Female Fear Factory
£12.99Patriarchy does not respect national boundaries. It is unabashedly promiscuous in its influences and tethers. Yet, it does use nationalism very productively.
An empty street at night. A crowded bus. A lecture hall. All sites of female fear, instilled in women and those who have been constructed female, from an early age.
Drawing on examples from around the world – from Uganda, Nigeria, South Africa to Saudi Arabia, the Americas and Europe, Gqola traces the construction and machinations of the female fear factory by exposing its lies, myths, and seductions. She shows how seemingly disparate effects, like driving bans, street harassment, and coercive professors, are the product of the ever-turning machinery of the female fear factory, and its use of fear as a tool of patriarchal subjugation and punishment.
Female Fear Factory: Unravelling Patriarchy’s Cultures of Violence is a sobering account of patriarchal violence in the world, and a hopeful vision for the work of unapologetic feminist imaginative strategies across the globe.
Formation: The Making of Nigeria from Jihad to Amalgamation
From £6,000.00Formation tracks the unlikely series of events and characters that led to the creation of the modern Nigerian nation: from 1804 when the first Jihadists began their attack on a collection of independent nations to 1914 when the current shape of Nigeria was completed as a British colony through amalgamation. Formation challenges the orthodox understanding of Nigeria’s past as merely a product of colonial interference, revealing an incredibly complicated portrait of a nation with a tangled history, where slavery, violence and instability was and remains a primary organising principle for elite competition and political negotiations.
Influential figures loom large over the narrative including: Usman dan Fodio, the revolutionary Islamic reformer and founder of the Sokoto Caliphate, Efunroye Tinubu, the prominent slave-trader and political figure, Fredrick Lugard, British colonial administrator, Nana Asma’u, revered poet and teacher, Samuel Ajayi-Crowther, Yoruba linguist and first Nigerian Anglican Bishop, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, political campaigner, suffragist and mother to Fela Kuti, maverick British statesman and industrialist, Joseph Chamberlain, alongside other well-known and many less familiar names. Formation uses colourful character sketches and first-hand reporting to show how local events and characters are intertwined with global occurrences over the period.
Coming on the 60th anniversary of the end of formal colonial rule in Nigeria, Formation arrives at a critical time when the world is reawakening to the struggles of Black people re-ignited by the police killing of George Floyd and the activism around Black Lives Matter. This book grounds these struggles, guiding readers into the 19th century events of Africa’s most populous country where through slavery and colonialism, the terms of trade were calculated in human currency, creating an environment of deep-seated mistrust, animosity and a universally morbid and hard to dislodge political economy.
Making Futures
From £4,400.00This collection tells the story of an emerging Africa, through the eyes of some of the youngest and most promising African entrepreneurs. Charting the stories of 17 entrepreneurs working in different industries and across Africa, Making Futures: Young Entrepreneurs in a Dynamic Africa showcases the young women and men who are taking charge of their destinies and building business enterprises and innovative non-profits to radically change their lives and the lives of their communities.
Making Futures equips readers with intimate knowledge about the markets and growth across the region, and how young creative entrepreneurs are identifying problems as opportunities and seeding growth in a continent that has been long overlooked, but is poised for explosive growth and opportunity, enabled by technology.
Be(com)ing Nigerian: A Guide
From £2,000.00Nigeria Pub Date: 6th February 2019
UK Pub Date: July 2019
“The Nigerian god loves money. Because money answereth all things. You know how Nigeria is, things may be difficult, but they are always possible with money.”
In Be(com)ing Nigerian: A Guide, Elnathan John provides an affecting, unrestrained and satirical guide to the Nigerians you will meet at home and abroad, or on your way to hell and to heaven. A religious tells you It is a searing look at how power is abused, negotiated and performed in private and public; in politics, business, religious institutions and in homes. From the exploration of religious hypocrisy to inequality in matters of the heart, the collection is a jab at Nigerian society and what it means to be a Nigerian. Beyond poking fun at the holders of power, it is also a summons, a provocation and a call for introspection among all levels of society. As is often said in Nigeria, when you point with one finger, there are four others pointing back at you.
This engrossing read is a must-have for seasoned Nigerian-watchers and a uniquely informative guide for newcomers to Nigeria, with its tongue-in-cheek look at Nigeria’s relationship to itself and the world, both culturally and politically.
She Called Me Woman
From £2,400.00“We decided to put together this collection of thirty narratives to correct the invisibility, the confusion, the caricaturising and the writing out of history.”
This stirring and intimate collection brings together 30 unique narratives to paint a vivid portrait of what it means to be a queer Nigerian woman. Covering an array of experiences – the joy and excitement of first love, the agony of lost love and betrayal, the sometimes-fraught relationship between sexuality and spirituality, addiction and suicide, childhood games and laughter – She Called Me Woman sheds light on how Nigerian queer women, despite their differences, attempt to build a life together in a climate of fear.
Through first-hand accounts, She Called Me Woman challenges us to rethink what it means to be a Nigerian ‘woman’, negotiating relationships, money, sexuality and freedom, identifying outside the gender binary, and the difficulties of achieving hopes and dreams under the constraints of societal expectations and legal terrorism.
She Called Me Woman is full of beautifully told stories of resistance and resilience, joy and laughter, heartbreaks and victories, collecting the realities of a community that will no longer be invisible.
