MBELLA SONNE DIPOKO (Cameroon)

Cameroonian writer Mbella Sonne Dipoko (1936 - 2009) was often largely depicted as an erotic writer of sorts; whereas the simple truth is that he was a very good novelist and poet.

His novels in particular disturbed a number of critics, reviewers and readers because of the rather explicit sexual content therein. That was way back in the 60s when some felt that a "serious, committed African writer" should not dwell too much on such things.

As Paul Theroux suggested then decades ago, African writers were supposed to write "about solid tribal wisdom, ghoulish rituals and the inscrutable cruelty of colonialism - not to mention the inclusion of semi-profound proverbs and the utterances of very old men with dry skin and wizened faces."

Yet, even way back in the 60s (and early seventies) other distinguished African writers wrote about sex in some detail in their works; for example Ayi Kwei Armah (especially in Fragments), Chinua Achebe (A man of the People), and even Soyinka. Naiwu Osahon (in Sex is a Nigger) was more or less in a special class of his own.

A lot of hypocrisy has always surrounded sex, in general. Nowadays many aficionados of literature would worry about some "explicit sex" in published works; though of course even an acclaimed novelist like Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has been panned by some critics for "excessive sex" in her works.

But back to the 60s when Mbella Sonne Dipoko was at his peak as a writer. Unashamedly he admitted that he personally loved sex, and enjoyed writing about it in his well-written books. In a rather famous interview (with Cameroon Life magazine) Dipoko said:

“I became, for many years what you might call a travelling lover, a dreamer searching for God between the women’s thighs – those days, when I was at the height of my intimate powers.

“You had to see me! I was like an angel stuffing recoilless erections into just where they are most needed – into the fleshy folds of winter! But I did it with rosy summers too, and each divine thrust was like stuffing your women with yet another trump card of desire! And, there was no Aids stalking through the world just to scare sensible chaps off sex…”

* Courtesy of Black African Literature blog

Major works by Mbella Sonne Dipoko

A few nights and days (1966)

Because of Women (1969)

Black and White in love (1972) 

ASSIA DJEBAR (Algeria)

Think about outstanding female writers from north Africa over the years. Chances are at least two female protagonists would spring to mind: the late Alifa Rifaat (from Egypt); and Assia Djebar (from Algeria). 

Assia Djebar was recognised for decades as a western-educated Algerian feminist, intellectual and spokesperson for Algerian women. Her body of powerful writing and publications reflect this.

Djebar as a top-notch intellectual ultimately won the Neustadt International Prize for Literature; and also the Yourcenar Prize. Yet she published her significant early works at a very young age, in her very early 20's - works like La Soif (1957) and Les Impatients (1958). Other works include Les Enfants du Nouveau Monde (1962) and Vaste a la Prison (1995). Djebar's works were translated into many international languages.

She was born in Cherchell, near Algiers, in 1936. Her writings were to stamp her out as essentially a defender of women's rights in her native Algeria. She achieved international renown as an academic, also going on to lecture at New York University.

Literary pundits, upon hearing of her death, expressed admiration and appreciation of her life and work - including the upliftment of women in North Africa in general. Leke Giwa for example said: "Assia Djebar was a brilliant writer, judging from English translations of her work. It has been quite numbing for African and international literature that she and world-class (South African writer and academic) Andre Brink died around the same time at the same weekend". 

Jane Hiddleston, writing about Assia Djebar, has said: “(Djebar) is "frequently associated with women's writing movements, her novels are clearly focused on the creation of a genealogy of Algerian women, and her political stance is virulently anti-patriarchal as much as it is anti-colonial,”

Suggested Reading

Islamic Culture and the question of women's human rights in North Africa: a study of short stories by Assia Djebar and Alifa Rifaat. By Naomi E. Nkealah

COLIN DIYEN (Cameroon)

One of the beauties of African literature is that all the countries have a number of talented writers who produce tantalising works on a regular basis. Colin Diyen for one is a talented writer from Cameroon who has published many works.   

His works generally attest to his versatility and fecund bent. In The Earth, Mungongon and the dwarf revolt, the author re-creates an alternative, bustling world with King Awobua an intriguing personality. 

On the other hand, in a work like Husband Consultant, Monsieur Diyen rather dishes out amusing, pensive reflections touching on male-female relationships, and idiosyncracies.   

Colin Diyen studied in Moscow at the Patrice Lumumba People's University, sequel to attending St Joseph College Sasse (Buea) and CCAST Bambili. Then he began to write - and write.    

Suggested Reading:

Perspectives on Written Cameroon Literature in English. By Shadrach Ambanason.       

Books by Colin Diyen

Ring Road "Safari". 

The earth fights back.      

Earth in Peril.   

Husband Consultant. 

Daddy.              

Wife Consultant. 

In the service of Satan.  

The Earth, Mungongon and the dwarf revolt

Earth

OMOSEYE BOLAJI (Nigeria)

By P. Lechesa

Omoseye Bolaji has been writing creatively practically his whole life! By his own account, he was already creating, writing and typing stories since he was a kid. Later on, whilst living in South Africa, he blossomed as a superb writer.

He is certainly one of the most prolific writers in Africa, despite his many other glittering selfless contributions to literature. His bibliography shows he has published close to 40 books straddling a myriad of genres, aside from thousands of journalistic pieces and articles over the years.

By the time he was a young man, Bolaji had not only published some early books of his, but made a name for himself in west Africa by publishing hundreds of short stories locally. He had also already published articles in Europe, including features for the international magazine, World Soccer which is distributed in most countries of the

world.

