Bøker av Ken Saro-Wiwa

THESE LETTERS AND poems are invaluable fragments of a living conversation that portrays the indomitable power in humans to stay alive in the face of certain death. Reading through the treasure trove of the letters and poems compiled here as The Last Writings of Ken Saro-Wiwa evoked such intense memories of his resolute struggles against an oil behemoth and a deaf autocratic government. His crusade frames one of the most tumultuous periods of Nigeria's history; his tragic story evokes anger and demands action to resolve the crises that first led the Ogoni people to demand that Shell clean up Ogoni or clear out of the territory. It was his leadership, in great part, that forced Shell out of Ogoni in January 1993. The letters are a testament of hope. Being one side of robust conversa­tions between two persons that many would find unlikely as close friends, we learn the lessons that indeed 'friends love at all times and brothers (and sisters) are born for adversity', as a proverb in the Bible states. This is where we must applaud Sister Majella McCarron for preserving and making pub­lic these letters that Ken Saro-Wiwa wrote to her between 20 October 1993 and 14 September 1995. The collection includes essays by the three editors, select bibliography and recommended resources.

Kole Omotoso, one of Nigeria's major writers, is always provocative. His writing is informed by a passionate concern for society and politics in Nigeria. This major work is a blend of fact and fiction dramatizing the first one hundred years of Nigeria. Most of the characters and incidents inthe book are real; the narrative is conceived and written as a novel. The story covers riots, uprisings, private hopes and griefsand coup d'etats -a history marred by violence, with an outcome satisfactory to none. The book was received as a major contribution to African writing, in its innovative style, and was awarded Special Commendation in the Noma Award for Publishing in Africa in 1989 , which described it as providing a more profound understanding than is available in conventional history books and novels.

Basi and Company was the first book of the hugely successful Nigerian comedy television series, which at its peak was watched by an estimated 30 million Nigerians. The New York Times described the show as 'Nigeria's hottest comedy show, [that] seems to have struck a chord because it lampoons modern Nigeria's get-rich-quick mentality'. Basi is an exceptional man, in keeping with the best traditions of tricksters in Yoruba folklore, satirising the get-rich-quick mentality. The author translated the folktale into a contemporary idiom, believing that this format accorded better with African narrative methods.

This title is part of the Longman African Writers series