People of the City is the debut novel of Cyprian Ekwensi first published in 1954 by Andrew Dakers Ltd. The novel was a predecessor to a number of other city novels in the Nigerian tradition. [1]
People of the City is the debut novel of Cyprian Ekwensi first published in 1954 by Andrew Dakers Ltd. The novel was a predecessor to a number of other city novels in the Nigerian tradition. [1]
Ekwensi began writing the novel while studying pharmacy on scholarship at the University of London. [2] The novel, originated as a series of stories broadcast on the radio, for West Africans living in Britain after World War II. [3]
Critic Chidi Okonkwo, says that the primary influences for Ekwenksi when developing the novel and his writing style, included "Westerns, detective thrillers, oriental tales like Arabian Nights", "European-hero-in-Africa" tales, like those of H. Rider Haggard, adventure tales like Robert Louis Stevenson's, and Indian films." [3] Okonkwo describes these influences as obscuring Ekwensi's earlier experience translating African indigenous stories into English. [3]
The novel challenges European colonial dominance in Africa. [3]
Early reception of the novel was generally positive, focusing on the urban setting. [3]
A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest types of literature and has existed in the form of legends, mythic tales, folk tales, fairy tales, tall tales, fables and anecdotes in various ancient communities around the world. The modern short story developed in the early 19th century.
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Chinua Achebe was a Nigerian novelist, poet, and critic who is regarded as a central figure of modern African literature. His first novel and magnum opus, Things Fall Apart (1958), occupies a pivotal place in African literature and remains the most widely studied, translated, and read African novel. Along with Things Fall Apart, his No Longer at Ease (1960) and Arrow of God (1964) complete the "African Trilogy". Later novels include A Man of the People (1966) and Anthills of the Savannah (1987). In the West, Achebe is often referred to as the "father of African literature", although he vigorously rejected the characterization.
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Chief Cyprian Odiatu Duaka Ekwensi was a Nigerian author of novels, short stories, and children's books.
No Longer at Ease is a 1960 novel by a Nigerian author, Chinua Achebe. It is the story of an Igbo man, Obi Okonkwo, who leaves his village for an education in Britain and then a job in the Nigerian colonial civil service, but is conflicted between his African culture and Western lifestyle and ends up taking a bribe. The novel is the second work in what is sometimes referred to as the "African trilogy", following Things Fall Apart and preceding Arrow of God, though Arrow of God chronologically precedes it in the chronology of the trilogy. Things Fall Apart concerns the struggle of Obi Okonkwo's grandfather Okonkwo against the changes brought by the British.
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Jagua Nana is a 1961 novel by Nigerian novelist Cyprian Ekwensi. The novel was later republished in 1975 as part of the influential Heinemann African Writers Series.
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Charry Ada Onwu-Otuyelu is a Nigerian literature writer and the first female Director of Imo State Council for Arts and Culture. She is from Amaigbo in Imo State. She is a fiction writer of children's literature. She is an ex-soldier that worked with the Armed Forces medical service during the Biafran war. Her themes include folktales and history.
A Squatter's Tale is a 1997 novel by Nigerian author Ike Oguine. The novel focuses on the experience of African immigrants to the United States, and the challenges faced in the contemporary African diaspora. Other themes include discussion of African economic policies.
Phebean Ajibola Ogundipe, née Itayemi, OON (1927-2020) was a Nigerian author and civil servant. Writing as Phebean Itayemi, she became the first Nigerian woman to be published in English, after winning a British Council short story competition. She later published textbooks under the name P. A. Ogundipe.
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