Nigerian author Obinna Udenwe is the featured author in our series on what African writers are reading. He tells us what he is currently reading but also shares his to-be-read list, in addition to books he’s read in the past and really loved. Udenwe won the Chinua Achebe Prize for Literature last year. His novel Colours of Hatred was a finalist for the 2021 NLNG Nigeria Prize for Literature. His collection of short stories The Widow Who Died With Flowers in Her Mouth will be released by Masobe Books before the end of 2022. 

Feel free to use the list to update your TBR list, and make sure to share with friends and family. If you see a book you love, simply hit the “buy link” and start reading. 

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There are great novels being published every other day in Africa that it is now very difficult to keep up with them. I am currently reading The Mechanics of Yenagoa, which I must confess I find very humorous. It is like reading Allah is Not Obliged. When I read Iweala’s Speak No Evil last year, it affected me deeply and it surprised me as well. I think the book deserves more attention than it got. I also liked the simplicity in Verissimo’s A Small Silence and in Let’s Tell This Story Properly, Makumbi proved to be a master storyteller, one of the best short story writers from the continent.

I really look forward to reading Some Angels Don’t See God by Ever Obi because the title is captivating and because I recently read his Men Don’t Die so would like to know if he’s improved after that. In fact, it is the book of the month for July at our book club. I am sure that Believers and Hustlers by Ifedigbo would make a great read as his other book My Mind is no Longer Here — my dad loved it deeply.

I would like to know if T J Benson continued in his surrealism style in People Live Here. I read The Mad House and thought the idea very experimental, but I think he needs to improve on it. I look forward to seeing what he has done with People Live Here. And for Mbolo Mbue and Bulawayo, they are both goddesses, as far as i know, so I am in awe and look forward to devouring their latest works.