Brittle Paper is delighted to present the 2024 Social Media Influencer of the Year award to Anthony Ikechukwu Chielo (@ikegod.chielo) in recognition of his work creating digital content around African writing and literary culture.
The rise of social media book influencers, or “Bookstagrammers” and “BookTokers,” has changed how readers discover and interact with books. In recent years, African content creators have embraced digital platforms to bring African books into global conversations. Among them is Chielo, whose Instagram account has been active for less than two years but is already pushing boundaries on how readers encounter African books.
Chielo has gone to extraordinary lengths to create video content for books: shooting a review for When We Were Fireflies by Abubakar Adam Ibrahim on a train from Abuja to Kaduna, filming a review for Fatima Bala’s Broken: Not a Halal Story inside the National Mosque in Abuja, and driving over 581 kilometers to review Chigozie Obioma’s The Road to the Country at the War Museum in Umuahia, Abia State.
We were curious about why he took such extraordinary measures for a “book review. From our conversation with him, it is clear social media content is so much more than reviews. The videos he creates are extensions of the reader’s experience with the book. Content creation is essentially an act of world-building—connecting African literature to readers in ways that immerse them in the story’s setting and cultural context. Little surprise that in addition to building his own stream of content on social media, he holds the position of social media and community manager for Masobe Books. And, as everyone knows, Masobe’s social media strategy is a key part of their success in publishing.
Even though Chielo is at the forefront of using social media to enrich literary discourse, his connection to literature began with a 20th-century African classic: Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart. Growing up in Nyanya at the border of Abuja and Nasarawa in Nigeria with two younger brothers, Chielo attended a Catholic school run by missionaries, where he first had the opportunity to buy and read books. His first encounter with African literature was memorable. He remembers a day from when he was around 10 years old when his father recited the opening lines of William Butler Yeates’ “The Second Coming” in the epigraph ofThings Falls Apart. “I went nuts,” he recalls, and proceeded to ask his father about the poem, how he knew it, how he could recite it from memory. That occurrence and his family’s inspired a love for African literature that he carries with him to this day. Chielo feels the impact of books strongly:
“Books are how I make sense of the world. They feel like the globe compressed into pages, and so I carry them with such reverence and care, knowing that within those pages lies, however minute or grand, the stories of real people (fiction or not). It is such an honor to experience that.”
Chielo is aware of the privilege it takes to be able to purchase books. From the time he was gifted his father’s copy of Things Fall Apart, he would not own a book until his mother gave him Achebe’s final book There Was a Country in 2013. It was this awareness that led to his idea of digital content creation. Instagramming about books is not only an outlet for Chielo’s passion, but also a community-building endeavor: “There is a saying that content is king but community is queen, and so creating digital content around books was my way of growing a community of like minds who love to dine within the pages of books.” Chielo sees digital content creators as an important part of the publishing industry that helps readers make informed choices about what books to spend money on.
When he first started, he couldn’t afford to purchase books and so cold-emailed the publishing house Masobe Books with a digital content plan: they would send him books and Chielo would create content around them. This initial plan has grown into a whole content stream viewed by over 100k people this past month alone.
Chielo posts book review videos rather than static images with a review in the caption. His videos are fast-paced and tightly edited, interspersed with stills, memes, and images that keep viewers hooked. Chielo talks about books the way others talk about movies—his presentation of plot details and exploration of characters immerse you in the story. You feel like you’re experiencing the book firsthand. This is a departure from the traditional text-based reviews that the literary world has long relied on. Chielo’s approach aligns with the broader shifts in how content is shared and consumed on social media, where highly watchable videos are used to spark interest about a book.
Creating these videos is not easy—limited funds, the need for better equipment, and even the risks of travel in an insecure environment—but Chielo’s unique perspective on connecting readers to books drives him forward: “It’s about situating the book in the land described in the book itself. It’s about learning the story that transcends the pages.” His work represents an exciting era for African literature in the digital space, where books are not just read—they are lived.
Fellow literary content creator Uchenna Nnabugwu describes Chielo as “an amazing, inspiring, and hardworking guy” whose dedication to both the literary and entertainment industries has set him apart. This year, IkeGod delivered “countless interesting book reviews and recommendations in the most captivating way,” showcasing a work ethic that Nnabugwu calls “one to be studied because it is exceptional.” For Nnabugwu, IkeGod’s recognition as Brittle Paper’s Social Media Influencer of the Year is a moment of pride and celebration: “Seeing him win makes me happy because it is such a deserving award, and I couldn’t be more proud of him.”
Chielo is also vocal about the challenges that creators face in an industry that still places them in the margins. It is a fact that creators influence the decisions readers make, especially in a market where books are expensive, and many readers rely on trusted influencers to guide their purchases. “Publishing presses need to stop treating creators like an afterthought but as a part of the conversation from the get-go,” Chielo emphasizes. While love for books remains the foundation of this community, he believes passion alone is not enough to sustain the industry. As the industry grows, so does the influence of creators like Chielo, who are redefining how books find their way into readers’ hands.
Chielo began expanding out of the digital space this year with Books and Banter, a physical manifestation of the online literary community that meets to talk about their favorite books with drinks, games, and food. His dream is to expand Books and Banter across all of Africa to make reading “fun, cool, and insanely attractive.” He sees his work as participating in shaping the culture and people’s experiences:
“By creating content around African literature, I aim to showcase our richness, diversity, and depth of our stories. This role goes beyond simply promoting; it’s about fostering an ongoing dialogue that challenges perceptions and stretches understanding.”
We wish Chielo the very best for all of his future projects and look forward to his newest video!
How You Can Support Ikechukwu Chielo’s Work:
- Follow @ikegod.chielo on Instagram
- Watch and share his book review videos.
- Support African authors and publishers by purchasing books featured in his reviews. You can find the books on our 100 Notable African Books of the Year list here.
- Share this article and his work with friends, family, or anyone who loves books.
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