Good Fiction is Immortal

“Good fiction is immortal. Generations come and go, reading great literary works of the previous generations. Of course, readers are important in literature. Writers write because readers read.”

These are the words of the 2012 Commonwealth Short Story Prize-winning Nigerian author Jekwu Anyaegbuna for his story “Morrison Okoli (1955-2010). His commonwealth story is about Africans in the Diaspora. It is about Morrison, a Nigerian who spent several years away from home.  He lived a shady life of crime, and his story is revealed in flashback, after his corpse was brought to a cemetery for burial back home in Nigeria.

“Morrison Okoli (1955-2010)” is narrated in a way that is not only fascinating but also shocking for both the quality of imagery employed and the creativity of the author. More than words, Anyaegbuna makes symbols and imagery speak and carry his narration forward, directlyinto the reader’s heart and mind.

Anyaegbuna will be at this year’s Storymoja Hay Festival which runs from the 13th to the 16th September.  Along with other authors, he will address the topic “Who are contemporary African authors writing for?”