Some of Bolaji's early short stories would be published in another of his early books, They Never Say When (1994). Later on, he would publish another work of short stories, The Guillotine (2001), with his short stories also being published in many magazines, newspapers, and general books.     

Bolaji is known to many readers these days as the creator of the series of books usually

dubbed "The Tebogo Mystery series". Eight of these books have now been written and published by the author, the last one in 2012 (Tebogo and the Bacchae). But Bolaji has also published other general novels.

Omoseye Bolaji's major works of fiction were published within a few years of each other. Impossible Love, perhaps his most satisfying work of "art" came out in 2000. A year later saw the publication of The ghostly adversary, a brilliant thriller. In 2003 he produced his most acclaimed fictional work, People of the Townships.   

People of the Townships, based on the SA (black) townships is not a work of "violence" as one might expect; it is almost the opposite. The protagonist, Lefuo is a young, rather impoverished, seemingly docile man. He is something of an intellectual, a thinker. As critic Deon Simphiwe Skade has suggested he "did not see himself as belonging to (his own) society".

Remarkably, Bolaji in his novel, People of the Townships creates an unforgettable protagonist who seems very much at odds with his flawed society - reminiscent of similar protagonists who appear in books like Fragments (by Ayi Kwei Armah), The Voice (Gabriel Okara), and The madness of Didi (Obi Egbuna).           

Bolaji has published a play, The subtle transgressor, which is also based on the SA

townships. Reaction to the play has been mixed, with the general consensus being that at least the theme of the work is laudable: a shrill, imaginative condemnation of female abuse with very young ladies at the epicentre.   

As for Bolaji's poetry, it does appear that his fortunes here are rather plummeting. His early Snippets (1998) comes across as a collection of mainly superb poems;

Reverie (2006) is refined and a triumph; whilst Poems from Mauritius constitutes some sort of bathos.        

Some pundits have pointed out that in his recent writings, Bolaji has been focusing

essentially on literary criticism or literary evaluation and appreciation of other writers, books, and corpus. Certainly Thoughts on FS Writing (2002) focuses on pure literature, as does Cognoscenti (2016). There are also many chapters focusing on "pure literature" in Bolaji's books like My life and literature, Miscellaneous Writings, It

Couldn't Matter Less, and Far Up! Far Out! Far More!. But then again, in many of these aforementioned works, there are also powerful elements of the short story, vignettes, and imaginative nous.

Bolaji has gone out of his way to boost and encourage many other African writers, especially younger ones, over the years. This aspect of his formidable repertoire was particularly stressed when he was formally conferred with the Chancellor's Medal by the University of the Free State in 2007.    

Omoseye Bolaji has also been recognised with Lifetime Achievement Awards, alongside many other accolades. He was also conferred with a Chieftaincy title by the Olubadan (King) of Ibadan in appreciation of his contributions to literature. At least a dozen full-length books (studies) written by various authors have been published focusing on Bolaji's work, vision, and remarkable literary achievements.  

Books by Bolaji

Fiction

Impossible Love (2000)
Tebogo Investigates (2000)
The ghostly adversary (2001)
Tebogo’s spot of bother (2001)
People of the Townships (2003)
Tebogo Fails (2003)
Ask Tebogo (2004)
Tebogo and the haka (2008)
Tebogo and the epithalamion (2009)
Tebogo and the pantophagist (2010)
Tebogo and the Bacchae (2012)


Short stories

They Never Say When (1994)
The Guillotine (2001)
The Quack of Qwaqwa (2003)
You never know with Women (2002)

Poetry

Snippets (1998)
Reverie (2006)
Poems from Mauritius (2007)
Collected Poems (2013) - Mbali Press. Sponsored by NAC of South Africa

Literary essays/criticism

Thoughts on Free State Writing (2002)
Molebogeng Alitta Mokhuoa (2004)
Cognoscenti (2016)
Sorry You've Been Troubled (forthcoming)

Biographies

The story of Collins Mokhotho (2000)
Gilbert Modise: the man and the myth (2001)
My life and literature (2007)
Kunle Apantaku (2013)

Drama

The subtle transgressor (2006)


General

Eagles at USA 94 (1994)
The golden pen of Eselby (1994)
Fillets of Plaice (2000)
My Opinion (2005)
Miscellaneous Writings

It Couldn't Matter Less (2013)
Windmills of the Dames (2014)
Far Up! Far Out! Far More! (2014)

MAJOR STUDIES ON HIS WORK

Omoseye Bolaji: His Writings/Catalyst for FS Writing. By Pule Lebuso. 2001.
Omoseye Bolaji: Perspectives on his literary work. By Flaxman Qoopane. 2003
Omoseye Bolaji: Channelling one s thoughts onto paper. By Charmaine Kolwane. 2005
 
TEBOGO ON THE PROWL (Study on his creation, sleuth Tebogo Mokoena) By Petro Schonfeld. 2006
Omoseye Bolaji... On awards, authors, literature. By Pule Lechesa. 2007
THE CREST By Flaxman Qoopane. 2008
Omoseye Bolaji: Further perspectives. By Julia Mooi. 2009
OMOSEYE BOLAJI. By Hector Kunene. 2010
Interviews with effervescent Writers. Edited by Christine Mautjana. 2012. (pages 20 –39)
OMOSEYE BOLAJI: A voyage around his literary work. By Ishmael Mzwandile Soqaga. 2012
BOLAJI IN HIS POMP A bio-critical overview of writer Omoseye Bolaji . By Pule Lechesa. 2013
Omoseye Bolaji's Tebogo Mokoena (essays on Tebogo the fictional detective). Edited by Charmaine Kolwane. 2016