Editors: Azeenarh Mohammed, Chitra Nagarajan and Rafeeat Aliyu | Print ISBN: 978-1911115595 | E-Book ISBN: 978-1911115601 | Format: Flapped paperback | No. of Pages: 344 | Pub. Date: 26th April 2018
Longthroat Memoirs
From £4,000.00WINNER – JOHN AVERY AWARD, THE ANDRE SIMON FOOD & DRINK BOOK AWARDS 2016
“One of the most enduring myths on the Nigerian Femme Fatale – mammy-water, ‘winch’ or husband-snatcher – has to do with the cooking of fish stew … A woman can do what she likes with a man when she knows how to satisfy his appetite for food.”
Longthroat Memoirs presents a sumptuous menu of essays about Nigerian food, lovingly presented by the nation’s top epicurean writer. As well as a mouth-watering appraisal of the cultural politics and erotics of Nigerian cuisine, it is also a series of love letters to the Nigerian palate. From innovations in soup, fish as aphrodisiac and the powerful seductions of the yam, Longthroat Memoirs examines the complexities, the peculiarities, the meticulousness, and the tactility of Nigerian food.Nigeria has a strong culture of oral storytelling, of myth creation, of imaginative traversing of worlds. Longthroat Memoirs collates some of those stories into an irresistible soup-pot, expressed in the flawless love language of appetite and nourishment.
Author: Yemisi Aribisala | Print ISBN: 978-1911115267 | E-Book ISBN: 978-1911115274 | Format: Flapped Paperback | No of Pages: 405 | Pub Date: 10th October 2016
Highlife Giants
From £2,400.00‘Highlife is the only music in this country that has stood and will continue to stand the test of time.’ – Victor Olaiya
As West Africa’s oldest form of popular music, highlife was the soundtrack of the independence era. Its influence still resonates today.
Highlife Giants is an intimate portrait of the pioneering artistes of West Africa’s music scene from the 1920s onwards. It contains interviews with stars such as E.T Mensah, Kofo Ghanaba, King Bruce, Bobby Benson, Victor Uwaifo, and Ignace De Souza revealing priceless behind-the-scenes moments such as Louis Armstrong giving Eddie Okonta a trumpet with a golden mouthpiece after seeing him perform. Highlife Giants charts the development of this rich and varied popular form which is hugely influential on contemporary West African music from Afrobeat to hiplife.
Blending European and African-American styles with traditional African patterns, highlife music contributed to the development of post-independence national identity in both Ghana and Nigeria. As such, highlife remains crucial in generating social commentary, protest and contributing to the formation of a pan-African musical identity.
For those who lived through the era, Highlife Giants will be a compendium that invokes treasured memories. For their children and grandchildren, this book will inspire an interest in the rich musical history of West Africa
Author: John Collins | Print ISBN: 978-1911115298 | E-Book ISBN: 978-1911115304 | Format: Paperback | No. of Pages: 344 | Pub Date: 2016
Safe House
From £3,200.00In a collection of creative essays that ranges from travel writing and memoir to reportage, Ellah Wakatama Allfrey brings together some of the most talented writers of creative nonfiction from across Africa.
A Ghanaian explores the increasing influence of China across the region; a Kenyan student activist writes of exile in Kampala; a Liberian scientist shares her diary of the Ebola crisis; a Nigerian writer travels to the north to meet a community at risk; a Kenyan travels to Senegal to interview a gay rights activist and a South African writer recounts a tale of family discord and murder in a remote seaside town.
This anthology contains a range of unforgettable stories by authors from across Africa and presents personal views of contemporary issues in an accessible and thought-provoking manner.
Editor: Ellah Wakatama Allfrey | Print ISBN: 978-1911115168 | E-Book ISBN: 978-1911115175 | Format: Paperback | No of Pages: 240 | Publication Date: 2016
Soldiers Of Fortune
“This book is the story of Nigeria’s political journey between January 1, 1984 and August 27, 1993. This is the story of how things fell apart.”
The years between 1984 and 1993 were momentous for Nigeria. Military rule crafted the conditions and character of today’s society, forcing cataclysmic changes on the political, economic and religious landscape that nearly tore the country apart on several occasions.
Soldiers of Fortune is a fast-paced, thrilling yet objective analysis of the major events of the Buhari and Babangida eras. It reveals the true story behind past controversies such as the annulment of the June 12 election, the execution of Mamman Vatsa, the foiled kidnapping of Umaru Dikko, the Orkar coups and the assassination of Dele Giwa.
Historian and lawyer Max Siollun gives an intimate, fly-on-the-wall portrait of the major events and dramatis personae of the period. Soldiers of Fortune is a must-read for all Nigerians and Nigeria- watchers. Its dramatic narrative style will engage casual or academic readers alike.
Author: Max Siollun | Print ISBN: 978-9785023824 | Format: Hardback | No of Pages: 336 | Pub Date: 2013
A Stranger’s Pose
From £2,000.00A Stranger’s Pose is an evocative and mesmerising account of travels across different African cities. With lyrical and absorbing prose, Emmanuel invites the reader to share in his travels, and the encounters he made along the way. Alongside these depictions of new places and people is a compelling, and very personal, meditation on the meaning of home, and the importance of intimacy to a lone traveller. Through these vignettes – an arrest in a market in N’djamena, meeting the famed photographer Malick Sidibe in Bamako, speaking with a migrant in Tangier who says “the sea is the only way,” – Emmanuel showcases the generosity of strangers, the power of language and translation, and much more, accentuated by a curated selection of captivating photographs.
Author: Emmanuel Iduma | Print ISBN: 978-1911115496 | E-Book ISBN: 978-1911115502 | Format: Flapped paperback | No. of Pages: 216 | Pub. Date: 16th October 2018