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October/November 2023

Dipo Faloyin

‘I’m Not Afraid of a Blank Page’ Dipo Faloyin’s First Draft

Nigerian journalist and author of Africa Is Not a Country, Dipo Faloyin, was frustrated by the fact that when most people think of Africa, they picture one of two things, poverty or safari: ‘I wanted to create something that both dispelled those myths while painting a comprehensive, reality-based picture of the past, present, and future of the continent.’
First DraftInterviewsNigeriaOctober/November 2023
DK Nnuro

‘I Had to Treat My Debut Novel Like a Job’ DK Nnuro’s First Draft

Ghanaian novelist and author of What Napoleon Could Not Do, DK Nnuro, says his debut novel was inspired by his experiences: ‘Since relocating to the US from Ghana, I have had one foot firmly placed among Black immigrants—Ghanaian immigrants, specifically—and another among Black Americans. It was natural that I would explore the tensions between the two in a novel.’
First DraftGhanaInterviewsOctober/November 2023
Chukwuma Nzeogwu

Revolutionaries or Opportunists? Chukwuma Nzeogwu and the Contradictions of African Coups

As African nations continue to experience a resurgence of coups and the kind of political instability that characterized the 1960s-80s, it is important to draw lessons from the past. For the part he played in instigating one of Nigeria’s bloodiest coups, Major Chukwuma Nzeogwu is mostly remembered in infamy. But was he a misunderstood revolutionary or a bloodthirsty opportunist?
Best of 2023: EssaysNigeriaOctober/November 2023