Photo by Dirk Skiba

Ohio University Press has announced that it will publish a new edition of Eghosa Imasuen’s second novel, Fine Boys, in its Modern African Writers series.

Fine Boys was originally published in 2012 by Kachifo Limited. The novel follows a band of friends in a Nigerian University as they navigate a predatory world run by cultish militias called confraternities. Set in the 1990s, the novel has been praised for capturing a uniquely African moment at the cusp of the new millennium.

In an official statement shared via email, the Press states that the book is scheduled for fall 2021.

Nigerian writer, publisher, and medical doctor Eghosa Imasuen is under contract with Ohio University Press to publish a new edition of his second novel, Fine Boys. The book is scheduled for release in autumn 2021as part for the press’s Modern African Writing series.

The story, set in Nigeria during the 1990s, follows a group of college students caught between generational malaise and the alluring power of violent campus confraternities that test the men’s friendships and their futures. The novel thus mirrors the same forces of violence and lack of economic opportunities that plagued the nation at the end of the twentieth century.

Imasuen is excited about sharing the book with new readers. In a message to Brittle Paper, he said:

Fine Boys is a novel that is very close to my heart, and I’m looking forward to working with Ohio University Press’ Modern African Writers series as we present this book to an audience of new readers. It has been a long journey, and this culmination is the best that I could have hoped for. I want to, of course, thank Kachifo Limited’s Farafina imprint, who first took a chance on this story. This could not have happened without the work put in by the editors who published the first edition in Nigeria. This new Ohio University Press’ edition promises to be one of the most satisfying projects that I’ve worked on.

By being published in Ohio University Press’s Modern African Writers series, Imasuen joins a stellar cast of writers such as Billy Kahora, Chuma Nwokolo, Tendai Huchu, Imraan Coovadia, and Mukoma wa Ngugi who have also been published in the series.

Congrats to Imasuen and Ohio University Press.