colonial rule. The interview was recorded six years before the end of apartheid, when South Africa remained under white minority rule. Source: @ConflictEchoes #OpenCountryMag #ChinuaAchebe #AfricanLiterature #Viral

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Booker Prize (@TheBookerPrizes) winner Ben Okri (@benokri), author of “The Famished Road,” and Ghanaian rapper Delasi (@Delasimusic), with the EP “The Audacity of Free Thought,” in a deep, rare reflection on storytelling, art forms, and their quests for origins. opencountrymag.com/a-richnes…

Director, producer, and screenplay writer Ebuka Njoku and producer Lorenzo Menakaya (@LorenzoMenakaya) on their professional journeys and the making of their Netflix No. 1 hit. opencountrymag.com/how-yahoo…

As a salesman of youth power, Africa’s most influential millennial curator (@Chude) reinvented himself from new media maven to political power player, and, now, a wellness advocate. Each iteration transformed culture. One left him scarred. opencountrymag.com/cover-sto…

Whenever he begins a new book, part of Galgut's grapple is to find the story's voice, a mode different from previous books but consistent in conveying his "authentic innermost call." He did not think he had arrived at a point where he could say he had his own voice. You can read “The Methods of Damon Galgut” here: opencountrymag.com/cover-sto…

Originally planned for December 2021, to mark our first anniversary, our in-depth special issue profiles 16 African writers and curators who have impacted, disrupted, reshaped, and even created literary culture in the last five years. opencountrymag.com/the-next-…

Born into the music of one of Nigeria’s most famous families, Yeni Kuti is working to preserve the great legacy of her father Fela. opencountrymag.com/folio-nig…

Grace Yakubu created the documentary series Haske Matan Arewa so that northern Nigerian women could “see that they are capable of greatness.” opencountrymag.com/folio-nig…

“I want to say peculiarity is the order of the day, since the process is quite different each time. But I’m also relatively habitual; I do my same old things and in time I find the poems have a certain shape when collected. My approach with all my books was to work language through cognitive and emotional experience; I had been writing all these poems (which would become Painted Blue with Saltwater) when I was suddenly approached by the idea of a recipe book as conceit, and How to Cook a Ghost was drafted in basically no time,” says the poet Logan February in our 2022 Next Generation series. opencountrymag.com/logan-feb…

Tems in her acting bag for the what you need video 🪽

LIPFest Craft and Development Lab (@LagosPoetryFest), a new four month virtual development program for poets, spoken word artists, and writers from Nigeria and the African diaspora opens call for submission. The Lab builds on the Lagos International Poetry Festival’s long standing commitment to nurturing literary talent and supporting the development of ambitious contemporary African writing and performance practices. Cohort 1 will feature facilitation and mentorship from Romeo Oriogun, Titilope Sonuga, and Nick Makoha. Applications are currently open and close on Friday, 3 July 2026. #opportunity #lipfest #africanliterature

Behind Funke Akindele’s 7.2-billion-naira box office dominance is Valentine Chukwuma, her top editor at Scene One Productions. In an industry that overlooks underdog talents, the 31-year-old, who once made skits to escape poverty, has cut five of its six most profitable films of all-time. opencountrymag.com/film-edit…

The Nigerian social critic riled up online controversies through blunt, unsparing commentary on African literature, politics, and establishment culture. His style has been criticized as abrasive, dismissive, and even unfair. But, in his persistent alarm, he foresaw a moral decay. opencountrymag.com/ikhide-ik…

The Gbagyi are an ethnic minority in Nigeria’s vastly diverse Northern Central region, with scant representation in mainstream arts and literature. With Before the Mango Ripens, a historical novel set during a 1970s Christian tussle, an emigrant daughter shares an untold chapter. opencountrymag.com/afabwaje-…

That’s my GOAT.

Great writing