Nigerian writer and activist Chitra Nagarajan will release a nonfiction collection that includes first-hand accounts of people living through the Boko Haram conflict. Titled The World Was in Our Hands, the collection is set to publish on November 21 in the UK and on March 21 in the U.S. by Cassava Republic Press.

Nagarajan’s collection has been described as “moving, often provocative, and ultimately vital” by the publisher. The World Was in Our Hands paints a picture of the Boko Haram conflict that is much broader than what has been captured through news coverage. It covers diverse themes such as patriarchy, the economy, climate change, and corruption.

Nagarajan is a prominent Nigerian journalist and author. She has written on a variety of topics including climate change, feminism, foreign policy, migration, Nigeria and the wider Lake Chad region, race and sexual orientation, and gender identity and expression. She brings the wealth of experience with writing about Nigeria through various lenses and  for many years to the book.

The collection provides an insight into the “realities of those living through the conflict, making this an essential cultural archive.” It includes first-hand accounts from a wide variety of groups including abducted girls, brash soldiers, community leaders, and simple fishermen.

Nagarajan is known for her ground breaking collection She Called Me Woman: Nigeria’s Queer Women Speak (2018), co-edited with Azeenarh Mohammed and Rafeeat Aliyu. The book captured the experiences of queer Nigerian women and the complications of living and loving in a world defined by intolerance. This new collection centering the voices of people living under the threat and shadow of Boko Haram promises to be as in-depth, humane, and illuminating.

Congrats to Nagarajan on the forthcoming nonfiction collection!